After Paul gave the same implausible explanation that he didn’t write them and never looked over them and was not aware of them until ten years after, Borger continued to question him and Paul took off his microphone and walked away.

Ron Paul disavowed the newsletters and claimed he didn’t write them. He said that they were written by between six or eight people who worked for his staff. When asked if he could find out who wrote the newsletters Paul said “Well, possibly I could.”

In 1996 a Paul spokesman did not not deny that Paul wrote the newsletters and defended them according to the Houston Chronicle.

A campaign spokesman for Paul said statements about the fear of black males mirror pronouncements by black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has decried the spread of urban crime.

Paul continues to write the newsletter for an undisclosed number of subscribers, the spokesman said.

Again in 1996, Ron Paul campaign spokesman, Michael Sullivan did not deny Paul wrote the newsletters but said he was be “quoted out of context” in a statement to to Austin American Statesman obtained by the Libertarian magazine “Reason.”

“Dr. Paul is being quoted out of context,” [Paul spokesman Michael] Sullivan said. “It’s like picking up War and Peace and reading the fourth paragraph on Page 481 and thinking you can understand what’s going on.”

Also in 1992, Paul wrote, “Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions.”

Sullivan said Paul does not consider people who disagree with him to be sensible. And most blacks, Sullivan said, do not share Paul’s views. The issue is political philosophy, not race, Sullivan said.

“Polls show that only about 5 percent of people with dark-colored skin support the free market, a laissez faire economy, an end to welfare and to affirmative action,” Sullivan said. [...]

“You have to understand what he is writing. Democrats in Texas are trying to stir things up by using half-quotes to impugn his character,” Sullivan said. “His writings are intellectual. He assumes people will do their own research, get their own statistics, think for themselves and make informed judgments.”

Ron Paul did not say why he did not deny writing the newsletters in 1996 and had his campaign spokesman defend them. He was not asked about his connections to the racist organization, The John Birch Society or the support he receives from the white supremacist site, Stormfront.

T.J. Holmes is leaving CNN, according to The Root.

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CNN weekend news anchor T.J. Holmes will be leaving the network at the end of the year, a CNN representative just confirmed in answer to a query by The Root. Additional details, including where he is heading next, are not yet available. TVNewser has published a CNN staff memo which simply states that he is leaving “to pursue other opportunities.”

Read more on T.J.’s departure at The Root.

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In February, CNN announced that Belcher would join their team of paid political contributors.

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The Daily News reports:

On Wednesday night’s telecast of “Anderson Cooper 360,” the show’s anchor delivered an on-air clarification about Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher after we noticed that CNN was not introducing the pollster as a current member of President Obama’s reelection team.

Belcher is no longer a paid on-air contributor to the cable news network because, a CNN spokeswoman says, he has begun work for the President’s 2012 campaign.

Read More At The New York Daily News

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You know that I must have a lot on the brain if I’m coming out of hiatus from writing.

I just wanted to address a few things, mainly because I feel like the potential for overwhelmingly negativity associated with being black in technology (and in silicon valley) is looming.  When we were organizing the NewME Accelerator we got an enormous amount of positive support about the mission and people really stepping up to the plate.  There were a few bad apples but I make it a habit not to pay attention to those.  Those that supported were people who likely hadn’t heard about me or the work that I have been doing for the past 4 years here.  Just about everyone we contacted wanted to be involved which was great.  The success rate for gaining both sponsorship and mentorship was off the charts.  Not only that, living in the house with the Founders and being able to experience their ups and downs, my own, and their growth has been one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my life.  That said I’ve kinda been on Cloud 9 since we began this thing.  That is until now.

I feel grateful that we are able to share the experiences of the Founders and the program on such a huge platform like CNN.  It seemed that they really got what we were trying to do and the people involved with it’s production were beyond cool.  But, they are here to do a job… and that job is to make good TV.  Before I go on let me note that I haven’t seen the documentary yet so some of you have a leg up on me.  However, what I do know is a lot of the back story which nearly all of you don’t.  Having someone film you everyday and debrief you… on camera… even about the minutia of your day is enlightening to the process of how traditional media works.  There is no way any of that could possibly be captured in a 40 min documentary.  That said HUNDREDS of hours of footage were captured.  They interviewed Mike Arrignton, if I remember correctly, for 3 hours or so.  What you are seeing or will see is a sliver of his interview, mine, others interviews, and the stories of the Founders.  I have to go on record to say that I don’t think Mike Arrington is a racist.  And when I first read his comments I took them as him being excited to put someone on stage NOT that it was some sort of act of affirmative action.  [Disclosure: The person he was referring to on stage was Clarence Wooten and his new start-up Arrived.  Clarence has been a long time friend and advisor at Black Web 2.0.  I also am a supporter of Arrived and have an equity stake it in.] While I do think it was a bad choice of words (clown show comment) that doesn’t make him a racist.  It makes him unprepared to answer questions that often have a bad way of going south.  I made the same mistake this summer, the only difference is I got several opportunities to clarify on camera.  While I’ve only met him once I am a fan of his work and don’t know him to be a liar.  I wholeheartedly agree with what Hank Williams, a participant in NewME this summer recently wrote (Note: Hank has seen the doc):

Mike said a few very clear things about his view of the state of diversity in Silicon Valley.

• its true that there are very few African-Americans in Silicon Valley
• despite this, Silicon Valley is a pure meritocracy
• you become successful because you have a “big brain”

First, let me say, I think Mike truly believes everything that he has said about the tech world being a meritocracy. Lots of people believe that.

But I do not believe Silicon valley is a meritocracy. I would more properly say that tech *markets* are a meritocracy.  There are very few businesses where a single individual in her bedroom can create a piece of software that can potentially touch millions of people without any additional capital. No matter how talented you are, if you want to open a hot new restaurant or a shoe factory, you need lots of money before you start. Not necessarily so with software.Consumers and businesses, for the most part, don’t care what the ethnicity of their software or Internet service vendors are. Users want solutions. And so if an entrepreneur can get a great product completed cheaply, in many cases they can compete on totally even footing. Even if they ultimately need capital, explosive initial success knocks down all known barriers.

But the market *makers* operate in a world that is not particularly even-handed.  The market makers are the folks that help new young companies and entrepreneurs by providing insight, mentoring, capital, and relationships. And this part of the tech world is driven by all the same types of biases that exist in the non-tech world. And it is *much* harder for even the most talented African Americans in the tech world to gain access to influential, insightful, connected mentors, let alone investors.

Please read Hank’s full commentary, it’s a great read.

It’s clear there is a problem with race in the technology industry, if there weren’t we’d see more diverse Founders and success stories.  And to say that it is based on merit alone you may as well go ahead and say that those not represented today are incapable of producing great companies… we all know that isn’t true.  But to make 1 person out to be a racist and that represents the whole industry is something that is distrubing and I don’t agree with.  Not only that, to see so many people that I respect online gravitate to such a small portion of the documentary and literally overshadow all the positivity of the program and what the Founders are doing is disgusting.  It also hurts the program.  My vision for the program was always to give minorities a way to learn from EVERYONE who had means to teach and had been successful in their own right.  But what people don’t realize is race IS such a charged conversation that those that aren’t minorities don’t want to labeled as racist, sexist, agist, etc. and often times tip toe around giving really great feedback that can help someone to avoid being labeled this way.  I saw that first hand this summer and THIS HELPS NO ONE.

Lets go back to basics… what the documentary is showing is a story.  Every story needs to have a beginning, an end, a plot, and antagonist, and a protagonist among other things.  And in this day in age with reality TV dominating air waves it’s inevitable that any programming will always include some drama as well.

Let’s all look beyond the drama and the carrot that is dangling in front of us and get to work.  Let’s kick some ass and build great products, launch great products, be great Founders, and continue to do so so that no one can deny you anything.  And after that lets give back and make it easier for those who will come after you.  I know that myself and others are committed to do all that we can to make sure that those that aren’t represented today are represented tomorrow and have the resources (funding, mentors, knowledge, and a network) to succeed.

Limbaugh Says Herman Cain Would Be First Black President Due To Slavery

Shocker! Herman Cain Upsets Frontrunners, Wins Florida Straw Poll

Despite these claims, Cain says one third to half of Black voters are open minded and he believes there is hope for African Americans to turn to the conservative side.

The Huffington Post reports:

The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza said, “I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative.” He added, “So it’s just brainwashing and people not being open-minded, pure and simple.”

Despite the comments, Cain signaled he sees “good news” in the situation in that he believes one-third to 50 percent of black Americans are “open-minded.” He explained, “I meet them every day. They stop me in the airport. And so this whole notion that all black Americans are necessarily going to stay and vote Democrat and vote for Obama, that’s simply not true. More and more black Americans are thinking for themselves. And that’s a good thing.”

Read More At The Huffington Post

The newest one? The so-called sexist cover of Newsweek depicting Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Conservatives have been up in arms, slamming the “liberal” Tina Brown and Newsweek for choosing a photo that supposedly depicts Bachmann as the political equivalent of Jack Nicholson in “The Shining.”

To the angry conservatives, and delusional feminists, give it a rest. There is nothing sexist about the photo, nor does it reveal a flaming liberal bias. But this is the perfect cable news story. We are treated to fake outrage; condemnations from conservatives and feminist voices; nonsensical shouts of “They wouldn’t do this to a man.” And then it all goes away.

In fact, Newsweek should be ripped to shreds because the photo doesn’t even go with the headline, “Queen of Rage.”

I’ve run three weekly newspapers, and I can tell you that if I wanted to show a person full of rage, I wouldn’t pick the crummy photo Newsweek chose.

When I ran the Dallas Weekly, I wrote a cover story on Khallid Muhammad, former national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. I ran a photo of him preaching, and his face had a serious scowl; he was sweating like crazy — it was taken in Jasper, Texas, where James Byrd Jr. was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck — and he was wearing military fatigues.

Now that image went perfectly with the headline of someone full of rage.

But let’s not act like Rep. Bachmann hasn’t used anger at the political system to her advantage. She rails against one thing or another every day. She’s not a nut case like Glenn Beck, but she has no doubt employed anger against President Barack Obama and liberals to become a darling of the tea party, and a reliable provider of a quality soundbite.

Now when I see stories discussing her makeup and whether she is sexier than Sarah Palin, hell yes, that’s sexist. Even trying to suggest she will take Palin’s supporters implies that she can only compete for women voters.

Is that Newsweek cover any worse than any column by Maureen Dowd of The New York Times challenging the manhood of President Obama?

But folks, get a grip. If media writers can openly opine about whether President George H.W. Bush is a wimp; if Mitt Romney is soulless; if Tim Pawlenty is Mr. Boring; then surely we don’t have to lose our minds and come up with a faux sexist narrative about Newsweek’s Bachmann cover.

Maybe media types needed this story so they don’t have to cover something far more substantive. Say, like a falling economy while the idiots in Congress chill for a month.

Now that’s something to be angry about.

Kentucky senator Rand Pau; got into a heated debate this past weekend over the raising of the debt ceiling with CNN anchor Don Lemon.

The argument began when Lemon asked Paul to not conduct the interview with any “talking points.”

The Huffington Post reports:

As the House and Senate again failed to reach an agreement on how to raise the debt ceiling, Paul appeared on CNN to explain the Tea Party position on the talks. Lemon started off the interview by asking him to chat “without talking points.” He also began aggressively trying to get Paul to answer his questions, asking him repeatedly how he had voted on the so-called “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill from the House.

Read More And Watch The Video At The Huffington Post

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On his CNN show “Reliable Sources,” Howard Kurtz condemned Fox News, which is owned by News Corp, for not covering the scandal in which its sister company is being investigated for corruption and phone hacking. Kurtz said by not dedicating coverage on the matter, Fox News “undermines its credibility.”

“When CNN has controversy, we always do it,” he said. Kurtz suggested that Fox News, which is known for its spirited reporting, is only “aggressive” when someone else is in trouble, alluding that the company is protecting its own.

Video Below:

Kurtz’s segment didn’t sit well with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, who released the following statement on her blog:

On your CNN show today in which you were critical of the Fox News Channel and what you say is Fox’s lack of coverage on the hacking scandal, you neglected to mention that on ON THE RECORD at 10pm we have, in our last two live broadcasts, covered the news story.

We did it in a responsible manner. I urge you to go back and check. It was just the facts and no sugarcoating. Your omission today skews a fair analysis. I should add that I am sending you this message publicly because last time you did not do your homework on another topic I politely sent a message to you privately. Greta

Other media outlets have pointed out that CNN failed to report that Piers Morgan, who works for the network, is former editor of News Corp-owned News of the World, and may or may not be implicated in the Rupert Murdoch scandal as well.

Morgan said during an appearance on daytime’s “The Talk” that he expected the topic would be addressed. But he said, “I’m not going to join the Murdoch bashing.”

Read More At Mediaite.com

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“As CNN announced their new schedule, a glaring omission was present — no African Americans were hosts or anchors in their prime time lineup,” he said.

“The NAACP is deeply concerned with the lack of African-American journalists in prime time, both on cable and national network news shows.”

Jealous added, “We have come to expect this from the likes of Fox News, but not other networks.”

The LA Times Reports:

Shifts in CNN’s schedule included adding CNBC personality Erin Burnett. The network has declined comment on the NAACP criticism. Exclusion of African Americans is significant, Jealous said, because the prime-time slots are the most influential in daily news. Although CNN, Bloomberg News, CNBC, Fox News and MSNBC have shows scheduled every hour to discuss financial and world news, and occassionally have black commentators, not one show is headlined or anchored by an African American.

Read More AT LATimes.com

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CNN invited NewsOne’s very own Editorial Director Dan Charnas to be part of their expert panel discussion on the uproar caused by rapper Common’s recent invitation to a White House poetry reading.

Check out the footage below.

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Winfrey had wagered $320 with Morgan over who would get Michael Vick on their show. Vick’s handlers made Winfrey drop the Wager, claiming that they didn’t want him involved in gambling. Vick had appeared on 60 Minutes in 2009 but has not had a TV interview since he has returned to the NFL.

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New York — CNN announced Friday morning that Mark Whitaker, who had been serving as the Washington Bureau Chief at NBC news and who was the former editor of Newsweek, is joining CNN in the new role of executive vice president and managing editor of the network.

Whitaker most recently served as senior vice president and Washington bureau chief for NBC News, succeeding the late Tim Russert in July 2008. In that role, he was responsible for Washington-based programming for NBC and MSNBC, including Meet the Press and the network’s political coverage.

As managing editor, Whitaker will be responsible for overseeing and integrating news and editorial content across all of CNN’s domestic and international networks and digital platforms, and charting long-term editorial strategy for the organization.

Read more at CNN.com

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Last week CNN international had a poll to determine the coolest nationalities in the world. Brazilians were voted #1 and Singaporeans were voted #2 and Jamaicans were voted #3.

There’s more to Jamaicans than reggae, including Rastafarian (the most kick-back religion ever invented), an accent that’s the envy of the English-speaking world and the planet’s most distinctive and recognizable hairstyle. Note to backpackers: dreadlocks only cool on actual Jamaicans.

Icon of cool: Jimmy Cliff. The “Harder They Come” singer is still bringing it at 62.

Not so cool: High murder rate and widespread homophobia.

Read The Whole Story

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Roland Martin and Tony Blankley join Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room to discuss Michele Bachmann’s possible run for president in 2012.

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Roland Martin appears on JKUSA with Rich Galen, Cornell Belcher and host John King to discuss the GOP take over of the House of Representatives.

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Make your own “Salute To Troops” Tribute   http://bit.ly/SendSalute

Roland Martin appears in The Situation Room with Mary Matalin and host Wolf Blitzer to discuss John Boehner wearing his emotions on his sleeve.

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Roland Martin appears on JKUSA with Erick Erickson and host John King to discus the new unemployment numbers and extending the Bush tax cuts.

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James Carville tells CNN’s John King he won’t apologize for a controversial statement he made about President Obama.

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Should Pastors Provide Financial Advice?
Uploaded by thatsfunny. – Up-to-the minute news videos.

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Lemon made the startling announcement on live TV while discussing the scandal involving Georgia Bishop Eddie Long, who is accused of sexually abusing male teenage members of his church.

“I have never admitted this on television,” Lemon said. “I am a victim of a pedophile when I was a kid. Someone who was much older than me.”

Read more at Huffington Post

Click here to view photos:

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The top 10 CNN Heroes will be announced on CNN.com at 1 p.m. September 23, when public voting begins to select the CNN Hero of the Year at CNNHeroes.com. The CNN Hero of the Year will be revealed at the tribute show.

“CNN Heroes has illustrated the best of humanity through the telling of stories of selfless acts of kindness, courage and perseverance” said Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide. “We are honored to bring these Heroes the recognition they so deserve. It is a program the entire CNN family is proud of and excited to share with our viewers on Thanksgiving night.”

Read The Whole Story At CNN

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Roland Martin joins JKUSA with host John King, Joe Johns, Dana Bash and Erick Erickson to discuss Newt Gingrich’s controversial comments regarding President Obama.

WATCH: Roland Martin Says Steele Doing ‘Butt Dance’ Defending Gingrich

Rick Sanchez referred to Barack Obama as the “cotton picking president” on CNN Monday.

Sanchez made the comment in a discussion with CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin on “Rick’s List” about the many falsehoods that have been spread about Obama, such as the claim that he is a Muslim or that he is not a citizen of the United States. His voice rising in frustration, Sanchez asked Yellin why people continued to believe the false rumors:

“He is the cotton picking president of the United States! If the president of the United States doesn’t have enough of a bully pulpit to convince people that…a lie is a lie…what the hell is going on here?”

Read more at HuffingtonPost

Click here to view photos:

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Roland Martin appears on Rick’s List with host Rick Sanchez to discuss the intriguing three-way Florida Senate race between Republican Marco Rubio, Independent Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek.

WATCH: Roland Martin breaks down Florida’s three-way Senate Race.

Also check out the Pictures of the Week gallery:

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Roland Martin appears on AC360 with David Gergen, Ed Rollins and fill-in host John Roberts to discuss the New York Islamic Center controversy.

Roland explained that President Obama was reinforcing the Constitution by supporting religious freedom but “blew it” by walking back his comments the following day.

Roland also said, “It is amazing to me when you have folks on the Right that have attacked this President by saying he is not one of us and doesn’t understand our values and when he does actually reinforce the Constitution, then it’s a bad thing.”

WATCH: NY Islamic Center Fallout: President Obama Criticized For Reinforcing The Constitution

Roland Martin appears in the CNN Newsroom with Kyra Phillips to discuss Maxine Waters’ press conference, Friday August 13, 2010. In what Roland called a “smart, bold move,” Waters put pressure on the Congressional Ethics Committee by demanding they release information regarding her case as well as a date for an adjudicatory hearing.

WATCH: Waters Putting Pressure On Ethics Committee is a ‘Smart, Bold Move’

Bill Cosby goes on TV and says he’s not dead.

Larry King Live may be the go-to destination for coverage of celebrity deaths, but last night, Bill Cosby called in to confirm that he is quite alive. This, in contradiction to the Trending Topics list on Twitter—the list of most-mentioned subjects on the social-networking service—which for much of the day was topped by the phrase “Bill Cosby Died.” While Cosby initially seemed to be taking the rumor in stride, he was clearly not entirely amused by the misinformation— as he indicated on Twitter itself. “It is no longer fun,” said the multiple victim of false-death rumors.

Cosby repeatedly addressed “the person” who spread the rumor online, though it’s not entirely clear to whom the rumor can be spread, or if it had a single source. The nature of Trending Topics, of course, is that by the time a subject tops it, it’s been tweeted about so often that it’s difficult to mine it for the first appearance of a particular hoax.

It’s a harmless enough story—in that no one actually died, anyway—but there’s a lesson in trusting Twitter as a news source. That lesson is not, “Don’t use Twitter as a news source,” though. I check my Twitter stream constantly for news and have first learned of a lot of breaking news stories from it over the last couple of years (some of those being, yes, celebrity deaths).

Read more at CNN:

Click here to view photos:

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Roland Martin appears in the CNN News Room with host Kyra Phillips, and American Morning co-host John Roberts. Martin, Phillips and Roberts discuss USDA official, Shirley Sherrod’s resignation, the NAACP’s statement and the video snippet that caused this controversy.

WATCH: Video Snippet Cost USDA Official, Shirley Sherrod Her Job

Tea Party Spokesman Mark Williams talks about his controversial comments that mocked the NAACP.

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Producer Pharell Williams was on CNN being interviewed by high school principal, Steve Perry. In the interview, he credited his high school band-teacher for success and claimed that he was planning on starting a school for at risk children.

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Ain’t no bloodin’, Ain’t no crippin’ / Ain’t no punk-a** n***a’s set trippin’ / everybody’s got a stack and it ain’t no crack / and it really don’t matter

Spotted At Redding News Review

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In the study, three psychologists tested 133 students in the 4 to 5 and 9 to 10 age ranges. Eight schools were involved, half from Georgia, and half from the New York metropolitan area. The study was designed to simulate the Kenneth and Mamie Clark study used in the Brown case, in which African-American children were asked whether they preferred a white doll or a black doll. Having expressed an overwhelming preference for the white doll, they demonstrated the negative effects of segregation on “ego development and self-awareness in Negro children.”

Curiously, the results were about the same six decades later. In the recent study, the researchers asked the 4 and 5 year olds a series of questions and had them answer by pointing to one of five cartoon pictures that varied in skin color from light to dark. The 9 and 10 year olds were given the same questions and cartoons, but were also asked questions concerning a bar chart showing light to dark skin tones.

Essentially, white children responded with a high degree of “white bias,” meaning that they viewed their own skin tone positively, they associated darker skin with negative characteristics, and they were far more stereotypic in their racial attitudes, beliefs and preferences. There was no difference between age groups. And black children also had a bias towards whiteness, although not nearly as great as white children did.

The lesson that I take from these results is clear:

1) parents, teach your kids well, but better than you’re doing now, and

2) this is a nation that still upholds whiteness and denigrates blackness.

To be sure, black self-esteem is a lingering, unresolved issue in a racist nation that cannot grapple with the whole race thing – even with a black president of biracial parentage named Barack Obama. But that white children are internalizing white skin superiority and negative black stereotypes so intensely should tell you that they are not learning the right things at home when it comes to diversity, tolerance and inclusion, if they are learning anything at all. Unfortunately, that is how white-skin privilege works. As the self-proclaimed standard bearers, white Americans often may not feel as if they have to worry about talking to their children about such matters. Parents of color, however, don’t have that luxury. And in a nation where the color of your skin can determine where you live, your livelihood and even your life or death, parents of color may feel the need to help their children navigate through a color-coded society fraught with obstacles and pitfalls.

And in this environment screaming for racial understanding, states such as Texas and Arizona would further exacerbate things by whitewashing their public school curricula and eliminating ethnic studies courses.

The negative labels assigned to blackness and all things black are readily apparent in the English language. And the badges of slavery and Jim Crow remain, even as those dreaded institutions are supposedly a thing of the past. Lynchings in this country have a shameful history, and typically they were committed upon a rumor that a black man raped a white woman. Black equals poverty, inferiority, laziness and all the horrible and distasteful things one can conjure up. Black man equals all of those dreadful things plus criminality. (Apparently, a black man with the title of President of the United States equals Nazi-Communist-Kenyan-Muslim-black-radical terrorist.)

So, when Charles Stewart, a white man in Boston, murdered his pregnant wife in 1989, he said a black man did it. And everyone believed it. When a white woman named Susan Smith murdered her two young sons in South Carolina in 1994, she said that she had been carjacked by a black man, who drove away with her children. And everyone believed it, even though Smith said the man wore a knit ski cap. As an aside, I’ve never seen any of my South Carolinian relatives wear a knit ski cap. And typically when this sort of thing occurs, the police will wage ultimate war on the chocolate side of town, rounding up all the brothers just for the hell of it.

And just the other day, a white Philly cop shot himself and claimed it was the work of a black man with cornrows and a tattoo. Why do they keep doing it? Obviously because they know, or at least think they can get away with it, in a nation that tells you that these are the acts expected of darker-skinned folks. With negative stereotypes in the media, and black and brown inmates filling up to 70 percent of the nation’s prison beds, why not?

This problem is far greater than one study can solve, but the CNN report is instructive. Consequently, we need to remind ourselves that the more things change, the more they stay the same. This reality must be unsettling for those who risked life and limb to build a better society. It tells you the work ain’t over, and it would serve us well to reach the children.

BlackCommentator.com Executive Editor David A. Love, JD is a writer based in Philadelphia, and a contributor to the Huffington Post, theGrio, the Progressive Media Project and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. He contributed to the book, States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons (St. Martin’s Press, 2000). Love is a former Amnesty International UK spokesperson. His blog is davidalove.com.

2009 has been a pretty tough year. The honeymoon with President Obama came to a screeching halt, the economy remained in bad shape, and there was an avalanche of celebrity deaths this summer. But it wasn’t all bad news! In the spirit of the holiday, here are 10 news stories we were thankful to read this year:

Judge Finds Government At Fault For Levees Breaking During Katrina -”In a ruling that could leave the government open to billions of dollars in claims from Hurricane Katrina victims, a federal judge said late Wednesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had displayed “gross negligence” in failing to maintain a navigation channel — resulting in levee breaches that flooded large swaths of greater New Orleans.”

Why we’re thankful: This ruling will give New Orleans residents an opportunity to get financial help recovering from devastation that might have been avoided with better oversight. That’s justice.

Obama Signs Bill Expanding Hate Crime Laws To Cover Gay People – The measure expands current hate crimes law to include violence based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to the must-pass defense policy bill over the stern objections of many Republicans.

Why we’re thankful: Crimes perpetrated out of bias against people due to sexual orientation have been on the rise since last year. Thanks to the passage of this legislation, victims are now afforded protection under the law. While there’s more work yet to be done on the issue of gay rights, this is a start.

“Princess & The Frog” Merchandise In High Demand – “More than 45,000 dolls have sold in less than a month with 17,000 selling last week alone. At one major retailer, The Princess and the Frog bedding has sold nearly triple the amount of regular Disney Princess bedding. At Disney Store locations nationwide and DisneyStore.com, the Princess Tiana role-play dresses are selling above all other Disney Princess characters.”

Why we’re thankful: The more people vote with their wallets and support “The Princess and the Frog,” the more Disney will realize there is an audience out there for characters of color. Tiana may be the first and only Black Disney princess now, but with enough positive reinforcement, she won’t be the last.

Rihanna Speaks To Diane Sawyer About Chris Brown Beating – “Rihanna warned other women facing domestic violence to not let themselves become blinded by love. She also said she regretted going back to Brown, saying it sent the wrong message to her fans.”

Why we’re thankful: Rihanna’s willingness to speak out let young domestic violence victims know that they aren’t alone, and hopefully even gave some the courage to leave their abusers.

Landmark Health Care Bill Narrowly Passes The House – “The Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed landmark health care reform legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard won victory on his top domestic priority. Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the plan that would expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.”

Why we’re thankful: While we won’t know for a while what the Senate will decide on health care, the passage of this bill in the House brought the nation one step closer to caring for the health of all citizens at prices that won’t bankrupt families. We hope health care reform makes it all the way to President Obama’s desk.

“Precious” Breaks Box Office Records In Limited Release – “Oscar hopeful ‘Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire’ was a hit with audiences its opening weekend. The gritty inner-city drama, executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, made $1.8 million at 18 theaters in its first weekend of limited release, according to Variety. The film scored an average of $100,000 per theater — reportedly a record.”

Why we’re thankful: Overweight, dark-skinned, poor — people who meet these descriptions don’t often find their stories told in skinny, white-washed, and glamorous Hollywood. “Precious” not only changed the face of the movies, it did so while receiving widespread critical acclaim and box office success, showing that there’s room for a greater diversity of perspectives and actors in the mainstream.

Number Of Black Americans With 4-Year Degrees Reaches New High – Nearly 4.6 million African-Americans hold a four-year college degree, a new high, but a large racial gap in degree attainment still exists and does not appear to be shrinking, according to a report in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Why we’re thankful: Making strides in education can only mean future uplift for our community, and that’s something worth celebrating.

Mattel Introduces Black Barbies With More “Authentic Features” – “Mattel announced Tuesday that it is launching a line of black dolls with more ‘authentic facial characteristics’ than the company’s dolls have featured until now. The dolls, which are part of the ‘So In Style’ line have ‘fuller lips, a wider nose, more distinctive cheek bones and curlier hair,’ according to the world’s biggest toymaker.”

Why we’re thankful: Given the chance to see themselves reflected in their dolls, more little girls will undoubtedly come to see that beauty comes in all shades.

Lou Dobbs Leaves His Nightly Show -”CNN’s Lou Dobbs stepped down from his controversial role as an advocacy anchor at the network at the end of his show Wednesday night, saying he plans to seek a more activist role.”

Why we’re thankful: CNN is the network many look to for straight, unbiased news. Freed from Dobbs’ special brand of xenophobia and general craziness, CNN just became a little more trustworthy.

And finally, the one thing we’re as thankful for today as we were last year …

The president is (still) Black.

Happy Thanksgiving from NewsOne!

From BlackAmericaWeb

Journalist and author Roland Martin, senior analyst for “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” will be named Broadcaster of the Year by the Rainbow PUSH coalition at this week’s 10th Annual Creating Opportunity Conference in Atlanta.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of Rainbow PUSH, will present the award to Martin on Friday, Oct. 16 at its Keep Hope Alive Gala.

“Roland Martin’s coverage and analysis of the 2008 election was outstanding, as is the commentary he provides every night on CNN, and now on ‘Washington Watch with Roland Martin on TV One,’” said Jackson. “His reporting and commentary indicate that he has his finger on the pulse of African-American thought, and is a respected voice of our community. Roland has a unique way of connecting with people. He is generous, intelligent and persuasive. So many people look up to him and say, ‘He speaks for me.’ We want to honor Roland for his work, and we present this award to laud his pursuit of excellence in journalism.”

Read The Whole Story

Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing.  But inciting a riot with corporate underwriting and support of the mainstream media is a completely different thing.  Add to that the endorsement of a major political party, and what you have is a danger to our democracy.

That is what comes to mind when I look at this crazy Birther movement, those people who refuse to believe that President Obama is a U.S. citizen, and demand that he produce his “real” birth certificate that shows he is Kenyan, or Arab, or Martian, or whatever.  At the same time, there is the unwashed, thuggish opposition to healthcare reform- the angry people who are disrupting town hall meetings throughout the nation, hanging lawmakers in effigy and threatening the safety and lives of members of Congress.

These two groups are cut from the same cloth-a white sheet, that is.  They are among the right-wing hate groups that were the subject of a report by the Department of Homeland Security called “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” The report warned that the current recession and the election of a Black president have provided recruitment opportunities for White supremacist and radical right-wing groups.  The current environment could lead to confrontations between these extremists and government authorities, such as the Oklahoma City bombing and other examples of domestic terrorism in the 1990s.

These right-wing, anti-government groups are united by their hatred of immigration and Latinos, their hostility towards gun control legislation, and their racial resentment towards President Obama.  Those sentiments were on full display at the McCain-Palin campaign rallies in 2008, in which crowd participants called Obama a terrorist and a traitor, carried around Obama monkey dolls and called for his death.  And the sentiments were on display at the tea parties, with their abundance of racist, anti-Obama signs.  It is no accident that hate crimes and hate groups have increased in recent times, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.  James Von Brunn, the White supremacist who opened fire and killed a security officer at the National Holocaust Museum was part of the Birther movement, which itself has racist and anti-Semitic roots.  And the President receives 30 death threats a day, posing a challenge to the Secret Service charged with protecting him.

The tea parties were an example of “astroturfing”: top-down, corporate-sponsored activities disguised as a grassroots movement.  Two of the lobbying organizations that orchestrated the tea parties include FreedomWorks (a conservative action group led by former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey), and the free-market group Americans For Prosperity.  Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, these two entities are also involved in the orchestrated fringe opposition to healthcare.  They provide the loud protestors who disrupt healthcare town hall meetings for the sole purpose of shutting off debate.  Americans For Prosperity, for example, operates under the front group Patients United Now.  And another anti-healthcare reform group, Conservatives For Patients’ Rights (CPR), has claimed responsibility for recruiting Tea Party activists and other third parties to disrupt the town hall meetings.  CPR operates in conjunction with the people who brought you the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth during the 2004 presidential campaign.  CPR is operated by George W. Bush business partner and private healthcare executive Rick Scott, who was forced to pay an unprecedented $1.7 billion settlement for defrauding taxpayers.

These activities should be denounced, but instead have earned the blessings of the Republican Party.  Consorting with Birthers, tea-baggers, fringe hate groups and angry mobs is the way of the new GOP.  And the new GOP is actually the old GOP on steroids.  A party that thrived for years on the Southern Strategy-appealing to White racism for votes-the Republicans have little else but a Southern Strategy left.  Divested of any real ideas and lacking broad-based support, the GOP lost a presidential election, holds a minority in both houses of Congress, and is facing long-term minority party status.  They appeal to their shrinking Neanderthal base by displaying their disdain for Latinos and Latino judges, in the face of rapidly shifting demographics.  Their base cannot undo the election that placed Obama in office, and they cannot keep back the winds of change that have swept through Washington and the country.  Their only alternative is to hate the man for what he is, to question his American-ness, and to stop his administration and its agenda of universal healthcare.

Trying to fight progress, the GOP base is now reduced to playing the role of Bubba, that character from 1950s central casting who was always on hand to beat up a civil rights worker at the segregated lunch counter.

And mainstream media court jesters-cable TV entertainers such as CNN’s Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck of Fox News- use the airwaves to legitimize the hate groups, with the apparent support of their respective corporate networks.  Dobbs expressed his support for the Birther movement, and Beck charged that Obama hates White people.  We would expect nothing else from Fox.  But CNN-which touts its journalistic professionalism-cannot claim to be the network of “Black In America”, “Latino In America” or “Generation Islam” while also harboring and enabling an extremist sympathizer such as Dobbs.  The Southern Poverty Law Center called on CNN to oust Dobbs for his racism and questioning of Obama’s citizenship, but he remains on the network.

Protest and dissent have played an invaluable role in American history.  However, so too has the extralegal presence of the lynchmob.  What is passing as the current public “discourse” regarding healthcare reform has only served to elevate the lynchmob.  Fortunately, the Democrats have caught on.  Hopefully it is not too late.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member David A. Love, JD is a journalist and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, and a contributor to the Progressive Media Project and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. He contributed to the book, States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons (St. Martin’s Press, 2000). Love is a former Amnesty International UK spokesperson. His blog is davidalove.com.