Politics

Where does Dr. Ben Carson go next? On NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, he told David Gregory that he still doesn’t have plans for a White House run—but only after he edged in ever so slightly last week, suggesting to the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes that he’s “starting to feel it.” It’s the sort of careful…

Subtle, everyday racism, especially within the criminal justice system, is far more harmful than racist outburst, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told graduates Saturday during a commencement address at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md. He described racist outbursts, such as those by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, as…

On the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, President Barack Obama described the 1954 case as the first major step in dismantling the “separate but equal” doctrine that had justified Jim Crow, according to statement released by the White House. “As we commemorate this historic anniversary, we recommit…

The NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, has named Cornell William Brooks its 18th president and chief executive officer. The New Jersey-based civil rights lawyer, human rights activist and ordained minister, replaces interim leader Lorraine C. Miller, who filled the vacancy created by Benjamin Jealous’ departure at the end of 2013. “With…

First lady Michelle Obama issued a warning Friday about the return of school segregation nearly 60 years after it was struck down by the Supreme Court’s decision in the pivotal Brown v. Board of Education, according to a statement released by the White House. Speaking to about 1,200 graduating high school seniors and their families…

In the state of Maine, you’re more likely to bump into a Democrat or Independent than a Republican, so being a black Republican and living in a town that has not elected a Republican state representative in decades, I understand what it’s like to be in the minority. But being in the minority didn’t stand…

That an embattled African National Congress won the latest round of South African elections was not at all surprising. However, this particular election was a curious inflection point in the post-Mandela era, presenting a number of alarming transitions for what was, up until very recently, Africa’s most powerful and stable democracy.  In the wistful wake of…

When I grew up in Newark, N.J., in the 1970s and early 1980s, Kenneth Gibson held office as the city’s first black mayor. He had a famous quote: “Wherever American cities are going, Newark will get there first.” In his postelection speech Tuesday, Newark Mayor-elect Ras Baraka thanked Gibson for the phrase and repeated it.…