Jesse Helms is at it again. When the longtime North Carolina senator died on July 4, 2008, eulogies couldn’t decide if he was a statesman who stood up for his beliefs or a pugnacious politician whose divisive principles changed little as the world moved on. Now that a conservative U.S. congresswoman from the state wants to honor Helms by stamping his name on a federal building, that legacy lives on.
Jesse Helms is still stirring up controversy
Dec062012 TAGS: AIDS, Barack Obama, Bono, civil rights, Coretta Scott King, Democrats, Harvey Gantt, Jesse Helms, Martin Luther King Jr., Mitt Romney, North Carolina, Republicans
What ‘Lincoln’ leaves out, and why it matters
After Nov. 6, listening to all the explanations for President Obama’s win, I was surprised at the surprise in some quarters about the enthusiastic participation of certain voters, and troubled by the way those votes were marginalized. It goes something like this: Look at all those blacks and Hispanics and Asians and women and young people who put President Obama over the top. How and why did this happen?
It happened because Americans stood in long lines to exercise a cherished right, and shouldn’t everyone be happy about that? When strict voter ID bills are scrutinized, not because they might unfairly single out some Americans but because they don’t cull out enough of them, then that’s a problem. And when people are shocked that the powerless make their voices heard, then it’s time for a history lesson.
Mitt Romney adviser Stuart Stevens, in The Washington Post, spins his candidate’s defeat into a philosophical win, in part, because after all, he won voters with household incomes over $50,000 a year and a majority of whites. It makes me wonder where the dreams and ideals of those in a different zip code and tax bracket fit in the national imagination. While filmmakers are in the business to make profitable entertainment, not conduct civics classes, the former can include some of the latter, especially when that’s the point. That’s why I was ultimately disappointed in “Lincoln,” and why it meant more to me than it should.
Nov302012 TAGS: 13th amendment, Barack Obama, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln, Mitt Romney, slavery, Spielberg
Michelle Obama, Mariah and company try to close the deal in North Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Election eve in North Carolina had it all, entertainment, sports and the first lady. In a lineup that included the NBA’s Derek Fisher and diva Mariah Carey in a gown so form-fitting she needed an assist up the stairs to the microphone, it was Michelle Obama who closed the show on Monday as she asked the crowd, “Are we ready to work for this?”
Nov062012 TAGS: Barack Obama, Charlotte, Election 2012, Mariah Carey, Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, North Carolina, swing state
Kamala Harris: Focused on Job, Not SCOTUS
From advocating for health care reform to helping broker a settlement in the foreclosure crisis, California attorney general Kamala Harris has been as out-front on issues as she has in her vocal backing of Barack Obama. “I’ve been supporting the president for a long time; he’s been supporting me for a long time.”
A pioneer in her current position as well as in her previous post as district attorney of San Francisco, the Howard University graduate is the daughter of an Asian-Indian mother, a breast cancer specialist, and a Jamaican-American father, a Stanford economics professor. Harris said she grew up “surrounded by a bunch of adults who spent full time marching and shouting about this thing called justice.”
Harris spoke with The Root about issues, from prison reform to marriage equality.
Nov032012 TAGS: Barack Obama, California, Kamala Harris, Supreme Court, The Root
Jill Biden and daughter hit issues checklist in North Carolina stop
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – It was a mother-daughter double team on the day before the last day of early voting in North Carolina. Jill Biden and daughter, Ashley Biden, spoke to an overflow crowd at the Obama campaign office in this town just north of Charlotte on Friday.
Nov022012 TAGS: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Democrats, early voting, economy, health care reform, Jill Biden, Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, North Carolina, Republicans, swing state, veteran issues
Meeting Gloria Steinem and making peace — sort of
It’s not that I know Gloria Steinem. But we do have history – personal and political – that not so neatly mirrors the way African Americans and women struggled with society and each other in fights for equal justice.
Nov012012 TAGS: Barack Obama, feminism, Gloria Steinem, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Sojourner Truth
4 years after Obama’s breakthrough, few black pols on the ballot for major offices
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was a hit at the Democratic National Convention in September with a spirited speech that defended the party’s principles. In a recent trip back to Charlotte to campaign for the president, he continued his attack on Mitt Romney as someone who, while a “very, very skilled campaigner,” cut funding for education and “stymied innovation” when he held Patrick’s job.
A future presidential prospect? The rapt volunteers at an Obama campaign office thought so, as they happily imagined Patrick on the 2016 ticket. With his place in the pipeline that leads to national office, the only sitting black governor in the country is a standout. But he also stands alone. Four years after Barack Obama’s historic election as the nation’s first black president, there are fewer African-Americans in the U.S. Senate and governor’s offices across the country than at the time of his 2009 inauguration…
Oct252012 TAGS: Barack Obama, Democrats, diversity, Republicans, theGrio
DNC Helped Recapture Charlotte’s Magic
Mayor Anthony Foxx is exhausted, but in a good way, just like his city. Though last week’s Democratic National Convention didn’t run exactly as planned — turns out neither party is great at forecasting the weather — the sudden storms that periodically pummeled Charlotte, N.C., didn’t dampen the spirit of the celebration heading into a tough November political race. After Democrats chose Charlotte, there were questions about the city’s ability to pull off such a major event.
At the time, Foxx, 41, knew that the expected 35,000 visitors – national and international leaders, media and delegates — would be judging him as well. Charlotte’s second African-American mayor, who touted his city as the perfect pick, has been tagged as a rising political star. Sitting in an empty council chamber in the government center, Foxx was tired when he spoke with The Root on a recent Friday afternoon about his own future and the November chances of the president and friend he supports. That morning Foxx; his wife, Samara; and their two children, Hillary and Zachary, had said their goodbyes and posed for pictures at the North Carolina Air National Guard Base near Charlotte Douglas International Airport before President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama departed on Air Force One.
Sep112012 TAGS: Anthony Foxx, Barack Obama, Charlotte, Democratic National Convention, North Carolina
More Obama derangement syndrome, this time in racist tweet from Puerto Rican political adviser
In the endless arguments over whether certain criticisms of President Obama are racist, there are cases when the answer is clear. In that category we can place angry, barely coherent tweets by a political adviser in Puerto Rico.
After the president tweeted that first lady Michelle Obama’s birthday was coming up, Heidi Wys, proving that racism and witlessness go hand in hand, tweeted, “Take her to Burger King, buy her a sundae with double banana, take her to your homeland, Kenya!” You’ve got to give it to her. Within the 140-character limit, she gets in a simian reference and a bow to birther-ism.
Sep052012 TAGS: Barack Obama, Heidi Wys, Michelle Obama, Obama derangement syndrome, Puerto Rico, racist tweet
