U.S. Senators And Congressmen Respond To Byron Allen's Call To Action To Revise And Update Federal Civil Rights Law

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

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SOURCE Allen Media Group