Politics
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Chicago Politician Steps Down After 'Black Political Disaster'
After serving 18 years in the Illinois General Assembly, Rickey Hendon will resign from his position as a senator representing the state’s 5th District. The Huffington Post reports that he appears to be retiring out of frustration with the results of Chicago’s mayoral election on Tuesday: Carol Moseley Braun, the “consensus” black candidate, came in…
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Unemployed Need Not Apply
Jacqueline Berrien, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, says that the calls and e-mails started trickling in last summer. Members of Congress passed along complaints they’d received from frustrated constituents. Advocacy groups sent examples of peculiar help-wanted ads and news reports. All had the same concern. Across the country, it seemed, employers and recruitment…
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Egyptian Women Face Increased Sexual Harassment and Violence
By now, everyone has heard about CBS News correspondent Lara Logan‘s sexual assault and beating by a mob of unidentified men in Tahrir Square. The Los Angeles Times reports that the attack was not surprising to Egyptian women, who are all too familiar with such behavior. And it’s getting worse: “There is increasing violence against…
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Obama: Libyan Government Must Be 'Held Accountable'
In remarks this evening, President Barack Obama condemned the wanton violence by the Libyan government against protesters there and said that the U.S. “stands with the Libyan people.” The American people extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all who’ve been killed and injured. The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and…
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All Hail Mayor Rahm
By Jonathan Capehart My reaction to Rahm Emanuel’s stunning and decisive victory over anyone else in the Chicago mayor’s race was neatly summed up by his friend and former White House colleague David Axelrod. “Two things are surreal: the nature of the victory and how fast it got counted,” Axelrod told the Chicago Sun-Times. The…
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Why African Americans Should Care About Social Security
Unemployment seems to be budging very little, especially for blacks, where it hovers around 15.7 percent. Millions of so-called baby boomers are nearing retirement. More people, not fewer, are relying on Social Security benefits, especially African Americans. And as President Obama and Congress begin the process of hammering out a budget for 2012, with standoffs…
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Blacks and Hispanics More Optimistic Than Whites About the Economy
Are American minorities unduly optimistic about their economic condition and future? A nationwide survey of attitudes about the recession and its impact shows that blacks and Hispanics, although hit harder by the economic downturn, are more upbeat than white Americans about the economy and the future of the United States. Blacks and Hispanics are also…
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Planned Parenthood Speaks Out on GOP Attack
Just hours after the Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed a measure to strip Planned Parenthood of funding on Friday, the embattled organization hit back, setting the stage for a showdown in what is widely seen as a symbolic effort to repeal the health care law. The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, sponsored by Indiana…
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Just Give Me My Breast Pump
The vitriol swirling around Michelle Obama’s support of the IRS’ reclassification of breast pumps as a deductible medical expense makes me ill. Conservative commentary from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and others who accuse the first lady of creating a “nanny state” and catering to special interests — specifically African-American women, who are statistically less likely…
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The Republican Battle Against the Republic
It is very easy to say that we are in an economic crisis and that there is a need to make changes in government budgets at all levels, from the state capitals to Capitol Hill. Some of the choices involved are tough ones, including those proposed by President Obama in his version of the 2012…