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The Perils of Black Power
What is wrong with these black politicians? The headlines in the papers are dominated by black elected officials in trouble. There’s Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., stepping aside (temporarily) as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Then there’s Marion Barry, the former Washington, D.C., mayor, stripped of his chairmanship of a city council…
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The Root Interview: David Levering Lewis
David Levering Lewis had just gotten off a plane in Morocco after a long flight from the U.S. He and his wife registered at their hotel in Rabat. A waitress served them breakfast, then burst into tears and lost her French when she learned they were American. Lewis wondered what her problem was. He then…
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A Health Care Summit Scorecard
The White House Health Care Summit didn’t quite live up to expectations. Obama didn’t end up laying down the law—and Republicans were far from cooperative. The eight-hour bull session moved through the four key areas: insurance regulations, deficit reduction, cost containment and expanded coverage. The 30-some lawmakers and White House staff in attendance chewed over…
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Depardieu Covers Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas played by a white actor? That’s the controversial role the ubiquitous French actor Gerard Depardieu has taken on in a new film called The Other Dumas. Dumas, author of such famous novels as “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Three Musketeers,” was the grandson of a freed Haitian slave and a French…
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Black History Today: A Profile of Historian Crystal Feimster
Crystal Feimster went to college thinking she was going to be an attorney. The legal profession’s loss was history’s gain. While she was still an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina, Feimster met a string of distinguished African-American historians who made history exciting, including Tera Hunter, Darlene Clark Hine and Clayborne Carson. “It’s one…
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Nothing Special for the Black Jobless
President Barack Obama did something Wednesday he hasn’t done until now in his first year in office; he had an exclusive meeting with civil rights leaders. The first African-American president of the U.S. met with the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network; Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, and Benjamin Jealous,…
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A Double Win for New Orleans
The city of New Orleans scored a double victory over a single weekend; it elected a mayor who could be a unifying force and its NFL team won the Super Bowl. Almost five years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, the two events portend better times for a town that has struggled to…
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Black Unemployment Is Not News
It’s interesting how some numbers don’t make the news. Friday’s announcement that unemployment in the U.S. had dropped to 9.5 percent was welcome, even if the gains turn out fragile or illusory. Most of the early news stories left out an even bigger number: black unemployment at 16.5 percent, black male unemployment a whopping 17.6…
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Kicking It in Davos
Once upon a time, the World Economic Forum was the place to be. The great, the rich and the powerful flocked to the tiny town of Davos in the Swiss mountains to talk about the great issues of the day. Davos hit its peak during the dot-com boom, when it seemed that 25-year-old paper billionaires…
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Haiti: A Historical Time Line
1492: Dec. 5, Columbus lands on a large island he names Isla Española (Spanish Island), later changed to Hispaniola. It is inhabited by Taino and Arawak Indians. 1503: First Africans brought to Hispaniola for labor after pleas from a Spanish priest who wants to save the Indians from extinction. 1592: Spanish governor executes Queen Anacaona,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
