Politics
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Black Civil War Re-Enactors Reclaim History
At the end of the Civil War in May 1865, a throng of Union soldiers marched along the streets of Washington, D.C., victorious in the Grand Review of the Armies. Missing at the march, however, were the surviving black soldiers who counted themselves among the ranks of nearly 200,000 African Americans who fought during the last…
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Barbara Lee: End the War Now
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) was the sole member of Congress to vote against the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, a decision all the more controversial against the backdrop of post-9/11 fear and pain. Nearly 10 years later, and in the wake of the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the progressive lawmaker tells The Root…
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Osama bin Laden Had Money Sewn Into Clothing
During a classified briefing Tuesday, the CIA informed Congress that Osama bin Laden was found with 500 euros — $740 – sewn into his clothing, along with two phone numbers, when he was killed. The Obama administration believes that bin Laden was prepared to escape the compound at any moment if alerted to an impending…
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Bush Declines Obama's Invitation to Ground Zero
Former President George W. Bush declined an invitation from President Obama to join him at Ground Zero tomorrow. “President Bush will not be in attendance on Thursday,” said his spokesman, David Sherzer. “He appreciated the invite but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight. He continues to celebrate with Americans…
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VIDEO: The Big Obama-Osama Mistake
“Obama — I mean Osama” has become an ever growing phrase among Americans following the news of Osama bin Laden’s death. While it’s a mistake usually attributed to Fox News and conservative pundits, it turns out that everyone’s guilty these days. Political notables Ted Kennedy and John Ashcroft were guilty of making the same mistake…
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I'm Not the French Obama!
Alain Dolium is almost an oxymoron: He’s a black French politician. A businessman and candidate for France’s National Assembly in 2012, Dolium is indeed a rare breed. Despite the country’s rich mix of whites, blacks from Africa and the Caribbean, and an Arab-Muslim population of more than 5 million, the French political establishment is almost…
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Donna Brazile: Voter Photo ID Not the Answer
In the month since political analyst Donna Brazile took the helm as interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, she’s been focused on matters relating to the 2012 election, including a push by Republican-controlled state legislatures to require photo identification at the polls. Republicans say that the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud, but…
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Stop Public Celebrations of Osama's Death
I will never forget a conversation I had with two Muslim Americans in the wake of 9/11 — one black and one a second-generation immigrant. A quiet but insistent theme was that bin Laden’s action was not completely unreasonable. A quiet theme, mind you — both often contributed that what bin Laden had done was…
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Your Take: Threat to Blacks in the Public Sector
When I was growing up in Cleveland, some of the most respected people in my neighborhood were the folks who worked for the city, county or state. My father was a city bus driver who took great pride in getting people safely to and from their jobs every day. My mother was a community college…
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Obama Kept His Promise on bin Laden
A few minutes into his monologue at Saturday evening’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers did an Osama bin Laden joke that had President Barack Obama laughing and smiling, seated on the dais in black tie and revealing nothing as U.S. special forces prepared an assault that left bin Laden dead…