Archives for July 2016

The Heat: The State of U.S. Race Relations, Part 2


The shooting in the U.S. state of Louisiana was the latest in a month of extraordinary violence and racial tension in the United States.

Investigators said the shooter, an African American marine veteran, ambushed and killed three officers and injured three others before being killed by law enforcement. The incident happened just weeks after police officers in Baton Rouge were caught on camera shooting a black man several times.

The violence has focused renewed attention on how African Americans are treated in the U.S. and the larger issue of race relations.

The Heat: The State of U.S. Race Relations, Part 1


The shooting in the U.S. state of Louisiana was the latest in a month of extraordinary violence and racial tension in the United States.

Investigators said the shooter, an African American marine veteran, ambushed and killed three officers and injured three others before being killed by law enforcement. The incident happened just weeks after police officers in Baton Rouge were caught on camera shooting a black man several times.

The violence has focused renewed attention on how African Americans are treated in the U.S. and the larger issue of race relations.

 

The Unconventional Republican National Convention

CHARLOTTE, NC — The RNC may have gotten off to a rocky start but an anti-Hillary Clinton theme seems to be bringing the party together. WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in on the events so far in Cleveland and what could be ahead as we move closer to November.

Melania and Michelle: Sisters in the American Dream

It is embarrassing that portions of Melania Trump’s opening night speech repeated not only the themes but the very words spoken by Michelle Obama in 2008 at the Democratic National Convention — not, however, for the reason most would think. (Though you should expect at least one sloppy speechwriter’s head to roll.) No, the real reason the campaign’s public gaffe stings is that it contradicts the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s message that America is a “divided crime scene .”

If the African-American first lady whose journey took her from the South Side of Chicago to Princeton to Harvard Law and the White House and the Slovenian-American immigrant , model/designer and perhaps future first lady have so much in common, that means the Trump candidacy has little reason to exist. We don’t need a “law and order” candidate to get us in shape. Maybe we aren’t at each other’s throats after all.

 

Spotlight Elections: What’s Next America?

When Barack Obama gave the speech that made him famous at the 2004 Democratic National Convention – and doesn’t that seem like a lifetime ago – it wasn’t just America that noticed. The words he spoke, the sentiment he expressed provided hope for the world: “Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy; our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over 200 years ago: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…’”

Obama’s campaign for president, with the message of “Hope and Change,” was felt not only in the US but was truly international. In Germany in 2008, Obama closed a main thoroughfare when he appeared. The French president all but endorsed him.

It was also what Barack Obama, who would become the first African-American U.S. President, represented. Obama was and is a man of the world. In his example and election, not once but twice, America set an example to aspire to, a country stumbling to find its better self – eventually. In travels, other countries marveled, and had to ask – with an obvious answer — if a member of a discriminated minority closer to home could rise so far.

What a difference eight years make.

Why Obama’s Vision of ‘One American Family’ Matters

President Obama rose to the occasion. In a Dallas speech that started with a joke about the first lady’s love of Stevie Wonder and quickly grew solemn, the president included everyone, and asked something of everyone, as well. He acknowledged his own humanity and imperfections and asked those on all sides to do the same.

And he reminded those listening, at least those with the “new heart” and “new spirit” the Lord promised Ezekiel, that he is a leader who cherishes the promise of America. For someone whose faith has been questioned, the president always reaches deep into Scripture for comforting messages.

 

How the Dallas Shootings Are Impacting Us Here in Charlotte


CHARLOTTE, NC — CMPD Chief Kerr Putney is working with the community to prevent events like the Dallas shootings from taking place here in Charlotte. WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in on the Chief’s efforts and discusses other ways those shootings are impacting the Queen City and Campaign 2016.

A Call for a Collective Mourning

Yes, it is possible to be saddened by both the senseless attack that murderedDallas police officers and wounded police and civilians, and the killings of twoAfrican American men in incidents that did not need to end in death.

The fact that that very reasonable and obvious statement needed to be plainly said makes me sad, too – sad for a country that is so hardened into partisan camps that many have even compartmentalized their mourning.

Will ‘Campaign Trail Obama’ Energize Black Women for Hillary?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In his two successful presidential campaigns, President Barack Obama enjoyed the unequivocal support of black women—even those not named Michelle.

African-American women had the highest voter turnout rate than any other group in 2008 and 2012, and thus an outsized say in the result—and not just by flexing their influence at the ballot box.

Many African-American women did the tough work of registering voters,canvassing neighbors and relatives and making sure not to miss the beauty salons and barbershops, and those supporters included celebrities such as Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, who made the rounds in Charlotte in 2012.

To win in 2016, the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton cannot just rely on the gaffes of her apparent opponent Donald Trump. She needs to energize the Obama electorate, and, while the young people on that list flirted with her primary competition Bernie Sanders and have not historically been the most reliable voters, African-American women have already shown their historical dependability.

The Charlotte Campaign Stop for Obama, Hillary, Trump


CHARLOTTE, NC — Hillary Clinton got a campaign boost from President Obama when the two made a stop at the Charlotte Convention Center on Tuesday. Donald Trump stumped in Raleigh, hoping to rally enough support to take North Carolina come November. WCCB Political Contributor, Mary C. Curtis, weighs in on what’s next for Campaign 2016.