Politics

The zero-sum argument that pits black Americans against undocumented workers is a false premise. At the heart of this specious challenge to fairness for all U.S. workers is the idea that blacks resent undocumented Latino immigrants for taking away jobs that would rightfully belong to them. Restrictionist opponents to immigration reform seize on this line…

His policies may be unpopular in some quarters right now, but President Obama believes his decision to push for health care reform, the economic stimulus, and new financial regulations will someday be “vindicated.”  In a sometimes testy exchange with Fox News “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier yesterday, the president defended his push for health care…

Just weeks after Tavis Smiley announced in January that he’d be ending his annual State of the Black Union conference, the PBS talk show host and activist revealed plans to convene a one-day symposium with leaders and prominent thinkers about the African American agenda.  “The conversation is about whether or not there is a need…

It’s not illegal or even unethical for the wife of a Supreme Court justice to consort with those on the political fringe, but to borrow a phrase recently deployed by Chief Justice John Roberts, it’s “very troubling.” Virginia Lamp Thomas has never made any secret of her affiliation with the right-wing of the Republican Party,…

Minority-Owned Firms Get Fewer Stimulus ContractsThey were hit hardest by the recession but receive less of the money that’s being doled out Latino and black business owners are asking the Obama administration to do a better job of seeing who gets federal stimulus money. According the U.S. Census Bureau, blacks and Hispanics own 5.2 and…

Patricia Nelson took out a $550 payday loan in December 2007. By September 2009, she had rolled the loan over more than 22 times, and paid upwards of $2,700 in interest alone. In the wake of the messy and catastrophic financial market meltdown of 2008, President Barack Obama invited the 64-year-old to the White House.…

Jeremiah Wright Discusses Obama ControversyThe contentious clergyman reveals his softer, cuddlier side. He’s back. And this time he’s not spewing anti-Obama venom or fiery edicts. On the contrary, in the first interview since his disastrous public fallout with the president, Rev. Jeremiah Wright defends Obama, comparing him to a son who is being treated unfairly.WASHINGTON…

I’ll admit that I also felt uncomfortable during this year’s State of the Union address when members of Congress stood up and cheered in support of President Obama’s criticism of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the case in which the court dismantled congressional efforts to curb corporate contributions…

Lawrence C. Ross Jr. is the author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities and a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Follow him on Twitter. Become a fan of The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Lawrence Ross is the author of the Los Angeles Times best-seller…

We keep hearing that reconciliation is the “nuclear option” when it comes to health care reform. To Republicans, it is a partisan move that should not be contemplated at all because of  its potential to “blow up” our method of governing, particularly when it involves such sweeping social legislation. Democrats have done a good job…