Politics

Richmond, Va.: Virginia simply wasn’t ready. Voting rights watchdogs have been warning since the primaries that the state was going to have problems if it didn’t boost the resources available—and distribute them properly. The polls hadn’t even opened when that warning came crashing into reality: at least two precincts couldn’t even get the voting started…

There’s been an e-mail going around advising black folks on unacceptable behavior now that Obama has won. We at The Root thought we’d add a few tips of our own. 1. No Negro spirituals or quotes from Dr. King. John Hope Franklin can get away with this. The rest of us cannot. 2. Don’t go…

READ MORE VOTER STORIES Pat Bates Los Angeles I grew up with a picture of my great-grandfather, Fred Grigsby, casting his first vote. I never knew exactly when it was taken, but the image captures a powerful moment in history. In it, Granddad has on a suit, a tie and a hat. He was so…

It’s amazing to think that, in the closing weeks of this election, the once solidly Republican state of Virginia has moved squarely into Barack Obama’s column. Obama has made sure to do little to rock the boat, and his army of backers has been coached to stay on message lest the red-staters who have come…

John McCain and his Republican henchmen may be down in the polls, but don’t count them out of the election. The Republican Party has been intimidating voters and fostering chaos at the polls for decades, and in the Bush years electoral dirty tricks have become indispensable elements of GOP campaign strategy. So here are the…

I remember the day in January 1981 when the Americans held hostage in Iran arrived at Andrews Air Force Base. I sat on a school bus, waiting for what seemed like years, as heightened security slowed our entry onto the base. I remember the yellow ribbon tied to the antenna of my dad’s car and…

Virginia :The winds of change are blowing in Virginia. Even in my nearly all-white, heavily Republican neighborhood just outside Richmond, Obama yard signs and bumper stickers have appeared. Going into Election Day, Obama is up 50 percent to 44 percent in Pollster.com’s most recent compilation and is drawing enormous, enthusiastic crowds not only in Richmond,…

In the two years since Sen. Barack Obama announced his bid for the presidency, black Americans have been on an emotional roller coaster. Only recently have many of us allowed ourselves to envision what once seemed impossible: A U.S. president who is a person of color. With Obama leading in national pre-election polls, the suspense…

“I know where to go…I know what to do…” —Ready For The World It’s getting late—have you made up your mind? Here’s one last thing for you undecided voters to consider. As soon as the next president is sworn in, he’s going to have a waiting room full of folks with global problems to deal…

My mom has never had a black person as a peer. What I mean is, she’s been around black people all of her life, but—besides a brief period in grad school—her social surroundings have made it so that she’s never really had black friends, colleagues, bosses or boyfriends. And I’m beginning to suspect that it’s…