Politics

No-Fly List Fail: Security slip let suspect on plane, near takeoffhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ib_fj8uy3L29st8d61Wk32WKV_JAD9FGBQNG0 What exactly is the point of a no-fly list if wannabe terrorists are going to be allowed on the plane anyway? How is it that us regular folks get searched and seized for things like mascara, lipstick, hand lotion and belt buckles? Suspected terrorist…

A law that makes people suspects on the basis of their looks should outrage African Americans, even if they are worried about illegal immigration. The immigration law passed in Arizona last week is the kind of reckless act that keeps us minorities paranoid in America. The new law compels local law enforcers to verify immigration…

Charles Butler, a black, Chicago-based conservative talk show host, has been in shouting matches and called a traitor to his race because of his affiliation with the largely white Tea Party movement. Lloyd Marcus, a black, Orlando, Fla.-based, conservative folk singer who wears a black panama hat, leather vest, white shirt and black pants, has…

Mr. President, you have spent so much time courting—here at the street level we call it sucking up to—Republicans who will never come around to your side on major issues, including offshore drilling or a climate change initiative. As a candidate, you were the environmentalist superstar, opposed to offshore drilling, while Sarah Palin, your opponent’s…

is a former columnist for TIME magazine and a regular contributor to The Root.

President Obama to do everything `humanly possible’ on spillhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hIfwUDeBxbANKX2GATS6YOiMTnJQD9FEVEB01 As if we needed to hear this. We think it’s interesting that folks are trying to lay this disaster at his feet.  The Obama administration should have responded more quickly to the spill? Which is it? More government or less government? Oversight on this but no…

As most should know, we recently lost Dorothy Height and Evelyn Cunningham. Both women were in their 90s, but neither would ever have accepted the idea that publicity equals the truth of importance or the truth of important effort. Since the world of public relations has become as influential as fact, people who read little do…

Thomas Hagan, the only man to ever admit his role in the assassination of Malcolm X, was freed on parole last week, providing an opportunity to reflect on the life and legacy of the slain civil rights hero. Reports on Hagan’s release have remained on the fringes of media attention, a sign of the complexity…

There once was a time when government in America generally erred on the side of caution. The unspoken rule mirrored the oath taken by physicians: “First, do no harm.” Echoing that sentiment, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama said in 2008 that sometimes it takes a scalpel to address a problem instead of using a hatchet. With…