Politics
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Erasing Jim Crow Not So Easy in Alabama
(The Root) — Jim Crow, that feisty fictitious character that symbolized segregation in the South for decades, is alive, well and on the ballot in Alabama in Tuesday’s general election. And depending on whom you ask, he may just win again. Since 1901 the Alabama Constitution has included language that requires separate schools for whites…
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We Need 4 More Years of Michelle
Writing at Ebony, Michaela Angela Davis explains how the first lady sold her on Barack Obama, and why she thinks we all need to see the two of them in the White House for another term. … Ms. Obama presented herself like a free woman, for real. She was free to be smart, free to…
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The End of the Southern Strategy?
(The Root) — So much of this election cycle has focused on political maneuvers straight out of the Jim Crow era: voter-ID laws designed to suppress minority votes and race-baiting, ad hominem attacks on the president that have sought to frame him outside the American mainstream — which is sadly still considered white by default,…
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Republican Endorsed 'Darkey' 'Massa' Song
From Obama effigies and hate speech to coded racial commentary and flat-out lies, this campaign season has had no shortage of bizarre, infuriating and downright insane political moments. As the presidential election approaches, we’re collecting them here for a special edition of our Crazy Talk series. We couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried. Monday, Nov.…
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Obama's Day, Nov. 5: Campaigning in Wis., Ohio and Iowa
WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press SecretaryFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FORMONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2012 In the morning, the President will deliver remarks at a campaign event on MLK Boulevard in Madison, Wisconsin. The President’s remarks will be open to pre-credentialed media. Later in the morning, the President will depart from Madison, Wisconsin…
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Where Voter-ID Laws May Decide the Election
(The Root) — If there are two words that still-angry Democrats use as shorthand to summarize all that went wrong in the 2000 presidential election, those words might just be “hanging chads.” But “hanging chads” may soon be joined by “voter-I.D. laws” as the catchphrases progressives use while playing the blame game after a disappointing…
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How Race Plays in the 2012 Election
Associated Press polls show that as the country’s first black president nears the end of his first term, anti-African-American sentiment is up across the nation. Effigies of the president and other targets were seen in North Carolina, and the stereotypes many blacks thought we’d outpaced, like the welfare queen, reappeared. Imani Perry parses these moments…
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Give Obama 4 More Years to Finish
Many of us remember the image of the Rev. Jesse Jackson crying during President Obama’s victory speech in 2008. The civil rights activist put pen to paper for the Guardian to rally the president’s supporters. Obama has done the best he can, and it’s been good work, Jackson writes. So yes, when President Obama took office,…
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The Divided States of America
According to Touré, co-host of MSNBC’s The Cycle, Tuesday’s election boils down to two choices: President Obama, the cool guy who understands your problems but failed to fix them all in four years, and Mitt Romney, the Mad Men-esque guy who might fix your problems but doesn’t care about you. But what really worries the…
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MHP: Why Women Must Vote
According to MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, 76 laws limiting abortion were passed in 2012. Women, especially those who understand the importance of women’s health, therefore must vote. During an MSNBC election special entitled “Why Women Matter,” Harris-Perry spoke with Sandra Fluke, the woman verbally attacked by Republican pundit Rush Limbaugh earlier this year, and others…