Back in the fall of 2013, the University of Alabama was embroiled in a national scandal after a student newspaper report uncovered the systemic racism fostered by the Greek System on campus.
University officials scrambled to get a hold on the situation as students rallied and marched on campus in an attempt to desegregate the dozens of nearly all white sororities.
Then University President Judy Bonner was roundly criticized for her inaction to address the issue before UA’s student paper, the Crimson White published the expose, which then went viral.
In an attempt to calm the anger on campus, Bonner used a meeting with Bill Cosby, who at the time was largely beloved in the country to show that Alabama cared about social progress.
It was cringeworthy then and is even more cringeworthy now.
WATCH: 2013 video of Alabama President using Bill Cosby to smooth over racism
The Alabama student protest led to change on the campus. 214 women accepted bids to UA sororities this past August and the student body elected its first African-American SGA president in nearly forty years last spring.
The Alabama movement also preceded similar action at the University of Missouri and other colleges this past fall.
Bonner retired from her role as President earlier this year.
Cosby was charged with aggravated indecent assault earlier today in Pennsylvania.
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Cover Photo Credit: University of Alabama/ Vimeo (Screengrab)
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The Far Right In Germany Is Starting To Rise Again And It Should Worry Us All
Germany and the far right of the political spectrum do not historically mix.
So why is it that a party of the far right (granted, one not nearly as radical or hate-filled as the Nazi Party was) is picking up steam in the largest and most powerful European Union country?
In recent weeks, the Alternative for Germany (AFD) has achieved regional representation in eight German states. There are 16 German states in total.
AFD is a far right populist party in a similar vein as the National Front in France and UKIP in the United Kingdom.
The ragtag party has managed to bite at the heels of the ruling Christian Democrats (CDU), and appears to be gaining popularity across the country.
This is largely due to the anti immigration platform of the party in response to Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s policies on resettling refugees, primarily from Syria.
AFD has a unique opportunity for swift gains due to its novel position on the political spectrum.
A pro right wing backlash has been felt across the West, be it the Tea Party or Euroskeptics, but AFD has been making attempts at separating itself from the most extreme elements of German political life.
On the party’s official site, AFD disowns the support of NPD, a far right party infamous for its ties strong association with Nazis in both a fashion sense and in antisemitism.
According to the Q&A section of the party’s website, the AFD breaks with the ranks of other far right parties by being in support of continued German participation in both the EU and NATO, though with caveats to both of these organizations that favor a more independent foreign policy.
A German man walking with a beer. Photo Credit: Alexander Mueller/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
AFD also voices disapproval of TTIP (a proposed free trade agreement between the United States and Europe), subsidies for energy research, while favoring “re-nationalizing” of the banking sector, and promoting marriage between men and women as “politically desirable”.
All of these positions seem to indicate that AFD is interested in focusing inward, and is not particularly hostile to longstanding German policy.
Despite this resemblance closer to the American Republican Party than particularly sinister right wing parties like PEGIDA, the party has been moved more so to the extreme by the Party’s president Frauke Petry, who has brought anti-immigration rhetoric and closer ties to the Kremlin to the forefront of its public perception.
This will likely only continue due to the departure of the party’s moderating influence, Bernd Lucke, cofounder of AFD, left the party in 2015 when ousted from the party presidency by Petry.
Lucke founded another Euroskeptic party Alliance for Progress and Renewal (ALFA), and complained that AFD had grown far too xenophobic.
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Cover Photo Credit: Martin Fisch/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Kids Are Suing Rick Scott So Florida Will Act On Climate Change
What’s News In This Story?
–A group of Florida young people are suing the Governor and other state wide officials over what they say is government inaction over climate change.
-The suit, which was filed in a Tallahassee court on Monday, seeks to require the state to “adhere to its legal and moral obligation to protect current and future generations from the intensifying impacts of climate change…”
-Florida Governor Rick Scott does not believe in man-made climate change.
-The eight young people are between the ages of 10 to 20 and they come from various parts of the state.
-There is a nine member legal team that is backing up the suit on behalf of the kids and “Our Children’s Trust”, a group that has helped young people sue their state governments around the country.
-Fort Lauderdale attorney Mitchell Chester is part of the legal team.
-“We can’t delay anymore because climate change is a huge problem,” Levi Draheim, a 10-year-old plaintiff in the suit said. “We must deal with it right now and start reducing the emissions that are causing it.”
Watch Another Story: Meet Miami’s Queen Bee And Her Backyard Insect Revolution
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VIDEO: Student Supporters Of #BlackLivesMatter Disrupt Dartmouth Library
A video posted online by the conservative Campus Reform organization shows student supporters of the #BlackLivesMatter movement storming into a Dartmouth College library and disrupting students studying as a form of protest.
The event was organized by the campus chapter of the NAACP after a week of tensions on the campus after a pro #BlackLivesMatter display case was vandalized in the aftermath of mass protests on the University of Missouri.
The video shows a student protest that took place last Thursday and allegedly turned ugly with some claiming that the protestors used racist language to attack white students in the library who did not show visible support for the movement. “Fuck you, you filthy white fucks!,” one protestor allegedly said, although it was not recorded on the video.
The mainstream student newspaper at Dartmouth looked into the claims of racially charged language used by the protestors and could not confirm the rumors.
From The Dartmouth:
“None of the police officers who monitored the demonstration on Thursday night witnessed any acts of violence, Hanover Police Lieutenant Brad Sargent said. As of Monday, only one incident of violence in the library has been reported, and this was by a third party, Sargent said.”
Despite this, a student who claims he was part of the demonstration wrote a piece for the Tab that claims that he witnessed a protestor make a student cry and then said, “fuck your white tears.”
As you can see, there were a whole lot bunch of “claims” in that previous sentence. And some are taking the “claims” with a big ole grain of salt.
WATCH: Dartmouth #BlackLivesMatter Protesters Storm Into Campus Library
Cover Photo Credit: Screengrab/ Youtube
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