Politics

Mayor Adrian Fenty’s loss in Washington, D.C., last week was a crying shame. Black wiser heads muse about how the system prevents black people from voting “their interests” — Harvard Law’s Lani Guinier comes to mind — and yet black D.C. residents kicked out a mayor who, along with schools chief Michelle Rhee, was making…

Leonie Hermantin remembers that when she was growing up in New York, her father told her she couldn’t date any African-American boys or young men. The thing is, Hermantin’s skin is brown. She was born in Haiti and spent 12 years there before her family moved to the United States. Alexandra King, an African American,…

These days, “CBC” is more of an adjective than an acronym. Loosely translated, it means something like “being of the professional and black.” So consider the receptions, galas, mixers, after parties and after-after parties with the sobriquet “CBC” to have been vetted. Sort of like Facebook five years ago, those .pdf evites with the Capitol…

President Obama, who has been accused of avoiding racial issues, jumped into the lion’s mouth Saturday when he made an unannounced appearance at the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual Washington conference and called on his most loyal constituents to resist plans to change the course his administration has set for the nation. Without naming the Republican…

Karl Rove and other Republicans who have long been in the political realm are not too pleased by the surge of Tea Party victories in the primaries. These underdog wins over favored Republican nominees for the U.S. Senate have thrown a kink into the plans of the GOP to regain control of Congress. Upset victories…

Back in June, 32 black Republicans were running for Congress. Three months and dozens of primaries later, that number has dwindled to just 13 people, only a handful of whom — three, according to New York Times statistician Nate Silver — actually have a strong chance of winning come November: Allen West of Florida, Ryan…

I’m not surprised, at this point in our political history, that Michelle Obama would be under attack. When she stands out as the half of the presidential couple with the super-high ratings, isn’t it only natural that somehow, some way, somebody would come out with guns a-blazin’, trying to destroy her credibility? What’s odd is…

The Root’s Black Caucus Weekend Party List: Most parties require an invitation or an RSVP; if a party is open, the price of admission is listed above. The Root is a sponsor of events marked with an asterisk.*

EXCERPT FROM DR. BOYCE WATKINS OPEN LETTER to PRESIDENT OBAMA: While the black community remains inspired by your achievements and overwhelmingly sympathetic to your challenges from conservatives, there are concerns that the economic plight of black Americans has not been a priority for the Obama Administration. To be sure, opinions on this matter are far…