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OTHER NEWS ROUND UP: Florida bans boot camps; black fraternities and sororities sue Converse; black historian challenges post office over black stamps.
*Six black fraternities and sororities are suing Converse Inc., claiming the shoe company used their colors and founding dates on sneakers without permission. According to the Dallas Morning News, the lawsuit in U.S. District Court claims trademark infringement and unfair competition over Converse's GREEKPAK basketball shoes, which it began selling in 2003 and has since discontinued. "Converse is using our trademark just as if they were to put Coca-Cola's marks on a shoe of theirs without asking to use it," Michael Pegues, a Dallas patent attorney and Alpha Phi Alpha leader, told the newspaper. Converse has said the Greek traditional colors and founding years are not trademarked. A Converse spokeswoman said in a statement that the company wants to resolve the matter but did not comment on the specific allegations. The original 2003 suit from groups Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta and Phi Beta Sigma was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle. In April, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned part of the ruling and returned the case to court.
The state of Florida has eliminated the military-style boot camps used to discipline juveniles in the wake of controversy surrounding the death of a 14-year-old boy in one of the state-run facilities. Under a bill that Gov. Jeb Bush signed Wednesday, young offenders will be sent to a residential program that bars physical discipline. They'll go through a full medical exam when they enter and leave their programs and have a hot line they can call in case of trouble. The $11 million program, which counties can voluntarily join, will also offer detainees job skills training, community service and counseling. "No child will have to go through what my child went through," said Robert Anderson, whose son, Martin Lee Anderson, died five months ago at the Bay County boot camp after being punched and kicked by guards.
*As stamp collectors prepare to leave the World Philatelic Exhibition in the Nation’s Capitol tomorrow, historian Lawrence Otis Graham says U.S. stamps ignore black achievements in politics, and that the Postal Service should put forth an effort to correct its historical failure. "The post office has paid tribute to white males in these jobs and quite appropriately created stamps to honor the first woman Senator (Hattie Caraway), as well as Hispanic American Senator Dennis Chavez," says Graham in a statement. "But as stamp collectors gather from around the world this week, we should ask why our nation has created stamps honoring artistic African Americans like singer Otis Redding, boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, and "Gone With the Wind" Mammy actress Hattie McDaniel, but withheld the same honor for blacks who served in distinguished elected offices. While these artists are deserving figures, the black stereotype being advanced by the omission of elected officials and emphasis on athletes and singers misrepresents our community." Graham says he has written letters voicing his frustration to “all 100 Senators.” The World Philatelic Exhibition in Washington D.C. began May 27 and ends Saturday.
