The Non-Story Story
There’s no "there" there, but you knew it was going to be talked about anyway:Hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials are closely watching white supremacists across the country as Barack Obama prepares next week to be sworn in as the first black president of the United States.So far, there is no known organized effort to express oppositi
 
"Barack The Magic Negro" Fallout
I really didn’t want to comment on this whole kerfuffle, primarily because it’s so ridiculous, but I find it incredibly interesting how the controversy has boiled over at the expense of simple facts.For those who don’t know, Chip Saltsman is vying for the RNC chair and distributed a 41-song CD to members whose
 
Hate-mongers turn Auto Bailout Failure into Racial Problem
Of course you knew some whack-job would. Leave it to good old Jane "black face Joe Lieberman" Hamsher to be the one.She focuses her attention on Alabama Senator Richard Shelby and decides his opposition to the bailout means something other than what he claims:Richard Shelby hates the Det
 
Trying to keep the race game alive
It’s is going to be tough:The day after Barack Obama was elected president, Kari Fulton heard a white colleague proclaim that racism in America is dead.She cringed, worrying that it might be a sign of flagging interest in the fight against discrimination."In reality, racism is still very much alive and well," said Fulton, who graduated last yea
 
White Guilt
For some people, the end will always justify the means.White people shouldn’t be allowed to voteAs a lifelong Caucasian, I am beginning to think the time has finally come to take the right to vote away from white people, at least until we come to our senses. Seriously, I just don’t th
 
An alternate explanation
Sean Quinn at FiveThirtyEight (a good site, btw) offers the following anecdote and explanation:So a canvasser goes to a woman’s door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she’s planning to vote for. She isn’t sure, has to ask her husband who she’s voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some
 
Murtha - Western PA is racist
Someone in the Democratic party ought to redeploy John Murtha’s mouth.U.S. Rep. John Murtha says his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama’s victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.The 17-term Democratic congressman tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a story posted Wednesday on its Web si
 
How To Tell If You Are A Racist
According to Jacob Weisberg of Slate.com, if you are white and don’t vote for Barack Obama, the only reason must be racism. In fact, Weisberg’s assessment concludes that the only reason Obama is not ahead by ten points right now because of old, white, racist people. Indeed, the title of his rant is "If Obama Loses; Racism is the only reason McCain might beat him."What with the Bush legacy of reckless w
 
How to keep hope alive
Step 1 - Buy into the cult of climate change. Step 2 - Create victim classes.Enter Rep. James Clyburn, to make it official: “It is critical our community be an integral and active part of the debate because African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change economically, socially and through our health and we
 
Moving the goal posts
I really can’t blame Julian Bond for this. After all, we’re talking about the end of an industry.Racial disparity will remain an issue in America, regardless of whether Barack Obama is elected as the nation’s first black president, the chairman of the NAACP told the organization’s national convention Sunday night.
 
Jeremiah Wright: a black or white story?
Leonce Gaiter, Ezra Klein and James Joyner are having an interesting discussion over whether the Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama story would be a big deal had they b
 
Accusations of Racism
Mike Turk has a sad story of racism. On one hand, I think it illustrates how far we’ve come from the days when racism was far worse, but when society did far less to reject it.On the other hand, I worry that it also illustrates how far we’re going in the wrong direction. While we have generally succeeded in making racism socially unacceptable, the presence of that social stigma has produced a
 
Another Conversation about Race
Thomas Sowell...Nothing is more fraudulent than calls for a “dialogue on race.” Those who issue such calls are usually quick to cry “racism” at any frank criticism. They are almost invariably seeking a monologue on race, to which others are supposed to listen. If you actually want to have a dialogue on race, start by describing what you or your side has done wrong
 
A Conversation about Race
Is he serious, or is this parody?For those of you who don’t click through, Matt Stoller is suggesting that John McCain is sending "signals" to racists by kicking off his "Service to America" tour in the birth town of a civil rights worker who was murdered 40 years ago. Not the city where the civil rights worker was murdered - the town where he was born two decades previously.
 
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome?
While researching for Project Hero, I came across a rather odd article written by an unidentified columnist in Annapolis MD, for "The Capital".What drew me to the column was the discussion of the death of a young soldier in Iraq. As it turns out, he was killed by an IED and the columnist la
 
So what did Geraldine Ferraro say that was so wrong?
According the the Chicago Tribune, Obama too has made the very same observation she came under so much fire for making. Said Ferraro:"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," Ferraro told a local California n
 
From the irony impaired
Earl Louis takes exception to what he calls "some Internet nitwits" (ironically he singles out Taylor Marsh, a Netroots member and dyed-in-the-wool Clinton supporter) claiming "Obama’s comment that his white grandmother - who made racist remarks and was fearful of blacks - was a "typical white person" just proves he can&rsq