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Could More Blacks in Banking Have Prevented the Meltdown?
Last month Politico reported on a “little-noticed” section of the Wall Street reform bill. It gives the feds power to kill contracts with firms that fail to initiate workplace diversity. The law requires “fair inclusion” of women and minorities and “goes further than previous attempts by regulators to promote diversity in the financial sector.” The…
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The Week in Obama for August 9
It’s a relatively simple week for Obama. After a weekend spent goofing off with some basketball greats, Monday will find the president consorting with the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. After that, he’ll fly to Austin, Texas, to give a quick speech about education at the University of Texas at Austin. On Tuesday, like…
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Voting Rights Act at 45: What's to Celebrate?
Nearly half a century after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law by President Johnson on August 6, 1965, 96 percent of African-American voters voted for a president who looked like them for the first time in the nation’s existence. It was a big victory for blacks — politically minded…
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Black Conservatives Bar Press from National Gathering
A throng of black conservatives is meeting at the National Press Club today and, somewhat ironically, barring the press from their proceedings. More than a dozen right-wing African American leaders—some of them more infamous than famous—are set to speak at the event, including Alan Keyes, Star Parker, Timothy F. Johnson of the Frederick Douglass Foundation,…
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What's With Obama's High Approval Ratings Among Blacks?
Beginning last week, President Obama’s approval rating is now the lowest it’s ever been, with just 45 percent of Americans saying they’re satisfied with the job he’s doing, according to Gallup. With the economy still flagging, the WikiLeaks fiasco looming over Afghanistan and an embarrassing run-in with new populist hero Shirley Sherrod, the president, who…
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Why Tom Vilsack Should Keep His Job
The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association is calling for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to resign in the wake of a fiasco that saw USDA employee Shirley Sherrod fired unnecessarily late last month. In a press release, BFAA President Thomas Burrell, whose organization represents more than 10,000 black farmers or their heirs, says: [The] USDA and…
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Virginia Takes First Step in Rejecting Health Care Reform
The state of Virginia’s lawsuit challenging President Obama’s landmark health care reform bill has circumvented its first legal blockade today. Despite the Justice Department’s protestations, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson refused to dismiss the suit, which claims that Congress can not force Americans to purchase health insurance under penalty of fine. Earlier this year, the…
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The Week in Obama for August 2
After pledging to withdraw America’s combat forces in Iraq by the end of August, this month is set to be one of Obama’s most important thus far. Naturally, he’s starting it with a bang, with a speech at the national convention of Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta, Georgia. Here, the president will outline the plan…
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Why Diabetes and Haircuts Go Together Perfectly
Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings today introduced a resolution to recognize the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, an initiative that attempts to improve the health of the black community by going to that community in barbershops and hair salons, long known to be informal meeting places for African Americans. Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings today introduced a…
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Obama Strikes Back and Defends His Educational Initiative
In his address to the National Urban League’s Centennial Conference in Washington, D.C., this morning, President Barack Obama laid out the future of America’s embroiled educational plan while also chastising some of the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Prefacing the meat of his speech by saying, ”I was elected not just to do…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
