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COMMENTARY: Experts: ‘Jury of your Peers’ Rarely Applies to African Americans

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Race has a tremendous impact in criminal trials, at least one African American juror can help even the playing field when it comes to verdicts. Race matters in the courtroom and race relates to perception and judgment – especially when a case is about race,” said Waukeshia Jackson, founder of the Atlanta-based Jackson & Lowe Law Group.

Published

6 years ago

April 27, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

If accused of a crime, American justice supposedly guarantees the right to a trial in front of a “jury of your peers.”

However noble the idea might be in theory, many legal experts acknowledge that, due to systemic racism, having a jury of your peers is often just an illusion.

For African Americans, systemic racism in the criminal justice system has greatly contributed to mass incarceration, partly because blacks are more likely to be profiled, pulled over by police, searched, and arrested, according to legal experts.

Once arrested, African Americans also are more likely to be detained prior to their hearing, which could take months.

“Jury selection creates another concern,” said Charlotte, N.C.-based Attorney Darlene Harris.

“When a juror is unable to relate to a person accused of a crime, the defendant is more likely to face stiffer penalties, up to and including life in prison,” said Harris, who after trying a recent murder trial, spoke to a white male juror who shared that a lot of the jurors could not understand the African American defendant.

“The two people who could relate to the defendant happened to be Black women. They were able to shed information that led the group to finding the defendant guilty of second-degree murder as opposed first degree murder, which would have resulted in a life sentence,” Harris said.

That and other experiences led Harris to question how much different the outcome would have been if there were black men – from the same socio-economic background as the defendant – on the jury.

“The scourge of racism manifests in discriminatory policies and practices such as the ‘War on Drugs,’ Stop and Frisk, and Three Strikes You’re Out,” Harris said.

“Consequently, black men are profiled more often, punished more frequently and more harshly than any other group in the United States,” she said.

The Sentencing Project estimates that there are presently 2.2 million people incarcerated in America.

Black men born in 2001 have a 1 in 3 chance of being incarcerated.

Given these distressing numbers, black men appear to have a higher risk of being knocked out of juror pools, Harris said.

“When you couple racist policies and practices with socio-economics, the share of black men available for jury selection is further diminished and since people must take time off work to serve on juries, only people who can afford to miss a paycheck, people with paid time off or flexible work arrangements can afford to serve on a jury,” Harris said.

“Keep in mind that trials for serious crimes are lengthy; a recent murder trial that I was a part of lasted one month. How many of us can afford to skip a month’s pay?” she said.

While a judge is not required to exempt someone from jury duty because the person can’t afford to go without a paycheck, defense attorneys are ill-served by forcing a person to miss pay to be their juror, Harris added.

The right to a jury trial is a hallmark of the American criminal justice system and defendants generally have the right to be tried by a jury of their peers, said Waukeshia Jackson, founder of the Atlanta-based Jackson & Lowe Law Group.

In explaining the meaning of having “a jury of your peers,” Jackson said defendants aren’t entitled to a jury containing members of their own race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

Most accurately, “jury of your peers” means “jury of fellow citizens,” she said.

“Nonetheless, widespread discrimination remains in the jury selection process,” Jackson said.

While courts don’t have to ensure that a defendant’s race, gender, age, or sexual orientation is represented in a jury pool, the Supreme Court has long held courts may not remove a potential juror solely based on these factors, she said.

“For more than a century, racial minorities have been protected from jury discrimination in theory but in practice, these laws have little actual protection and one critical factor that impacts African American eligibility to participate in jury pool is the felon jury exclusion rule,” Jackson said.

Throughout the country, African Americans are overrepresented in felony convictions and therefore more likely to be excluded from jury pools because individuals cannot serve as a juror if they’ve been convicted of a felony.

“The felony jury exclusion rule dramatically reduces the number of African Americans eligible for jury selection because roughly, one-third of the adult African-American male population has been convicted of a felony and, in many jurisdictions, these citizens are forever barred from serving on a jury,” Jackson said.

“Race has a tremendous impact in criminal trials, at least one African American juror can help even the playing field when it comes to verdicts. Race matters in the courtroom and race relates to perception and judgment – especially when a case is about race,” she said.

The landmark 1986 case of Batson v. Kentucky established that lawyers aren’t permitted to engage in systematic exercise of peremptory challenges of prospective jurors based solely upon such suspect criteria.

“However, if the attorney – whether it be prosecutor of defense attorney – can establish an age, race, ethnicity, or gender-neutral reason for the use of the peremptory challenge, the court will permit it,” said Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Professor and former Miami-Dade Judge Jeff Swartz.

“The jury pool should be made of such a representative cross-section in the same proportion as found in the community,” Swartz said.

“Does this mean that on many occasions that a black defendant may end up with an all-white jury? Yes, it does,” Swartz said.

Jackson added that those who are not African American haven’t experienced the racial discrimination and verbal abuse that are far too common for members of the black community.

Jurors from all-white jury pools convict African American defendants significantly more often than white defendants and this gap in conviction rate is entirely eliminated when the jury pool includes at least one African American member, she said.

“The makeup of a jury can mean the difference between a conviction and an acquittal,” Jackson said.

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UPDATE: PepsiCo Meets with Sharpton Over DEI Rollbacks, Future Action Pending

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The more than hour-long meeting included PepsiCo Chairman Ramon Laguarta and Steven Williams, CEO of PepsiCo North America, and was held within the 21-day window Sharpton had given the company to respond.

Published

22 hours ago

April 16, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

Rev. Al Sharpton met Tuesday morning with PepsiCo leadership at the company’s global headquarters in Purchase, New York, following sharp criticism of the food and beverage giant’s decision to scale back nearly $500 million in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The more than hour-long meeting included PepsiCo Chairman Ramon Laguarta and Steven Williams, CEO of PepsiCo North America, and was held within the 21-day window Sharpton had given the company to respond. Sharpton was joined by members of the National Action Network (NAN), the civil rights organization he founded and leads. “It was a constructive conversation,” Sharpton said after the meeting. “We agreed to follow up meetings within the next few days. After that continued dialogue, NAN Chairman Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson and I, both former members of the company’s African American Advisory Board, will make a final determination and recommendation to the organization on what we will do around PepsiCo moving forward, as we continue to deal with a broader swath of corporations with whom we will either boycott or buy-cott.”

Sharpton initially raised concerns in an April 4 letter to Laguarta, accusing the company of abandoning its equity commitments and threatening a boycott if PepsiCo did not meet within three weeks. PepsiCo announced in February that it would no longer maintain specific goals for minority representation in its management or among its suppliers — a move that drew criticism from civil rights advocates. “You have walked away from equity,” Sharpton wrote at the time, pointing to the dismantling of hiring goals and community partnerships as clear signs that “political pressure has outweighed principle.” PepsiCo did not issue a statement following Tuesday’s meeting. The company joins a growing list of major corporations — including Walmart and Target — that have scaled back internal DEI efforts since President Donald Trump returned to office. Trump has eliminated DEI programs from the federal government and warned public schools to do the same or risk losing federal funding. Sharpton has vowed to hold companies accountable. In January, he led a “buy-cott” at Costco to applaud the retailer’s ongoing DEI efforts and announced that NAN would identify two corporations to boycott within 90 days if they failed to uphold equity commitments. “That is the only viable tool that I see at this time, which is why we’ve rewarded those that stood with us,” Sharpton said.

Stacy M. Brown

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Target Reels from Boycotts, Employee Revolt, and Massive Losses as Activists Plot Next Moves

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Target is spiraling as consumer boycotts intensify, workers push to unionize, and the company faces mounting financial losses following its rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

Target is spiraling as consumer boycotts intensify, workers push to unionize, and the company faces mounting financial losses following its rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. With foot traffic plummeting, stock prices at a five-year low, and employee discontent boiling over, national civil rights leaders and grassroots organizers are vowing to escalate pressure in the weeks ahead. Led by Georgia pastor Rev. Jamal Bryant, a 40-day “Targetfast” aligned with the Lenten season continues to gain traction. “This is about holding companies accountable for abandoning progress,” Bryant said, as the campaign encourages consumers to shop elsewhere. Groups like the NAACP, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, and The People’s Union USA are amplifying the effort, organizing mass boycotts and strategic buying initiatives to target what they call corporate surrender to bigotry.

Meanwhile, Target’s workforce is in an open revolt. On Reddit, self-identified employees described mass resignations, frustration with meager pay raises, and growing calls to unionize. “We’ve had six people give their two-week notices,” one worker wrote. “A rogue team member gathered us in the back room and started talking about forming a union.” Others echoed the sentiment, with users posting messages like, “We’ve been talking about forming a union at my store too,” and “Good on them for trying to organize—it needs to happen.” Target’s problems aren’t just anecdotal. The numbers reflect a company in crisis. The retail giant has logged 10 straight weeks of falling in-store traffic. In February, foot traffic dropped 9% year-over-year, including a 9.5% plunge on February 28 during the 24-hour “economic blackout” boycott organized by The People’s Union USA. March saw a 6.5% decline compared to the previous year. Operating income fell 21% in the most recent quarter, and the company’s stock (TGT) opened at just $94 on April 14, down from $142 in January before the DEI cuts and subsequent backlash. The economic backlash is growing louder online, too.

“We are still boycotting Target due to them bending to bigotry by eroding their DEI programs,” posted the activist group We Are Somebody on April 14. “Target stock has gone down, and their projections remain flat. DEI was good for business. Do the right thing.” Former congresswoman Nina Turner, a senior fellow at The New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, wrote, “Boycotts are effective. Boycotts must have a demand. We will continue to boycott until our demands are met.” More action is on the horizon. Another Target boycott is scheduled for June 3–9, part of a broader campaign targeting corporations that have abandoned DEI initiatives under pressure from right-wing politics and recent executive orders by President Donald Trump. The People’s Union USA, which led the February 28 boycott, has already launched similar weeklong actions against Walmart and announced upcoming boycotts of Amazon (May 6–12), Walmart again (May 20–26), and McDonald’s (June 24–30). The organization’s founder, John Schwarz, said the goal is nothing short of shifting the economic power balance.

“We are going to remind them who has the power,” Schwarz said. “For one day, we turn it off. For one day, we shut it down. For one day, we remind them that this country does not belong to the elite, it belongs to the people.” As for Target, its top executives continue to downplay the damage. During a recent earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee described the outlook for 2025 as uncertain, citing the “ripple” effects of tariffs and a wide range of possible outcomes. “We’re going to be focusing on controlling what we can control,” Lee said. But discontent is spreading internally. A Reddit post from a worker claimed, “The HR rep is doing his best to stop the bleeding, but all he did was put a Bluey band-aid on what is essentially a severed limb.”

Several employees criticized the company’s internal rewards system, “Bullseye Bucks,” for offering what amounts to play money. “Can’t pay rent or buy food with Bullseye Bucks,” one wrote. Others urged their colleagues to join unionizing efforts. “Imagine how much Target would lose their mind if they were under a union contract,” one team leader wrote. “It needs to happen at this point.” One former manager said they left the company after an insulting raise. “Quit last year when they gave me a 28-cent raise. Best decision I’ve ever made.” From store floors to boardrooms, the pressure is growing on Target. And as calls for justice, equity, and worker rights get louder, one worker put it plainly: “We’re all screwed—unless we fight back.”

Stacy M. Brown

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Confederates Whistle Dixie Tunes and Black MAGA Applauds

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — They include Black MAGA supporters who’ve chosen silence—even solidarity—as racism escalates from campaign rhetoric to federal policy.

Published

2 days ago

April 15, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

In Donald Trump’s second term, the faces of compliance are no longer just white. They include Black MAGA supporters who’ve chosen silence—even solidarity—as racism escalates from campaign rhetoric to federal policy. When Trump returned to the White House, he did so with a platform not just soaked in bigotry but engineered to roll back civil rights and diversity efforts on every front. And while his white base cheered, many of his Black allies—those donning MAGA hats and taking up seats on the frontlines of his rallies—chose loyalty over principle, muting themselves as a wave of white nationalist policymaking targets their communities.

Their silence began long before Inauguration Day. During the 2024 campaign, Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally drew fire after a comedian on the lineup referred to Puerto Rico as “garbage.” But that wasn’t the only racist moment. As Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, one of Trump’s most visible Black surrogates, walked onto the stage, the campaign blasted “Dixie”—a song revered by the Confederacy and white nationalists. Donalds said nothing. And neither did the rest of Black MAGA. That same silence echoed in Springfield, Ohio, when Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, spread a false and racist claim that Haitian immigrants were “eating cats and dogs.” The fabrication was met with horror from civil rights advocates and journalists. But Trump’s Black supporters? Not a word.

Black MAGA loyalists, many of whom cite values, religion, and personal ambition as their rationale, have essentially normalized the very racism that their grandparents fought to dismantle. Pew Research shows that while only 4% of Black Americans identify as Republicans, those who do often express a belief that the GOP better represents their values—even as those values are trampled by the very administration they support. One study published in Sociological Inquiry found that Black Republicans often “reframe racism in a way that makes their alignment with white conservatives more palatable,” even when it involves rationalizing policies that harm Black communities. And harm is precisely what Trump’s policies are doing. Since taking office, Trump has issued a barrage of executive orders aimed at eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government. Agencies that serve minority communities have faced massive defunding, DEI offices have been shuttered, and civil rights enforcement has all but disappeared. As noted in The Hill, the goal is not just the destruction of policy—it’s the erasure of progress itself.

“Every act of Trump’s second term has been a white-nationalist signal,” wrote one analyst in The American Prospect, calling MAGA an “identity movement” that champions white grievance over democratic principle. There is little space for Blackness, except as a prop. And yet, some Black Trump supporters defend the administration with defiance. One such supporter, who canvassed for Trump in 2024, told The Independent he was called the N-word by fellow conservatives. Rather than walking away, he doubled down on his allegiance. The consequences of this allegiance are becoming deadly clear. As TIME reported, nearly 20% of Trump supporters said freeing the slaves was a mistake. According to The Washington Post, support for Trump has long been fueled more by racial resentment than economic concerns, and that resentment has now translated into policy.

A report from Press Watch concluded that Trump’s base continues to be driven by a desire to protect white dominance and suppress nonwhite progress, particularly through culture war battles over schools, immigration, and federal hiring. Even academic journals have noted that wearing a MAGA hat has become “a proxy for racialized identity”—an affirmation of white supremacy, no matter who’s wearing it. Meanwhile, The Conversation documented how MAGA’s rise has coincided with increased armed intimidation at polling places, violent rhetoric against journalists, and calls to monitor so-called “urban” neighborhoods—all with Trump’s encouragement. The Black MAGA base has not only failed to object—they’ve offered Trump moral cover. Whether out of personal ambition, political opportunity, or delusion, they’ve made peace with racists, while the administration they uphold works tirelessly to erase the freedoms won through generations of Black struggle. As The American Prospect put it: “Trump’s MAGA identity is a movement rooted in white identity politics. That some Black Americans have chosen to stand inside of it doesn’t make it less racist—it makes it more dangerous”