LOS ANGELES, June 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Allen Media
Group Founder/Chairman/CEO, Byron
Allen, today announced his call to action to strengthen the
original civil rights act in America, which was put into law in the
year 1866, has successfully achieved political support in both
houses of Congress. Today, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (CT), Cory Booker (NJ), and Ron Wyden (OR) along with Representatives
Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and Mondaire
Jones (NY-17) introduced the Economic Inclusion Civil Rights Act of
2021 -- legislation that would amend and strengthen Section 1981,
the nation's oldest federal civil rights law enacted as part of the
Civil Rights Act of 1866. This is the same civil rights statute
that was at issue in the case Allen litigated to a decision in the
U.S. Supreme Court.
This companion legislation would revitalize Section 1981's
original goal of achieving true economic inclusion for all people
in the U.S. by overturning several U.S. Supreme Court decisions
that restricted minorities' ability to prove racial discrimination
in contracting decisions. The legislation would allow plaintiffs to
prove illegal racial discrimination through actual discriminatory
effects, rather than the harder-to-prove 'discriminatory intent'
standard, and by showing that race was one of several material
factors, not the only factor, in denying racial minorities the
ability to enter contracts. A wide range of stakeholders from
academia, business, and law voice strong support for the
measure.
"I personally campaigned for this legislation, and I truly
appreciate U.S. Senators Richard
Blumenthal, Cory Booker and
Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives
Jamie Raskin and Mondaire Jones for
supporting my call to action with their heartfelt dedication and
tireless efforts in expanding and improving upon Section 1981 to
achieve racial justice and economic inclusion for all Americans,
especially for African Americans, the furthest left behind
economically," said Byron Allen,
Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. "I believe the Economic
Inclusion Civil Rights Act of 2021, when enacted, will benefit not
only African Americans who have been shut out of our economy, but
all Americans who want greater prosperity and fairness for
everyone."
"It is very difficult to prove intentional discrimination, and
unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court has greatly weakened
the protections of Section 1981, which is essential for remedying
the pervasive racial discrimination and inequalities in the
American economy," said Dean Erwin
Chemerinsky of the University of
California, Berkeley, School of Law. "Congress can and must
remedy this through the proposed legislation."
About Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios
Chairman
and CEO Byron Allen
founded Allen Media Group/Entertainment
Studios in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh. Allen Media Group owns 23
ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in
19 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving
nearly 180 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL,
PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV,
ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV,
THEGRIO.TV, THIS TV, LOCAL NOW TV, and
PATTRN. Allen Media Group will add its thirteenth
network, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPANOL in 2021.
Allen Media Group also owns LOCAL NOW and
THE GRIO free-streaming AVOD services, powered
by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which
delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and
lifestyle information. Allen Media Group also produces,
distributes, and sells advertising for 67 television programs,
making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of
first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast
television stations. Allen Media Group International
Television continues to extend its corporate branding and
content around the globe. It currently has active
license agreements and programming in South Africa, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, The Bahamas, Canada and New
Zealand. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned
content across multiple genres, Allen Media Group
provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable
television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the
World Wide Web. Our mission is to provide excellent
programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500
advertising partners.
Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is a
full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company
specializing in wide release commercial content. ESMP released
2017's highest-grossing independent movie, the shark
thriller 47 METERS DOWN, which grossed over
$44.3 million. In 2018, ESMP also
released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful
Western HOSTILES, the historic
mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK and the sequel
to 47 METERS DOWN, 47 METERS DOWN:
UNCAGED. The digital distribution unit
of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle
Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with
direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming
platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track
record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital
Media is a true home for independent films.
In 2016, Allen Media Group purchased The
Grio, a highly-rated digital video-centric news community
platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling
stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing
national news outlets. The Grio features aggregated and
original video packages, news articles and opinion pieces on topics
that include breaking news, politics, health, business and
entertainment. Originally launched in 2009, the platform was then
purchased by NBC News in 2010. The digital platform remains focused
on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than
100 million annual visitors. For more information, visit:
www.entertainmentstudios.com
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-senators-and-congressmen-respond-to-byron-allens-call-to-action-to-revise-and-update-federal-civil-rights-law-301319899.html
SOURCE Allen Media Group