Page 1005 - Backgrounds News Today

Government elect. rusty and julia watson, undergrad student body president at northwestern and jaylin ross. thanks all for coming here. i appreciate it. i want to start with you, elliott. you were just elected the sga president at university of alabama. the first african-american in 40 years. just happened around the time of the selma anniversary, which is kind of cool. you got votes from across the social and -- socioeconomic, i should say, and racial spectrum. what does that tell you about whe...

Alabama does it so well. i think with me getting elected, i got to bring people together from all times of backgrounds and diverse cultures. in alabama we are very fortunate that we have a history that we are able to look at and critique critically. as well as willing and wanting to move forward from that. know that we dont want to re-invent the past for anybody. >> rusty, i want to go to the frat video from university of -- from oklahoma, i should say. were you surprised by that given your expe...

Have a conversation about race in american racism is as american as march madness, as elimelech computers, as nike nike shoes. the country was rooted in it and we would be lying if we said it was any other way. im not surprised by the things that have been happening. unfortunately, you know there are a lot of people woefully miseducated, rooted in hatred and fear of people different from them and has led to really incredible acts of violence and injustice towards our fellow human beings. thats w...

In america, then you people on the other spectrum who see race as the driving force for everything. youve got the middle. is that middle growing if which she see some of these infractions across the country and can have that conversation or are the extremes growing? >> heres the thing. theres no left or right or middle. the reality is i want to live in a post-racism world, post-racism america and its going to take black people white people latino people asian people native american people middle...

I was just in china meeting with our students at nyu and the difference it made for me being in this role as a black man in china are students to see me and know someone that is working on these issues. chinese students students from other races and nationalities and backgrounds, who are so excited to spend time and to talk about these issues that otherwise may go unheard if we dont have people in these roles doing this work. but along with that not only people doing this work but many different...

Chris, mardan dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said it at congress yesterday, tikrit will fall eventually. the big question is what happens once its fallen? will an iranian victory in tikrit, if you like, also represent a victory for the coalition and for the u.s.? thats one of the big questions, chris. >> thank you so much. thats nbcs bill neely over in erbil, iraq, of course. we heard about disaffected people living in the west joining isis in the middle east, people with middle ...

Heritage are coming together to say that we believe that police officers should be protectors should be officers of the peace and we can, in fact have that. so the sense of urgency that we see at the grass-roots level in communities all across the country is being felt not only among young african-americans but by people of various backgrounds. so i believe that they are fuelling a fundamental change and shift in policing in this country. and so were moving beyond theory to practice beyond sloga...

About what happened on that bus. im not here to judge that woman and what music she want to jam to cleaning up her house or enjoying her free time. >> thats fair enough. when you hear about these kids and they were expelled do you think thats the right punishment? >> once again, it is a start. this is america, man. everybody deserves a second chance. who knows what the future holds? it is a good beginning, though. >> i think some people are concerned that theyre going to go back to their world a...

Sooner. i want to talk about some of the other aspects of this. we know this kind of thing does not happen in a vacuum. theres been collateral damage. we know that the long-time chef the cook of the house, howard is now out of a job because the fraternity house is shut down. and thats another unfortunate sidebar. where do you think this is going to lead the sooners? where this is going to leave ou? what kind of discussion needs to be had on the campus of your alumni? >> well i think that -- i do...

Jobs are to love their children, well give them that. lets also be very clear. your sons did this and they will have to face the consequences. but having -- being a professor at a university and speaking to students of all different backgrounds, we know that these things happen and they happen across colleges across the country, in the african-american community, in the latino and asian communities. these are these constant assaults that students are under, right? and many colleges just dont do ...