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In Missouri, Everywhere: Voting Matters
Ever since this country was founded, access to the ballot has been intentionally restricted in order to keep people of color from voting. From North Carolina to Texas and Georgia, politicians are trying every trick in the book to stay in power. Rarely, however, does the attack on voting rights become as starkly illustrative of…
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Obama’s ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ Initiative Isn’t Discriminatory
It’s a luxury to sit from a perch of prosperity and privilege and then look down upon others, deeming what is right or wrong as viewed from the lens of willful ignorance or convenient denial. But that’s exactly what Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin did when she attacked President Barack Obama for his unveiling of…
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The School-to-Prison Pipeline Must Stop
The Advancement Project’s Judith Browne Dianis argues in a piece for the Huffington Post that we urgently need common sense school disciple. The school-to-prison pipeline — or, the system of extreme disciplinary practices that push young people out of school and into the criminal justice system — is often discussed from the angle of isolated…
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'Stand Your Ground' Should Be Repealed
(Special to The Root) — My heart aches for the parents of Jordan Russell Davis, the 17-year-old African-American high-school student brutally killed in Jacksonville, Fla. They’ll never get to see their son graduate from high school, pursue his dreams or grow into a man. Now, they must also contend with the shameful argument that his…
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Take Advantage of Early Voting
(Special to The Root) — On Oct. 1, citizens across the state of Ohio pitched tents and camped outside their polling places to be first in line for early voting. It may have sounded a bit drastic — after all, there was still a month to go before Election Day. But early voting has been…
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So You Think You Can Vote?
(Special to The Root) — A spate of photo-ID laws passed by right-wing legislatures in the past few years is threatening the ability of even registered voters to cast their ballots. Many people think, “What’s the big deal? Everybody has ID.” Well, it’s not that simple. New laws that have strict requirements for state-issued photo…
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When Temper Tantrums Become Criminal
Salecia Johnson cannot sleep at night. According to her mother, Constance Ruff, the 6-year-old wakes up repeatedly through the night screaming, “They’re coming to get me!” Last week the kindergartner was handcuffed and arrested by police at Creekside Elementary School in Milledgeville, Ga., and taken to the police station for having a temper tantrum after…
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Your Take: Our Ability to Vote Is in Peril
Today Americans are going to the polls to vote in state and local elections. But one year from now, millions of black Americans could find themselves shut out of that essential democratic right. Larry Butler, a longtime voter, may be one of those denied. Butler was born in 1926 in South Carolina. He remembers well the…
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How Conservatives Are Attacking Democracy
“Give us the ballot!” Martin Luther King Jr.’s words still resonate with many of us today. From the marches and protests in Selma, Ala., to the hundreds of voting-rights lawsuits to the on-the-ground slogan “One Man, One Vote,” the road to equal voting rights has not been easy, particularly for communities of color. This year…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
