Project 21: Press Releases

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., ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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"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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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President Obama Should Show More Leadership in Deterring Travel to U.S. Border by Young Central Americans "We need a solution that will plug our porous border and swiftly process and deport those who have come here against the law..." Washington, D.C. - Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network are calling on President Obama to send a strong message to the leaders and the parents in Central American countries that their dangerous efforts to enter America illegally will not succeed. The Project 21 activists also are expressing cautious approval of a plan in the House of Representatives next week ...
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Tiny Deportation Effort Just Doesn't Cut It "This is What Happens When Commonsense Principles and Practices are Ignored Because of Racial Guilt and Racial Politics" Washington, D.C. - Helluva job, Mr. President! With the Obama Administration taking a bow for arranging for the deportation of approximately 40 Honduran illegal aliens, members of the Project 21 black leadership network point out this number is infinitesimal in addressing the "urgent humanitarian situation" the White House allowed to erupt. They also point out the unchecked influx of illegal immigrants is a clear and present danger to the well-being of the President's black supporters ...
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Case Could Set Major Precedent for Race and Regulation Court Accepted Two Similar Cases Settled Before Consideration -- It's Time for Court to Finally Rule on the Issue Washington, D.C. - With the U.S. Supreme Court finished handing down opinions for its recently-completed term, members of the Project 21 black leadership network joined a legal brief that was recently filed with the Court that asks the justices to finally resolve the vexing issue of disparate impact claims regarding the Fair Housing Act and government-subsidized housing. "Project 21 and the other organizations joined on this brief believe it is vital to ...
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"The Civil Rights Act changed American culture... racist sentiment became largely outdated and unacceptable ...black people... are now the masters of their own destiny." "Today, black Americans and other minorities no longer face the daunting obstacles that existed prior to 50 years ago. The public square and corridors of commerce are overwhelmingly accessible by blacks and whites, men and women alike." Washington, D.C. - Five decades after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, activists with the Project 21 black leadership network are commenting on its impact and legacy. Many believe the overwhelmingly positive efforts of the ...
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Washington, D.C. - Black activists with the Project 21 black leadership network are cheering today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that frees employers with strong religious beliefs from being forced to pay exorbitant fines to practice their faith. "Today, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the fundamental principle that government may not impose undue burdens on the free exercise of religion," said Project 21 Co-Chairman Horace Cooper, a legal commentator who taught constitutional law at George Mason University and also served as a leadership staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives. "The Obama Administration clearly over-reached in this case. Being so fixated ...
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Federal Punishment for Not Changing Name Sets "Dangerous Precedent" Government Retribution Against Private Business Should Concern All Americans, Even Those Who Don't Like Redskins Name Washington, D.C. - By cancelling protected trademarks of the Washington Redskins professional football team, members of the Project 21 black leadership network say, the Obama Administration's Patent and Trademark Office is setting a dangerous precedent. The Washington Redskins lost six trademark protections on the team's name after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the protections "must be cancelled because they were disparaging to Native American "There are Native ...
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Black Activists Suggest People Assess Extent of Their Freedom Washington, D.C. - On "Juneteenth," the oldest and most-recognized observance of the demise of slavery in the United States, members of the Project 21 black leadership network are suggesting that black Americans make a personal assessment of how much freedom they actually enjoy these days and how they may be able to expand upon that freedom in the future through limits on government expansion. Juneteenth, an official holiday or observance in at least 40 states, is on June 19. "For what began as a celebration of black Americans' release from chattel ...
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