Politics
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Obama Should Take More Vacation, Not Less
It’s that time of year again—the time when many take summer vacation, and the time when many will criticize President Barack Obama for doing so. I’m not one of these critics. In fact, I may be one of the few people in America now genuinely convinced that the president should take more vacation time, not…
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Army Set to Dismiss More Black Officers Than White
The Army is prepared to dismiss 550 of its 17,000 majors, with black officers bearing more of the brunt of the cuts than any other ethnic group, according to Army personnel documents, USA Today reports. Records show that 10 percent of black majors are being let go, while 8 percent of Latino and 5.6 percent of…
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Calif. Senate Wants to Make Sure Students Learn About the 1st Black President
The California state Senate is attempting to make sure that students learn about the meaning of Barack Obama’s presidency long after his two terms in office. On Thursday it approved a bill by a 30-1 vote that would encourage schools to give lessons about the historic nature of Obama’s status as the United States’ first black…
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Both Sides of the Aisle Back Bob Johnson’s ‘Rooney Rule’—and That’s a Good Thing
These days, a conservative expressing public support for Obamacare is considered controversial. But a conservative expressing support for the idea that racial inequality still plays a significant-enough role in society that we need policy remedies to address it? That may be considered politically suicidal. But Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the lone black Republican…
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Obama Praises US-Africa Leaders Summit
President Obama concluded the three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit on Wednesday by praising it as “an extraordinary event” that has the potential to be “a forcing mechanism for decisions and action,” the Washington Post reports. He added that the gathering of U.S. officials and nearly 50 African heads of state in Washington, D.C., “will be a…
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Russians Project Laser Image of Obama Eating Banana on US Embassy in Moscow
President Barack Obama hasn’t been getting a lot of love in Russia these days, and reinforcing that message, protesters projected a racially charged image onto the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Monday as he celebrated his 53rd birthday, the Huffington Post reports. The image, which was projected by laser beams, depicted Obama in a birthday hat with…
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Social Conservatism Is the Way the GOP Can Win With Black Voters
The black electorate is back en vogue. After saving Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran from defeat in the Republican primary just months after propelling Democrat Terry McAuliffe to Virginia’s governorship, black America has demonstrated that it indeed can determine the outcome of elections. More important, perhaps, is the subtext of these results: The black vote is…
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We Must Restore the Promise of the Voting Rights Act
Forty-nine years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Nearly a century ago, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution stated, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color…
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PHOTOS: Obamas Host African Leaders at a Dinner Soiree
Although the event wasn’t billed as a state dinner, it most certainly had an air to it. Dignitaries and heads of state in attendance for the three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit were feted Tuesday night at the White House. Chief of Protocol Peter Selfridge told the Washington Post that he was prepared to pull out all the…
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Why Nigeria Is Africa’s Too-Big-to-Fail Nation
If there was one person attending this week’s deftly staged U.S-Africa Leaders Summit that wanted the word “Ebola” to dominate every headline, it would probably be Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Anything to keep Boko Haram out of the discussion. Nigeria’s bad boys have managed to position themselves from little-known band of pseudo-Islamic thugs taking selfies…