Latest / The Breakfast Club / California School District Accused of Bias, Byron Donalds Courts Black Voters, Amazon Issues $7M Refund

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California School District Accused of Bias, Byron Donalds Courts Black Voters, Amazon Issues $7M Refund · The Breakfast Club

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: California says a school district was punishing black students more
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: harshly than other kids. Now the state is stepping in.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: And Byron Daniels wants to be Florida's first black governor.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: But first, the Republican congressman has to convince more black
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: voters to support him.
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  Speaker 2: I'm just going to be blunt. Stop moving like a monolith.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: And thousands of Amazon Prime customers are getting money back
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  Speaker 1: after paying full price for a service the city says
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: they weren't actually getting. It's Monday, October 12th. From the
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Black Effect Podcast Network, I'm Amy Brown. This is Front Page,
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  Speaker 1: and here are the day's biggest stories. Stay with me.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: California says a Sacramento area school district was disciplining black
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  Speaker 1: students and students with disabilities more harshly than other kids.
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  Speaker 1: And now the state is stepping in. The district is
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  Speaker 1: Natonomous United. The state looked at seven years of discipline
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  Speaker 1: records from 2018 through 2025, and here's what investigators found.
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  Speaker 1: Black students and students with disabilities were being sent for
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  Speaker 1: discipline at much higher rates, and when they got in trouble,
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  Speaker 1: they were more likely to receive the most serious punishment,
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  Speaker 1: being suspended from school or expelled altogether. And investigators found
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  Speaker 1: another problem. Some students, including kids as young as kindergarten,
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  Speaker 1: were suspended for something called willful defiance. That's things like
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  Speaker 1: refusing to follow directions or talking back. But California has
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  Speaker 1: restricted schools from suspending younger students for that. The state
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  Speaker 1: also says the district improperly gave some students confidential records
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  Speaker 1: to outside groups without getting permission from their parents. So
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  Speaker 1: now the district has agreed to make changes. For the
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  Speaker 1: next two years, it has to rewrite its discipline rules
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  Speaker 1: train staff every year, review expulsions, and hold sessions for
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  Speaker 1: parents explaining their rights. And California isn't just taking the
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  Speaker 1: district's word for it. The state will be watching to
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  Speaker 1: make sure those changes actually happen. Attorney General Rob Bonta
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  Speaker 1: says every child should have the same opportunity to succeed
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  Speaker 1: in school. The district cooperated with the investigation, and the
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  Speaker 1: state says some changes were already underway. And Florida Congressman
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  Speaker 1: Byron Donalds wants to make history. He's running to become
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  Speaker 1: Florida's first Black governor. But to do that, the Republican
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  Speaker 1: congressman is trying to win over more Black voters, including
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  Speaker 1: people who traditionally vote Democratic.
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  Speaker 2: The last thing I would say, especially, you know, here
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  Speaker 2: at FAM, but really across the board, I'm just going
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  Speaker 2: to be blunt. Stop moving like a monolith. Black people
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  Speaker 2: have since 1963-ish, black people have largely supported the Democrat Party.
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  Speaker 2: Have they actually followed through with what they said? Have
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  Speaker 2: they actually done all the things that they've promised? You've
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  Speaker 2: been faithful to that party. Have they been faithful to you?
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  Speaker 2: I think for black people in particular, I think us
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  Speaker 2: making our own political decisions is more important today than
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  Speaker 2: it ever has been. Because as a Republican, I'm not
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  Speaker 2: telling you, I'm asking you to vote for me because
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  Speaker 2: I'm talking about policy. I think everybody should be making
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  Speaker 2: those decisions based upon the research that they have done,
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  Speaker 2: not because they see what is happening through the black community.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Donald is a close ally of President Trump. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump often sent Donald out
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  Speaker 1: to make the Republican Party's case to Black voters. Now
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Donald is making that case for himself. His campaign has
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  Speaker 1: been meeting with Black businesses and community leaders and planning
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  Speaker 1: ads specifically aimed at Black audiences. He's also picked up
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  Speaker 1: endorsements from some Black leaders, including two Democratic officials who
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  Speaker 1: crossed party lines to support him. Donald says his message
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  Speaker 1: is simple. He wants everybody's vote.
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  Speaker 2: And, you know, for me, I've been involved now 16
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  Speaker 2: years in politics. I've heard the same promises year after
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  Speaker 2: year after year after year after year. I would ask
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  Speaker 2: Black people in Florida, Black people in America, have they delivered?
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  Speaker 2: That's a question for people to think about when they
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  Speaker 2: go home.
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  Speaker 1: But he's getting pushback. Some Black leaders point to Donald's
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  Speaker 1: opposition to federal voting rights legislation. Others point to comments
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  Speaker 1: he made about Jim Crow era. Donald said black families
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  Speaker 1: were together during that period and voted more conservatively. Critics
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  Speaker 1: said he appears to be talking positively about black Americans
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  Speaker 1: during segregation. Donald says that's not what he meant and
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  Speaker 1: that his words were taken out of context. There's also immigration.
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  Speaker 1: Florida has one of the country's largest Haitian communities. And
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  Speaker 1: Donald has defended the Trump administration's decision to end TPS status,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Temporary Protected Status, for Haitians, a program that allowed some
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Haitian immigrants to legally live and work in the United
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  Speaker 1: States because returning to Haiti was considered unsafe. Election Day
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  Speaker 1: in Florida is November 3rd. And thousands of Amazon Prime
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  Speaker 1: customers in Washington, D.C. are getting some of their money back,
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  Speaker 1: and here's why. People pay for Prime for several benefits,
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  Speaker 1: but one of the biggest is fast delivery. But D.C.
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  Speaker 1: 's attorney general says customers in two predominantly black neighborhoods
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  Speaker 1: were paying the full price membership without getting the same
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  Speaker 1: delivery service as customers in other parts of the city.
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  Speaker 1: This happened in two zip codes east of the Anacostia River,
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  Speaker 1: 20019 and 2020. Amazon stopped using its own delivery drivers there. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: packages were handed off to UPS and the Postal Service.
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  Speaker 1: And according to the city, that made delivery slower. But
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  Speaker 1: here's the problem. Customers were not told about the change.
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  Speaker 1: They continued paying the same prime membership fee for nearly
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  Speaker 1: four years. And now Amazon has agreed to pay $ 8. 2
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  Speaker 1: million to settle the case. Most of that money, $ 7. 25 million,
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  Speaker 1: will go back to customers. About 69,000 people are expected
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  Speaker 1: to receive refunds. The remaining $ 1 million goes to the
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  Speaker 1: city as a penalty. Amazon says there's another side to this.
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  Speaker 1: The company says it stopped using its own deliveries in
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  Speaker 1: those neighborhoods because of safety concerns. And Amazon says settling
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  Speaker 1: the case does not mean it admits any wrongdoing. But
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: DC's attorney general says the issue isn't simply that Amazon
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  Speaker 1: changed how packages were delivered, it's that customers weren't told
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  Speaker 1: they weren't getting different services while still paying the same price.
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  Speaker 1: And now they're getting some of that money back. That's
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  Speaker 1: your Front Page. I'm Mimi Brown. This podcast was brought
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network.