the hardline

When NASCAR visited the White House not long ago, I found myself wondering if the sport of race care driving is browning at all. We know there is some history there (and, as NASCAR chooses Hall of Fame inductees, seemingly intentional ommision of same) but whenever I turn it on TV, I see alot of…

I’m sad to live in a world where a rapper can’t rap about guns without an outcry and black men can’t hold guns in movie posters but gun nuts can go strapped up to town hall meetings. There’s something really wrong with that. I’m all for the second amendment, all for “open carry.” But I…

The back to school daze is upon us, so I thought it particularly timely that Michelle Obama would be out talking about education in black communities. It’s a sticky wicket with a lot at stake, to be sure. The White House wants to throw money at the problem, but you can throw all the loot…

Like alot of youse, I watched NFL football quarterback and star – Michael Vick on 60 Minutes last night with Tony Dungy by his side. Me? I’m suspicious of apologies that require co-signers. He’s done his time, and that’s great. I think crimes against children, women and animals are crimes of the soul. If Vick…

Activist Maxine Johnson was minding her business when some wingnut comes over to get in her mix and she gets understandably upset. Johnson then got hemmed up by the boys in blue and they threw the book at her while. Her antagonist, James Winfrey (who kinda looks asif he could be the town wino) was…

Whenever I see footage of one of the town hall meetings that devolves into ugliness, I’m looking for the Black folks.  Or the riot police. Because you and I know that if black folks were ever to act out like this for any reason, there would tazers-a-go-go, dogs and water-hoses and vintage black-jacks swingin’, for…

Me and those Boyz in the Shop were just wondering if Bill Clinton’s diplomatic mission was going to cause any dischord in the Clinton abode or diminish Hillary’s significant credentials. While it may be true that you don’t mess will Bill, please recognize that Mama don’t take no mess and you can’t pop crazy at…

Writer/ director John Hughes’ legacy is complicated. He was, in a lot of ways, kind of a white trash Spike Lee, maybe a little more skillful at browbeating the masses with his message than Lee is. He spent a lot of time railing against elitism, often at the risk of telling better stories. No one…

In the early days of the Skip Gates Incident, there was talk that his run-in with the police would somehow radicalize Dr. Gates: that he would join the Rev. Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world and become a race crusader of some sort. But nothing even close to that happened and I sense…

The cash for clunkers plan is intriguing, but suspicious. I mean, who doesn’t want money off on a new, fuel-efficient car? But I don’t know that it’s worth the money being pumped into it.  And I don’t know anyone who has made the trade. I’m curious to know if anyone out there has participated in…