Politics

David Swerdlick is an associate editor at The Root. Follow him on Twitter. 

Feel that black folk have been whited out by the media? Here are the numbers to prove it. The latest study of news coverage by the Pew Research Center shows that just 2 percent of the stories were about African Americans. The single biggest story was on the arrest of The Root’s editor-in-chief, Dr. Henry Louis…

President Obama — through White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs — suggested that the past week of conversation about race, notably the case of Shirley Sherrod, was a “teachable moment.” Granted, there is a lot for many folks to learn through that fiasco. However, those who could most gain from these lessons are the Tea…

You might not know it from his reaction after the U.S. House of Representatives announced plans to pursue formal charges against him for ethical violations, but Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is in a heap of trouble. “This may sound corny,” he told reporters, “but at long last, sunshine has pierced through this cloud that’s been…

You know black leaders are brainwashed when … 1) … they fear that talking about racism may hamper their success. 2) … they roll over at the slightest hint of retaliation. 3) … they allow avowed enemies to define their agenda. 4) … they quickly retreat from already weak positions. 5) … they swiftly throw…

Statement by President Barack Obama on Signing the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 Today I signed the unemployment insurance extension to restore desperately needed assistance to two and a half million Americans who lost their jobs in the recession. After a partisan minority used procedural tactics to block the authorization of this assistance three…

Conservative bloggers have taken to the Web to condemn President Obama for eating at an ice cream shop whose logo resembles the black power symbol in their tiny little minds. The shop owner is as dumbfounded as we are. Critiquing the man’s choice of ice cream shop — really. Some people obviously have too much…

Fresh from our “dream on” file, rapper Drake wants to play President Obama. The rapper, who has had a meteoric rise to fame, has now set his sights on playing President Barack Obama in a film. He says, “I don’t want to do the typical black film that everyone expects. I think that I have…

The best thing that could come out of the injustice done to Shirley Sherrod is a warning to America of the explosive danger of allowing a volatile topic like race to be driven by proto-journalists with political agendas in a news ecosystem that has no quality filters or brakes. In this new age of unregulated news…