Week of April 16 to 22

April 16

1862—President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill ending slavery in Washington, D.C. Approximately nine months later he would issue the Emancipation Proclamation which had a highly emotional and symbolic impact but actually freed very few slaves when it was first pronounced. The Proclamation targeted slaves in the South. But at the time, Lincoln had virtually no control over the rebellious slave-owning Southern states.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

PATERSON, N.J. (AP)—A New Jersey school district suspended a first-grade teacher after parents complained that she had posted derogatory comments about her students on her Facebook page.

The Record newspaper reports that the teacher wrote about feeling like “a warden” and referred to her 6- and 7-year-old students as future criminals.

The teacher, whose name was not disclosed, was removed from the classroom this week after several parents who saw the posts came to Paterson School 21 and asked that their children be removed from her class.

by Angela Delli Santi
Associated Press Writer

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. (AP)—Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis says he'll run again—for New Jersey Senate.

The 49-year-old New Jersey native announced his bid to represent his hometown of Willingboro on Monday.

“When I run—as you see from my record—I run to win,” Lewis said outside a historic courthouse in his home county, where he announced his candidacy with his mother and other family members standing nearby.

IN THE RACE—Former Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, right, gets a hug and kiss from his mother, Evelyn Lewis, after he announced his candidacy for a New Jersey state Senate seat, April 11, in Mount Holly, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

by Nope Yen

WASHINGTON (AP)—With more Blacks moving from city to suburb, the National Urban League says it is worried states may improperly seek to stem the political clout of African-Americans as they spread into historically White districts.

TROUBLED BY CENSUS—Urban League CEO Marc Morial speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

The leader of the 101-year-old organization also says he is troubled by complaints from big-city mayors, such as those in New York and Detroit, who contend large pockets of their residents were missed in the 2010 census. Blacks historically have been more likely to be missed in the decennial count and preliminary numbers for 2010 suggest that could have happened again.

“We have to give consideration as to whether there is an undercount,” Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, told The Associated Press.