Politics
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Vote for Your America: The Root Joins Groundbreaking Voter-Engagement Campaign
No one is expecting the turnout of African-American voters in 2016 to reach the record-shattering numbers of 2008, when Barack Obama lit up the black electorate. But there are critical issues at stake for the black community—the Supreme Court, job growth, health care, criminal justice—with the choice of the next president and other officeholders hanging…
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Nev. Democratic Party at Fault for ‘English Only’ Controversy
After legendary human rights and political activist—and longtime Hillary Clinton supporter—Dolores Huerta was silenced while attempting to provide English-to-Spanish translation services Saturday at a Las Vegas Democratic caucus gathering at Harrah’s Casino, the hashtag #EnglishOnly swiftly began trending online, and supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) found themselves playing defense across social media. “The Bernie organizers…
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Democracy in Black: 3 Writers Wrestle With President Obama’s Blackness
The shade that one Black Lives Matter activist threw President Barack Obama Thursday while declining an invitation to a White House Black History Month event only seemed surprising to those not paying attention. During both of Obama’s terms, and even before, a visible minority of black activists—some prominent, some not, and from different age groups—have…
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‘I’m Not Being Exploited’: Sandra Bland’s Mother Talks Endorsing Hillary Clinton
The Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns are trying everything in their power to show that they’re friends of the African-American community. Beyond obvious cultural pandering like dabbing and Nae Nae-ing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Democratic candidates have spoken about and offered more policies specifically targeted at the black community than almost any…
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Leading From Behind: Obama Flinches on Supreme Court Pick
Barack Obama has been lying to us. Not about whether he’s a liberal or a conservative, or something trivial like his golf handicap. Obama has been lying to America about what kind of president he is. After the 2014 midterms, Obama finally acknowledged that the Republicans would rather see the entire country go to hell in…
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Why the 400 Years of African American History Act Is So Important
In recent years we’ve commemorated the English and Spanish heritage of our nation’s founding. In 2007 we marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Va., by English colonists. In 2015 we celebrated the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, Fla. Both the English and Spanish commemorations included activities sponsored by federal…
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Antonin Scalia’s Death Opens Up a Supreme Court Seat, and the Republicans Want to Keep It That Way
Antonin Scalia, the hard-core conservative U.S. Supreme Court justice who said, among other things, that blacks might want to attend “slower” schools because they may do better there, died Saturday morning, just hours before the Republican presidential candidates pledged at a debate that if they got to be president, they would put somebody on the…
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Rep. John Lewis Wants to See Bernie Sanders’ Civil Rights Receipts
Rep. John Lewis, civil rights icon, lawmaker and Hillary Clinton supporter, intentionally or unintentionally called out Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ civil rights bona fides Thursday. Lewis, who was among several members of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Clinton’s presidential bid, was asked whether Sanders’ involvement in the civil rights movement swayed him. It did…
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About That Stump Speech, Bernie? Most Black Folks Haven’t Seen the Inside of a Jail
With the Democratic primary headed to South Carolina and Nevada Feb. 20, now’s the time when you can put some money on the market. Iowa, followed by New Hampshire, offered a juicy appetizer. Yet both were as white and middle-class as a row of picket fences in a Hallmark Channel movie. Bernie Sanders’ once mythical,…
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Bernie and Hillary Want to Know: Who Would Trayvon Martin Vote For?
As the race for the Democratic nomination gets tighter, the serious gaps between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and the black Democratic voters they seek become more and more apparent. The Clinton name in the black community has retroactively sunk faster than the names Tavis Smiley, Bill Cosby and Stacey Dash combined. Her…

