Politics
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Who Is Herman Cain?
Read the latest Herman Cain news on The Root. In his 2005 book, They Think You’re Stupid: Why Democrats Lost Your Vote and What Republicans Must Do to Keep It, Herman Cain commiserates with voters who have grown weary of Washington politics. Now he’s petitioning that same electorate to support his (potential) bid to become…
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No More Forums About a Black Agenda
I said I’d wait a year, and as of this week, I have. Last March, there was an Event, with prominent participants, the theme of which was to call on President Barack Obama to put forth a black agenda. Holding his “feet to the fire” was a metaphor that came up here and there. I…
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Muammar Qaddafi's Chicago Connection
From keeping crack cocaine off Chicago’s streets in the mid-1980s to becoming the first Americans convicted of domestic terrorism, the El Rukns have had one of the most fascinating gang stories with global reach. They sold synthetic heroin. They prayed in a mosque. They held community meetings. They got arrested for murder. In the 1970s…
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Emmett J. Rice, Federal Reserve Governor, Dies at 91
Emmett J. Rice, 91, a former World Bank official and member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and the father of Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, died March 10 at his home in Camas, Wash. He had congestive heart failure. Dr. Rice was a pioneering economist, banking official and…
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Supreme Court Keeps Door Open for Prisoner Civil Rights Claims
Criminal justice has always held a prominent place in the work of civil rights. From the trials of the Scottsboro boys; to the wrongful convictions in Tulia, Texas, in the 1990s; to the NAACP’s recent successful intervention on behalf of the Scott sisters, rooting out injustice in the criminal-justice system has long defined the essence…
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Presidential Hopeful: 'Don't Condemn Me Because the First Black One Was Bad'
Potential Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain attempted to distance himself from President Obama during a recent interview in New Hampshire. The Union Leader reports on his comments: “But there are some people who will say, ‘I’m not going to vote for another black guy because this one didn’t work out.’ “And my response is, ‘Well,…
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Former White House Press Secretary: 'This White House of All White Houses' Should Not Make Fun of Boehner's Skin Color
Dana Perino, former White House press secretary for George W. Bush, doesn’t seem to like Barack Obama’s jokes. Speaking at the annual Gridiron Club dinner recently, Obama roasted House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) about his skin color. “I’ve made a few jokes over the years about John’s unusual coloring,” he said. “I used to think…
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President Obama Pens Letter About Gun Laws
In the aftermath of the January shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, President Obama wants the country to keep talking about the importance of gun laws. Over the weekend, he wrote an op-ed letter to the Arizona Daily Star, the daily newspaper in Rep. Giffords’ congressional district, urging for stronger enforcement of gun laws. President Obama…
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Gutting Unions Hurts the Black Middle Class
We’re republishing this article, which originally ran on March 10, 2011, in honor of Labor Day. “The Fabulous 14.” That’s what Rozalia Harris and other members of the Milwaukee teachers union call the renegade Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin on Feb. 17 to stop a vote on a proposed spending plan that includes restrictions…
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Notorious HIV: The Criminal Prosecution of a Virus
In Texas, a man is serving 35 years in prison for spitting at a police officer. In the state of Washington, a 19-year-old college student sits behind bars on first-degree assault charges for having unprotected sex with his girlfriend. A Georgia woman was sentenced to eight years in prison after consensual sex without a condom,…