NYMHM: Affirmative action, NoLa discrimination, EPA under pressure

Wed May 2 14:49:47 PDT 2007

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 NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * May 2, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 18

 Important but overlooked news from around the world.
 NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org.

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QUOTED: 

   "Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime Christians in Iraq, and 
   in particular Baghdad, have faced persecution for the first time in 
   the history of this country."

   -- Iraqi Christian legislator Romeo Hakkari (see "Top Stories, below).

CONTENTS:

   *Top Stories* 
     Republican-backed voter suppression alleged
     New Orleans: No home to African Americans
     Iraq's Christian flight continues

   *Environment* 
     The EPA under pressure 

   *Immigration* 
     Between America and Mexico, a broken border

   *Race & Society* 
     Affirmative action foe has new targets 

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TOP STORIES
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 > Republican-Backed Voter Suppression Alleged  

   Former Justice Department employees say the White House used 
   Republican political appointees to prevent thousands of poor and
   minority voters from registering ahead of the 2006 midterm 
   elections, McClatchy Newspapers reports. 

   They say the appointees inflated fraud concerns to justify tough
   voter ID rules that were later overturned as unconstitutional,
   pushed a database method that caused three states to "mistakenly"
   disqualify "tens of thousands" of new registrations, and pushed 
   U.S. attorneys to prosecute voter fraud cases favored by 
   Republicans in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Washington. 

 > New Orleans: No Home to African Americans

   African Americans face discrimination in their search for housing
   in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina, according to a 
   year-long study in which African and Caucasian "testers" applied 
   to rent the same apartments but got different results. 

   Nearly 60 percent of all landlords didn't return phone calls from 
   African Americans, wouldn't show them apartment units or give them
   applications, and offered the same rental units to Caucasian
   applicants for less money. 

 > Iraq's Christian Flight Continues

   Thousands have fled Mosul and Baghdad under death threats from 
   Islamists who say will kill Christians if they do not pay a special 
   religious "tax" for non-Muslims. 

   Romeo Hakkari, a Christian parliamentarian in Iraq's Kurdish region, 
   says hundreds of Christians, who numbered half a million before the 
   war, have resettled in Kurdistan; the rest have fled the country. 

Sources: 

"Housing discrimination cited in N.O."
The Advocate (LA), April 25, 2007
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/7178031.html

"Campaign against alleged voter fraud fuels political tempest"
McClatchy, April 19, 2007
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/usattorneys/17102317.htm

"Iraq: Christians face mounting threats, MP says"
ADNKronos, April 27, 2007
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.409259200&par=

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ENVIRONMENT
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 > The EPA Under Pressure

   The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire from 
   activists and state officials for not enforcing laws to protect 
   the public from harmful chemicals and emissions, even as it 
   considers controversial budget cuts that will reduce its 
   enforcement staff. 

   California has threatened to sue the EPA within six months if it 
   does not ... 

   *Get the whole story online: 

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004262.html

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IMMIGRATION
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 > Between America and Mexico, a Broken Border

   A heavy crackdown in immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border 
   has resulted in more arrests, but has not deterred Mexicans 
   from trying to cross, or from dying along the way. 

   Immigrants attempting to cross the desert in the hot summer 
   months have only a 50 percent chance of ...

   *Get the whole story online: 

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004263.html

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RACE & SOCIETY
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 > Affirmative Action Foe Has New Targets 

   The man who led a successful 1996 ballot-initiative campaign to 
   ban affirmative action in California is turning his attention to
   Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, Arizona, 
   Utah and South Dakota. 

   Ward Connerly and his group, the American Civil Rights Institute,
   hope all these states will ...

   *Get the whole story online: 

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004264.html

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Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson
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