Politics
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How the Sequester Crosses the Color Line
(The Root) — For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Voters have twice elected an African-American president, and Republicans have twice responded with obstinance — by waging an intellectual civil war. Voter-suppression efforts were insufficient to deliver a Romney victory, but strategically gerrymandered districts guaranteed that Speaker John Boehner and his Republican-dominated…
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6 of Hip-Hop's Least Likely Supporters
(The Root) — With the debate raging over gun control, the folks behind creative enterprises from video games to Hollywood are facing criticism regarding their potentially negative influence on impressionable Americans. Music is not immune. Hip-hop has long been one of conservative America’s favorite punching bags, with Republicans and Democrats alike criticizing the genre for…
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Romney on 47 Percent Gaffe: 'Not What I Meant'
Mitt Romney is back and reflecting on how he lost the White House to President Obama. On Sunday, the former Republican presidential hopeful talked to Fox News about one of his biggest campaign mistakes and his struggle to connect with minority voters, writes the Hill. Looking back at his presidential bid, Romney said he was hurt by…
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How Climate Change Affects People of Color
(Special to The Root) — Chances are, if you are a person of color, climate change isn’t at the top of your list of concerns. President Barack Obama’s remarks on the issue in his State of the Union address and inaugural speech weren’t what made you cheer. Finding a job, keeping the lights and heat…
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Angola 3 Member Wins Court Order
A Louisiana man whose more than 40 years of solitary confinement was driven, his supporters say, by the racial bias of state prison officials and prosecutors has won a court order that ostensibly overturns what his international coterie of advocates also contend was a wrongful murder conviction. Louisiana Attorney General James D. “Buddy” Caldwell said…
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Michelle O's Polite Dismissal of Oscar Haters: 'Not Surprising'
In certain circles, Michelle Obama gets criticized just for existing in the body and skin she was born with. So it’s no shock at all that plenty of Americans had negative reactions to the first lady’s Sunday-night satellite appearance at the Academy Awards. As the Associated Press put it, the broadcast “provoked a national conversation…
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SCOTUS Dispatch: 'Hush Fell' Over Courtroom
(Special to The Root) — When our clients from Shelby County, Ala., arrived at the Washington, D.C., offices of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund the night before Supreme Court oral argument in the case challenging the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act, they had a lot to say. They had stories to tell…
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Will Sotomayor Get Her Wish for Unbiased Law?
(Special to The Root) — “I hope never to see a case like this again.” With these words, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ended a rare and sharp rebuke (pdf) of a federal prosecutor in Texas for racially charged remarks he made during the criminal trial of Bongani Charles Calhoun. Calhoun, an African American, was…
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First Lady Needs to Raise Her Game
The Washington Post’s Courtland Milloy wishes Michelle Obama would do serious work for the education of girls and skip the lighthearted television appearances. It’s time for first lady Michelle Obama to raise her game. Nothing wrong with telling kids to eat their peas or showing them how to Hula-Hoop. But after four years of focusing…
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Save Our Endangered Voting Rights
(Special to The Root) — In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act and called it a “triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield.” But this past election season we were back on the battlefield, waging a nonviolent struggle against the greatest wave…