-
How Wall Street Can Make Money on Black Progress in America
In May the NAACP announced that Cornell Brooks, a 53-year old lawyer, minister and civil rights activist, would become its 18th president. Somehow, that news did not cause a ripple on the Dow Jones industrial average, the Nasdaq or the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Imagine Wall Street’s reaction if the NAACP had announced a…
-
Old-School Bigotry? We Need to Fight 21st-Century Racism
Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling have focused America’s attention on racism in a way we haven’t seen for many years. But their racism is an echo of centuries past, and the outraged response to it, as good as it feels, does nothing to address the virulent strain of racism…
-
Wall Street's Solution for Repeat Offenders?
(The Root) — One could argue that the barons of Wall Street don’t usually wake up in the morning wondering whether the decisions they make before sundown will advance or hinder America’s prison population. However, an experimental effort involving investment firm Goldman Sachs that will launch later this year may change all that. Earlier this…
-
Minimum Wage, Maximum Inequality?
(The Root) — In a gesture that was more political theater than legislative substance, last week Democrats in the House and Senate introduced a bill that would raise the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour to $9.80 by 2014. The bill has no chance of becoming law in this session of Congress.…
-
$4.79 a Gallon? That Ain't Regular!
When you grow up in a big California city, you learn at an early age that factors beyond your control can have a powerful impact on your life; factors like earthquakes, violence and whether your family lives in the mean flatlands or the glorious hills. This year, three young Californians have been forced to add…
-
‘Song Yet Sung’ Makes Freedom’s Bell Ring
It’s March of 1850 when James McBride’s new novel, “Song Yet Sung,” opens. That’s when Liz Spocott has the dream that makes her decide she’d rather be a 19th century slave than a 21st century black American. “She dreamed of Negroes driving horseless carriages on shiny rubber wheels with music booming throughout, and fat black…
-
'The Abstinence Teacher'
There is nothing particularly “black” about The Abstinence Teacher. Tom Perrotta’s new novel does not have any significant black characters. It is set in the kind of upper-middle-class suburban environment where the minorities are Indians or Persians rather than African Americans. And while a church plays a major role in the story, it’s a non-denominational,…
-
The American Embrace of Ignorance, and Why Blacks Need to Let Go.
Americans have always had an uneasy relationship with learning and those who pursue it. We are a nation that has made free public education a birthright, but we pay teachers the lowest salaries of any group of college-educated professionals. In the last two presidential elections, we’ve chosen a man of less-than-mediocre intellect whose thinking is…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
