President Joe Biden awards the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Simone Biles at the White House on Thursday. — AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
President Joe Biden awards the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Fred Gray. Gray represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr., who called him “the chief counsel for the protest movement.” — AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sandra Lindsay, the New York nurse who, on live television in December 2020, received the first COVID-19 vaccination in the U.S. — AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Denzel Washington was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom but could not attend the ceremony because he has COVID. — Invision File Photo via AP/Jordan Strauss
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday presented the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles, the late John McCain, the Arizona Republican whom Biden served with in the Senate, and gun-control advocate Gabby Giffords.
Other African-Americans awarded the medal included Denzel Washington, the actor, director and producer; Fred Gray, a prominent civil rights attorney; Diane Nash, who organized major civil rights campaigns; and Sandra Lindsay, a New York nurse.
“Today, she adds to her medal count,” Biden said as he introduced Biles, a former foster child whose 32 Olympic and World Championship medals make her the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history.
“I don’t know how you’re going to find room” for another medal, Biden joked. The 25-year-old is an advocate for athletes’ mental health, foster care children and sexual assault victims. She’s also the youngest person to ever receive the medal, Biden said.
The Democratic president, who took office at a critical point during the coronavirus pandemic, also honored Sandra Lindsay, the Queens, New York, nurse who was the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19 outside of clinical trials during a live television appearance in December 2020.
It was the first time Biden had awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His recipient list included both living and deceased honorees, some of them representing various stages of the president’s life, from the Catholic nuns who taught him as a boy growing up in Claymont, Delaware, to Republican lawmakers he served with in the Senate to a college professor like his wife, Jill, to advocates of tightening access to firearms.
Biden introduced Giffords as “one of the most courageous people I have ever known.”
The former Arizona congresswoman founded the organization named Giffords to campaign for an end to gun violence and restrictions on access to guns. The Democrat almost died after she was shot in the head in January 2011 during a constituent event in Tucson.
Biden noted that he recently signed the most sweeping gun-control legislation in decades — though he and others would like even more restrictions — and credited Giffords and families like her own whose lives have been altered by gun violence for helping to make it happen.
“She’s the embodiment of a single signature American trait: never, ever give up,” Biden said.
Biden also recognized former Republican Sens. Alan Simpson of Wyoming and John McCain of Arizona, recalling a less partisan era of Washington in which members of different parties would argue over issues during the day and then meet over dinner at night.
McCain died of brain cancer in 2018. He spent more than five years in captivity in Vietnam while serving in the U.S. Navy. He later represented Arizona in the House and Senate, and was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, competing against Democrats Barack Obama and Biden.
Biden said he didn’t appreciate the political competition, but “I never stopped admiring John ... I knew his honor, his courage and commitment.”
The 17 people receiving honors “have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities, and across the world, while blazing trails for generations to come,” the White House said.
Biden himself knows what it’s like to receive the medal. Then-President Obama honored Biden’s decades of public service by awarding him a Presidential Medal of Freedom “with distinction” during a ceremony shortly before they left office in January 2017.
Biden closed the ceremony by declaring, “This is America.”
The other medal recipients:
Sister Simone Campbell, a member of the Sisters of Social Service and a former executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization.
Julieta Garcia, a former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville. Garcia was the first Latina to become a college president, the White House said.
Fred Gray, one of the first Black members of the Alabama Legislature after Reconstruction. He was a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr. and, at age 91, continues to practice law.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder, chief executive and chair of Apple Inc. He died in 2011.
Father Alexander Karloutsos, the assistant to Archbishop Demetrios of America. Karloutsos has counseled several U.S. presidents, the White House said. Biden said he is “one of my dear friends.”
Khizr Khan, an immigrant from Pakistan whose Army officer son was killed in Iraq. Khan gained national prominence, and became a target of Donald Trump’s wrath, after speaking at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Diane Nash, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who organized some of the most important 20th century civil rights campaigns and worked with King.
Megan Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup soccer champion who captains the OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice and LGBTQI+ rights. Biden said she is the first soccer play to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Alan Simpson, who served in the Senate with Biden and has been a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform, responsible governance and marriage equality. Biden called Simpson the “real deal” and joked that “he never takes himself too seriously nor takes me seriously.”
Richard Trumka, who had been president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade at the time of his August 2021 death. He was a past president of the United Mine Workers.
Wilma Vaught, a brigadier general who is one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history, breaking gender barriers as she rose through the ranks. When Vaught retired in 1985, she was one of only seven female generals in the Armed Forces.
Denzel Washington, a double Oscar-winning actor, director and producer. He also has a Tony award, two Golden Globes and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a longtime spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Washington could not attend Thursday’s ceremony after testing positive for COVID-19, the White House said. Biden said Washington will receive his medal “when he’s able to get here.”
Raúl Yzaguirre, a civil rights advocate who was president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years.
A makeshift memorial to Tamir Rice at Cudell Commons Park in Cleveland, where the 12-year-old was shot dead by police in 2014. — The New York Times Photo/Ty Wright
The former Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 withdrew from the police force of a tiny Pennsylvania town on Thursday amid community backlash and media scrutiny over his hiring.
Timothy Loehmann was sworn in this week as the lone police officer in Tioga — a community of about 600 people in rural north-central Pennsylvania, 300 miles from Cleveland — but left the position without having worked a single shift, according to borough council President Steve Hazlett.
“The community spoke. They got their feelings out, and we listened to them and we’re going to react to it and that will be that,” he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “We thank the community for stepping forward and letting their voices be heard.”
Rice, who was Black, was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in Cleveland on Nov. 22, 2014, when he was shot and killed by Loehmann seconds after Loehmann and his partner arrived. The officers told investigators Loehmann had shouted three times at Tamir to raise his hands.
The shooting sparked community protests about police treatment of Black people, especially after a grand jury decided not to indict the white officer or his partner.
Cleveland settled a lawsuit over Tamir’s death for $6 million, and the city ultimately fired Loehmann for having lied on his application to become a police officer.
Loehmann has since made multiple attempts to find work in law enforcement. He landed a part-time position with a police department in the southeast Ohio village of Bellaire in October 2018, but withdrew his application days later after Tamir’s mother, Samaria, and others criticized the hiring.
The circumstances of Loehmann’s hiring in Tioga remained a mystery Thursday.
Hazlett would not say whether Loehmann told council about the Tamir Rice case when he applied, or whether council knew of his background when voting to hire him. “The process is private and personal. We don’t share it. It doesn’t leave his folder,” he said.
Mayor David Wilcox told cleveland.com he “was under the impression that there was a thorough background check into him, that he didn’t have any issues.” Wilcox, who said he was not involved in the hiring process, did not return a message from AP.
The borough said on its website Thursday that Loehmann “has officially with drawn his application.” Hazlett said council will meet next week to take action on Loehmann’s application and consider next steps.
Word that he had been hired as Tioga’s new police officer drew protesters to the borough building on Wednesday night, and prompted condemnation from Tamir’s family.
“While it’s all well and good that Loehmann will not be inflicting a reign of terror with a badge and a gun upon Tioga Borough residents and visitors, borough officials must be held accountable for their demonstrably, atrociously poor judgment and ineptitude,” Subodh Chandra, one of the attorneys who represented the family in their civil suit, said in a written statement Thursday.
“This game of whack-a-mole with Loehmann shamelessly and repeatedly resurfacing as a cop elsewhere needs to end,” he said.
Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, told cleveland.com that Tioga’s decision to hire Loehmann was a “big mistake.”
“He shouldn’t be a police officer anywhere in the United States,” she said.
Messages were left at phone numbers associated with Loehmann.
Hazlett said council did not ask Loehmann to step aside, and he declined to speculate on whether council would have done so had Loehmann not made the first move.
He said Tioga still hopes to hire a police officer.
Owner Dana Smith leads a class at Spiritual Essence Yoga Studio on June 29 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. —Washington Post photo by Bonnie Jo Mount
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court in June 2021 at his sentencing on state charges of murder and manslaughter. — Court TV Photo via AP
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, telling the former Minneapolis police officer that what he did was “simply wrong” and “offensive.”
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sharply criticized Chauvin for his actions on May 25, 2020, when he pinned Floyd to the pavement outside a Minneapolis corner store for more than 9 minutes as he lay dying.
“I really don’t know why you did what you did,” Magnuson said. “To put your knee on a person’s neck until they expired is simply wrong. … Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive.”
Magnuson, who presided over the federal trial and convictions of three other officers at the scene earlier this year, blamed Chauvin alone for what happened. Chauvin was by far the senior officer on the scene, and rebuffed questions from one of the officers about whether Floyd should be turned on his side.
“You absolutely destroyed the lives of three young officers by taking command of the scene,” he said.
Even so, Magnuson’s sentence was at the low end of the 20 to 25 years called for in a plea agreement in which Chauvin will serve the federal sentence at the same time he serves his 22½-year sentence on state charges of murder and manslaughter.
Because of differences in parole eligibility in the state and federal systems, it means that Chauvin will serve slightly more time behind bars than he would have on the state sentence alone. He will also do his time in the federal system, where he may be safer and may be held under fewer restrictions than in the state system.
Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson had asked for 20 years, arguing that Chauvin was remorseful and would make that clear to the court. But Chauvin, in brief remarks, made no direct apology or expression of remorse to Floyd’s family.
Instead, he told the family that he wishes Floyd’s children “all the best in their life” and that they have “excellent guidance in becoming good adults.”
A report released by the Center for Responsible Lending shows that women of color have less job security before the pandemic and are struggling to repay their student loans.
— submitted photo
Women of color have less job security than before the COVID-19 pandemic and are struggling to repay their student loans, according to a new report released by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).
The U.S. economy added 6.7 million jobs in 2021, but the gains made in the workforce have not been shared equally across genders, the report says.
As of March 2022, the unemployment rate for women across the country is 3.9%. However, the gap in employment is greater for women of color, with Black women’s unemployment rate at 6.2% (63% higher than the national rate) and Latinas’ unemployment at 5% (57% higher than the national rate).
“Whenever there is any economic crisis, individuals who are in communities that have already been deprived of resources will have less resources available to deal with that economic crisis,” said CRL researcher and report co-author Sunny Glottmann.
“Due to increased child-care responsibilities and the high-contact, low-wage nature of many women’s occupations, women of color and women who couldn’t work remotely have less job security today than pre-pandemic,” she added. “Women of color also continue to experience difficulty paying for necessities such as food and housing.”
CRL, a policy research group focused on consumer lending, used data from the Census Bureau’s Household Policy Survey and a focus group of 33 diverse women from across the country who said they lost or quit their jobs during the pandemic.
Federal data shows that the majority of jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic were held by women. Between February 2020 and January 2022, 1.1 million women left the work force.
Of the focus group participants, 22% worked in health care and 12% worked in retail and accommodation. While some participants suffered job loss or reduction in hours, others chose to leave the workforce to avoid risk of infecting their families.
Only four women in the focus group had paid off their student loans. Of the remaining 29, who identified as Black or Latinx, 86% reported owing over $10,000 and 48% reported owing over $50,000. Half of the women said they had student debt of more than $100,000.
Each confirmed they took advantage of the federal repayment pauses. Two-thirds of the focus group said they were not ready for loan repayment to begin or that resuming payments would cause stress.
The payment pause, which includes a 0% interest rate, the suspension of loan payments and the stoppage of collections on defaulted loans, is scheduled to end Aug. 31.
“Women carry about two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student debt, with Black women more than twice as likely as white men to owe more than $50,000 in undergraduate student loan debt,” Glottmann said.
“Because of their difficulties in repaying student loans, women are reluctant to incur more student loan debt for themselves or their children. While payment pauses are a temporary fix, it doesn’t really address the longstanding issues within higher education and financial systems,” she added.
In the report, the CRL offers policy recommendations to fix the problem, including canceling $50,000 in student debt per borrower and applying a retroactive IDR (Iwaiver, which would help millions of borrowers who spent time in default and are most impacted by for-profit colleges, economic downturns and personal crises that require an exit from the workforce.
Another suggestion by the CRL is to invest in debt-free education pathways for women of color.
“We believe that we should be doing a better job of collecting and monitoring data on tracking income-driven repayment and public service loan forgiveness data, so that we don’t have the same repeated instance of having people not able to qualify for the forgiveness they’re entitled to,” Glottmann said.
“We also want the federal and state government to invest more in HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) and increase the number of federal Pell grants,” she added. “The only way to provide significant relief is to cancel $50,000 in debt and reform our educational system.”
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