Politics
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Obama Must Push for True Education Reform
With the debt ceiling behind him, President Obama remains saddled with a massive task that may not get as much attention as the economy but is the basis for it: reforming education. Over the past two years, Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have managed not to offer key leadership in the rewriting of…
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VIDEO: Obama to Perry: Be More Careful
Gov. Rick Perry and GOP presidential contender Rick Perry made headlines this week when he was asked by a reporter whether he was suggesting that Obama did not love America. Perry replied, “You need to ask him,” and later suggested that Fed Chair Ben Bernanke might, in fact, be “treasonous” for playing politics by printing…
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Is Cain's Campaign Crashing?
Politico reports that Herman Cain, who once appeared to be one of the stronger GOP candidates, is set to become a “campaign afterthought.” A former Godfather’s Pizza CEO who became an Atlanta-based talk-radio host after leaving the business world, Cain finished fifth in Saturday’s straw poll, suggesting that he lacks the grassroots or organizational support…
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Breaking Up With Boyfriend Barack
It’s not surprising that so many people get defensive over President Barack Obama. In many cases, it’s completely understandable. When you hear that a Republican congressman referred to the nation’s first black president as a “tar baby,” you’re rightfully infuriated. The same can be said when condescending Wall Street Journal writers question his intelligence. Worse…
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The 'Hope and Change' Air Is Getting Thin
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Laura S. Washington urges President Obama to be bold and lose the “squishy hokum” as he seeks re-election. She also calls on him to develop a viable economic plan, among other things. No change from “change.” That’s the message President Barack Obama left Chicago after his Aug. 3 whirlwind birthday/campaign stop at…
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Who Will Tell the Truth About Tottenham?
It has been nine days since I stood on Tottenham High Road and watched my first barbershop burned down by boys who fought with stones and fire against a police more David than Goliath. That Saturday, the High Road that once connected Roman London with the city of York became a carnival of smoke, shattered…
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High-Speed Rail Races to the USA?
When a high-speed rail train crashed in eastern China last month, questions arose about their safety. Many wondered aloud if the bullet trains should be brought to the United States. Sen. Malcolm A. Smith (D-N.Y.) was the recipient of a number of those questions through phone calls and emails, he recently told The Root. He,…
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Water Shortage: 6 Things to Know
Most Americans take drinking water for granted, turning on the tap and getting a fresh, clean supply. That’s not the case in every region, however, and dwindling resources make access to potable water an emerging, coast-to-coast problem. The Root spoke with organizations that are addressing the H2O shortage about why it’s happening, whom it most…
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Latest Salvo in Attack on Poor in America
James Baldwin, the acclaimed African-American novelist and poet, famously wrote, “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” Baldwin was speaking of the psychological complexity of socioeconomic disparities. His observations were specifically of the African-American community at the height of segregation in the 1960s, but the concept…