Project 21: Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Black activists with the Project 21 leadership network are continuing to speak out against President Barack Obama's unilateral action on illegal immigration. Joe R. Hicks , former executive director of the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference: "President Obama strode into the White House promising to give the American people the audacity of hope. What we are witnessing instead, with his immigration agenda, is an audacious grab for power and an evisceration of the Constitution. With the stroke of a pen, Obama rewards those who arrogantly mock our border laws while simultaneously telling ...

Washington, D.C. - Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network are critical of just-announced executive action by President Barack Obama to grant amnesty to non-citizens illegally in the United States. "What President Obama did is reward those who broke our laws. This will only embitter and endanger the citizenry and legal immigrants who are similarly looking for work, just scraping by and worried about their economic future," said Project 21 Archbishop Council Nedd II of St. Alban's Anglican Church. "God has blessed America with abundance, and I cannot fault those seeking a better life here. But the unregulated surge ...

U.S. Supreme Court Urged to Curtail Use of Race in Redistricting Old Law Demanding Racial Considerations Not a Help to Minority Voters Washington, D.C. - At the U.S. Supreme Court today, legal experts with the Project 21 black leadership network are supporting the state of Alabama and its elected legislature in a defense against partisan and special interest groups unhappy with the state's recent redistricting plan created by the state's elected lawmakers. In a legal brief submitted to the Court, Project 21 argued legislators were compelled by federal law that was in force at the time to include race in ...

Washington, D.C. - Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network say a new Washington Post report that the Eric Holder-led Department of Justice will not charge Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson with federal civil rights charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown is evidence that the time has come for healing. "Protestors called for the Eric Holder-led Justice Department to investigate this case. It seems to have concluded its investigation. What more is there to protest?" asked Project 21's Christopher Arps, who lives near Ferguson and attended perhaps the first prayer vigil related to the shooting. "It is ...

Black Scholar Deconstructs Liberal Myths About Affirmative Action, Voter ID Washington, D.C. - Derryck Green, a member of the Project 21 black leadership network, is the newest member of the faculty of Prager University, an "online resource promoting knowledge and clarity" that partners with high schools and universities nationwide. Green's first posted lecture is "Who Are the Racists: Liberals or Conservatives?" "We are very proud that Project 21's Derryck Green is now included among some of the best political thinkers of our time at Prager University," said National Center for Public Policy Research Executive Director David Almasi. "Derryck possesses a ...

Calls on Jesse Jackson to Retire from Public Life "In 2009, I was one of the first people in America to suffer from H1N1 swine flu... My doctor initially refused to believe I had swine flu because no one else in Pennsylvania had it... My misdiagnosis was not rooted in race, and I can't believe Thomas Eric Duncan's was either..." Washington, D.C. - Project 21's Archbishop Council Nedd II of the Episcopal Missionary Church has the following response to Jesse Jackson's effort to inject race into the discussion about the treatment of Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan: For Jesse Jackson ...

DOJ's George Zimmerman Intervention Exposes Politicized Obama Justice Department Former Head of Zimmerman Investigation on Rumored Short List to Replace Eric Holder Washington, D.C. - Responding to a report that the U.S. Department of Justice will not file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman for the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, a legal expert with the Project 21 black leadership network said federal intervention was a mistake from the beginning and something any new nominee for attorney general should pledge to avoid during his or her tenure. Understanding the Obama Administration's politicization of the case could become extremely important if ...

Does the Fair Housing Act Merely Require that People Be Treated Equally Regardless of Race, or Does it Require Equal Outcomes? Washington, D.C. - Washington, DC - U.S. Supreme Court justices meet today to discuss which cases they will hear during the Court's upcoming term. Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network urge them to approve the organization's request to accept a case addressing "disparate racial impact" claims under the Fair Housing Act. The justices today will consider whether to hear the case of Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, et al. v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., ...

Attorney General "Set Back Race Relations, Showed Disrespect for the Rule of Law and Undermined Basic Constitutional Principles," Says Project 21's Horace Cooper "With Appropriate New Leadership, the Justice Department Can Return to its Proper Role as a Steward of the Constitution" Washington, D.C. - Project 21 Co-Chairman Horace Cooper, a black legal commentator who taught constitutional law at George Mason University and a former general counsel for a U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader, has the following comment on the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder and his legacy: Eric Holder's term as the Attorney General is finally coming ...

Washington, D.C. - Surges in immigration have harmed black workers throughout U.S. history. Evidence shows that eras of high black employment and economic mobility directly correspond with periods of reduced immigration. Should President Obama legalize many or all of the approximately 11.3 million illegal immigrants estimated to be living in the United States,1 black public policy experts with Project 21 warn, black Americans already experiencing a jobless rate far above the national average could be further harmed.2 Outright discrimination in employment based on race, unfair regulations and ethnic networking also have harmed the ability of black Americans to find and ...

Cooper Says the Grand Jury Process Plays a Critical Role in the American Legal System Washington, D.C. - In Friday's Washington Post, columnist Dana Milbank claimed the St. Louis grand jury reviewing evidence in the Michael Brown shooting is perpetuating a "farce." "This yet again demonstrates just how far away the liberal media is from providing balanced news and analysis of the Michael Brown shooting," Project 21 Co-Chairman Horace Cooper said. "The grand jury plays a critical role in the American legal system and shouldn't be denigrated. It isn't a rubber stamp for the prosecution and it shouldn't be." "Mr ...

Such a Strategy to Circumvent Congress Would Violate Refugee Procedures Set by U.S. Law and Harm Immigration Chances of Desperate Refugee Applicants from Other Continents Washington, D.C. - President Obama reportedly is considering designating Latin American illegal aliens as "refugees" from gangs and drug lords to justify an executive action blocking them from deportation and providing them with a means of seeking American citizenship.1 This scheme, if imposed, would seriously disrupt carefully-crafted rules and limits for accepting refugees into the United States and put refugee candidates from other parts of the world, such as Africa, at a severe disadvantage. Such ...

DOJ May Be Signaling It Does Not Expect an Indictment in Michael Brown Shooting Death Washington, D.C. - Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network are questioning Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to mount a federal investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department and other law enforcement in the region, saying this is "well past a rush to judgment" and most likely is compensation for the possibility that an indictment may not be handed down in the death of Michael Brown. Obama Administration officials told the media that Holder will soon announce that the Civil Rights Division of the ...

Washington, D.C. - An unabated influx of illegal aliens along the southern border of the United States is causing a health crisis in the border region. Actions by the Obama Administration to disperse illegals across America while providing an incentive for more illegals to come could lead to a nationwide health crisis that is likely to manifest itself first within our public schools. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network say President Barack Obama's support of amnesty for illegal aliens and his 2012 executive memorandum deferring enforcement of immigration law for specific younger illegals encouraged an incoming wave of ...

Obama's Threatened Executive Actions Would Legalize Millions from Central America and Mexico While His Legislative Agenda Would Cut African Immigration by a Quarter Washington, D.C. - Expected executive action by President Barack Obama to block illegal aliens from deportation would create a de facto preference in immigration law favoring immigrants from the Americas and create a relative prejudice within U.S. immigration policy against would-be immigrants from elsewhere, including Africa, say members of the Project 21 black leadership network. The tens of thousands of Africans who are granted legal immigration status in the U.S. every year are but a tiny percentage ...

"A Rush to Judgment... Demeans the Justice System and the Rule of Law" Washington, D.C. / Ferguson, MO - Legal scholar Horace Cooper of the Project 21 black leadership network is condemning a statement by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon that appears to prejudge the investigation into the death of Michael Brown. Cooper, who is co-chairman of Project 21 and a former professor of constitutional law at George Mason University, said this about Governor Nixon's apparent rush to judgment: A hallmark of the American justice system is that we protect the rights of all Americans, especially the accused. In this case, ...

Washington, D.C. - Each of the tens of thousands of illegal immigrant children pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border who remains in this country is legally entitled to a free public education. If President Obama allows large numbers of illegal alien children to remain in the United States, the public schools will have to manage an unforeseen and possibly unmanageable influx of new foreign children as early as this fall. This may have a profound impact on public school students – an impact that will disproportionately fall on black and lower-income students, as they are disproportionately likely to attend public schools ...

Washington, D.C. / St. Louis, MO - Members of the Project 21 black leadership network, some of whom are St. Louis residents and eyewitnesses to the unfolding controversy, are speaking out about the continuing protests, looting and rioting in the St. Louis area that have resulted in dozens of arrests. "It's a tragedy what happened over the weekend to young Michael Brown. Cooler heads should now prevail until the investigation is complete. This tense situation does not need outside agitators swooping in fanning the flames of an already tense situation," said Project 21 member Christopher Arps, a St. Louis area ...

Washington, D.C. - If President Barack Obama takes unilateral executive action to grant work permits to millions of illegal aliens, he will hurt black Americans, say experts with the Project 21 black leadership network. How Black Americans Will Be Hurt by an Obama Amnesty Black Americans will be hurt because the President will flood the labor market with workers who compete disproportionately with black Americans. This will increase black unemployment and discourage some blacks from entering the labor market, and, according to some studies, increase black incarceration rates. Facts and Figures Black Americans are already suffering from higher-than-average unemployment. The ...

Fifth Circuit Didn't Follow U.S. Supreme Court Instructions, Black Activists Say: The Judges Didn't Do Their Job "Racial preferences are a narcotic for the nation's liberal education elites, and like a drug addiction, must be dealt with..." Washington, D.C. - The Project 21 black leadership network and other organizations today filed a legal brief with the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asking for the entire court to hear an appeal of the race preference case of Abigail Noel Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, et al. The Project 21 amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief, written by ...