College apologizes for racist past

Columbia, S.C.

College apologizes for racist past

Bob Jones University has apologized for racist policies, including a one-time ban on interracial dating and its unwillingness to admit black students until 1971.

The private fundamentalist Christian school founded in 1927 said its rules on race were shaped by culture instead of the Bible, according to a statement on the university's Web site.

The university, with about 5,000 students, didn't begin admitting black students until nearly 20 years after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling found public segregated schools were unconstitutional. The interracial dating ban was lifted in March 2000, not long after the policy became an issue in the Republican presidential primary that year.

Eddyville, Ky.

Man executed for killing 2 children

A Kentucky inmate who resisted all appeals to stop his execution was put to death Friday for murdering two children.

In the state's first execution in nine years, Marco Allen Chapman, 37, was given a lethal injection at the Kentucky State Penitentiary.

He pleaded guilty in 2004 to killing Chelbi Sharon, 7, and Cody Sharon, 6. He asked to be executed and fought for the right to fire his attorneys to clear the way.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Chapman said before his execution.

Seattle Times news services