Politics
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Grading Obama: Hugh B. Price
Has President Barack Obama’s first term embodied the idealism of the 2008 campaign? The answer is debatable, according to interviews with nine prominent black academics in the run-up to next year’s presidential election. For the sixth in the series, The Root interviewed Hugh B. Price, former head of the National Urban League and a senior…
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Your Take: The Fair Way Back From Recession
One of Occupy Wall Street’s greatest achievements thus far has been its aggressive — and very public — underscoring of what we have all known for a long time: America is a nation of tremendous, heartbreaking inequality. But in the midst of the public debate over whether the movement’s aims are always crystal clear, what…
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Grading Obama: Mark Anthony Neal
Whether or not President Barack Obama’s first term embodies the idealism of the 2008 campaign is debatable, according to interviews with nine prominent black academics in the run-up to next year’s presidential election. For the fifth in the series, The Root interviewed Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African-American studies at Duke University. Read…
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Cain Tears Up Over His Wife at Debate
The Des Moines Register is reporting that the six GOP presidential candidates on Saturday participated in an emotional forum, confessing to foibles, failures and hardships in Iowa. The two-hour Family Leader event seemed more like a gossipy television talk show, the site says, with tears and emotions overflowing. The influential Iowa-based evangelical Christian advocacy group…
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Grading Obama: Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Whether or not President Barack Obama’s first term embodies the idealism of the 2008 campaign is debatable, according to interviews with nine prominent black academics in the run-up to next year’s presidential election. For the fourth in the series, The Root interviewed Eddie S. Glaude Jr., chair of the Center for African American Studies at…
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Grading Obama: Ralph Richard Banks
Whether or not President Barack Obama’s first term embodies the idealism of the 2008 campaign is debatable, according to interviews with nine prominent black academics in the run-up to next year’s presidential election. For the third in the series, The Root interviewed Ralph Richard Banks, the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law at Stanford Law…
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Obama and Young Voters: 'Greater Together'
In October, President Obama’s re-election campaign launched the Greater Together initiative to rekindle the connection with young voters that helped fuel his successful bid in 2008, when he captured two-thirds of 18- to 29-year-olds who voted. Greater Together is reaching out to young Americans via Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. It’s also targeting…
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Are We Willing to Protect Our Children?
Our children often have a unique vantage point on the world adults have created. They see the contradictions between what we say and what we do. In the book Bitters in the Honey: Tales of Hope and Disappointment Across Divides of Race and Time, a white student at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.,…
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Herman Cain Gets Secret Service Protection
GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain now has Secret Service protection. Philip Elliott of the Associated Press is reporting that “Cain asked for the security and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and congressional leaders approved his request Thursday, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirmed.” It is being widely reported that Cain received threats, but no specific…
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Occupy Wall Street Marks 2-Month Anniversary
More than 200 arrests, hours of protest and one trip to Harlem marked the two-month anniversary since the Occupy Wall Street movement took over Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan and sparked worldwide demonstrations in solidarity. The day began with a morning march on Wall Street, billed by participants as a way to “shut down Wall…

