The head of the New York chapter of the NAACP has made headlines for bluntly excoriating the concerned parent of a charter school student. The background: The NAACP is part of the teachers' union lawsuit against the Department of Education, which wants to close 22 failing schools and open charter schools in their place. One concerned Bronx mom, Janette Ramos, recently emailed NAACP head Hazel Dukes to urge the NAACP to drop the lawsuit. "If you and the NAACP continue on this horrible lawsuit against my daughter's school and the fellow 18 charter schools, it will not be the best legacy to leave behind," Ramos wrote. The Post reports that Dukes's reply was swift and, well, to the point. more ›

Pressured-to-resign USDA employee Shirley Sherrod was on the Today show this morning and declared, "I really would not want the president to apologize to me. I'd love to have a conversation with him, though ... You know, I'd like to talk to him a little bit about the experience of people like me. People at the grassroots level. People who live out there in rural America, people who live in the south." [Via Daily Intel, which points out, "President Obama wants to get involved in another racial controversy like he wants another giant oil spill."] more ›

The White House is dealing with fallout after Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (by way of his underlings) allegedly pressured black USDA employee Shirley Sherrod to resign after a video clip surfaced. In the clip, Sherrod, speaking at a NAACP event in Georgia, said she didn't help a struggling farmer with the "the full force of what I could do." The NAACP first supported her resignation, saying, "We are appalled by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers," but then actually reviewed the full video that showed Sherrod explaining she how realized it wasn't about being being white or black, "But you know, God will show you things. ... You realize that the struggle is really about poor people," and helped the farmer as much as she could (full video). more ›

Tomorrow, 8th graders around New York were supposed to find out where they're going to be attending high school in the fall. But, due to a lawsuit from United Federation of Teachers and the N.A.A.C.P. over plans to close schools, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge ordered the Department of Education not to send out the letters, since the city's matching techniques didn't take into account 19 schools that are set to close. (CityRoom obtained a copy of the memo sent to principals this morning.) more ›

The NAACP says two white policemen in Yonkers assaulted a black NYPD officer as they tried to pin him with a purse snatching. Sgt. Kenneth Kissiedu, who lives in Yonkers, was heading to work in the Bronx when local cops got a call about a theft nearby. In a canvas of the area, they spotted Kissiedu walking to his car. "Yo, Yo," they allegedly shouted trying to get his attention. Then they saw that he had a gun. more ›

After hundreds protested last week as a Department of Education board moved to close 19 under-performing schools, the teachers union and NAACP are filing a lawsuit to reverse the decision. The union will argue that shuttering the schools violates state law because the decision fails to consider impact on the community. The NY NAACP signed on because the closures will hurt minority students, reported AP. But Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein are fighting back—they say the closings are warranted because the schools just aren't performing. more ›

Saturday's weekly meeting of Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network was a little extra spirited yesterday, the gathering being used as a birthday party for the Rev, who was turning 55. But the festive occasion didn't stop Bill Thompson from using it as a pitch to its attendees to make sure they lend a hand to a campaign that could use it. Thompson said, "We have 32 days until the election, 32 days. Over the next 32 days, I need each and everyone of you involved in the election, knocking on doors, grabbing your friends, saying to your neighbors, 'We can take this city back and put someone in City Hall who can stand up and fight for all of us.'" Hope he at least brought a card. more ›

Last night, President Barack Obama spoke at the NAACP's Centennial conference, held at the Midtown Hilton, giving what the NY Times called a "fiery sermon to black America.. warning black parents that they must accept their own responsibilities by 'putting away the Xbox and putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour,' and telling black children that growing up poor is no reason to get bad grades." He added, "It means attending those parent-teacher conferences, reading to our kids, and helping them with their homework...No one has written your destiny for you...Your destiny is in your hands, and don’t you forget that. That’s what we have to teach all of our children! No excuses! No excuses!" more ›

Barack Obama's in town tonight, so that means you have precious few minutes left to get anywhere by car before the roads congeal with traffic and street closures. Beginning at about 5:15 this evening, the NYPD will close off streets surrounding the Hilton New York—where Obama is scheduled to speak at the NAACP's 100th anniversary convention—along with large chunks of FDR Drive in both directions. The shutdowns should last "for the duration of the event," which leads the NYPD to thoughtfully suggest that "drivers should avoid the Midtown area." If you're a pedestrian, though, break out the green plastic lawn chairs, because it looks like Midtown's going to be one big pedestrian mall tonight. more ›

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. continues to back down from a NY Post editorial cartoon in February that featured a dead chimpanzee. The company announced Wednesday that it will form a "diversity community council" to meet with senior New York executives as part of a response to public outcry from civil rights organizations over the chimp cartoon. News Corp. executives met with those organizations last month to hammer out a deal, which spokesman Jack Horner said is similar to policies in place at News Corp. offices elsewhere. "The key is we're always responding and learning from our communities," he told the AP. Serving on the diversity council are expected to be representatives from the NAACP, the National Urban League, the Hispanic Federation, and other New York-area organizations. more ›

The furor over the NY Post's editorial cartoon featuring a dead chimp killed by police continues as the NAACP called for the resignation of Post editor-in-chief Col Allan and cartoonist Sean Delonas, as well as anyone else "involved in the decision to print the image." more ›

Just when you thought the New Yorker Obama cover controversy had started to die down, along comes Governor David Paterson to fan the American flag-fueled flames. At an NAACP gathering earlier today, Paterson strongly condemned the illustration, calling it "one of the most malignant, vicious covers of a magazine I have ever seen… They knew it would hurt people; it was designed to do that and also to feed the prurient interest of bigoted, prejudiced people in this society.” Not to be outdone, the NAACP released a statement decrying the illustration as "tasteless, Islam-a-phobic, mean spirited and racially offensive." more ›