By Thom Hartmann
The other night, Bill O’Reilly tried to explain the “real” problems facing the African-American community during an epic rant about race on The Factor.
You can watch a clip of his rant right here.
Bill is totally wrong. He is confusing race with poverty. It is poverty that drives all the social problems he just mentioned.
We are engaged today all over this country in a righteous and relentless struggle against conditions of injustice and oppression that socially sanction and legally allow police and vigilante violence against our children and against us as a people under the thinnest of pretexts and pretensions of feeling an existential threat from just our presence.
In a recent article I called for economic sanctions against Florida to compel business and political leaders in that state to change the “Stand Your Ground Law” which provided the basis for the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin.
In a recent article I called for economic sanctions against Florida to compel business and political leaders in that state to change the “Stand Your Ground Law” which provided the…
By Peniel Joseph
Barack Obama passed a crucial test of presidential leadership this past Friday by directly and forthrightly addressing the crisis of race and democracy that has gripped the nation’s attention in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial.
President Barack Obama eloquently described the agony experienced among African-Americans from the slaying of Trayvon Martin. He called for a more thoughtful “conversation” on race, convened not by politicians, but among families, in churches and workplaces. He suggested modest steps to provide greater training on racial profiling with police, greater efforts to figure out how to do a “better job helping young African-American men feel that they’re a full part of this society and that they’ve got pathways and avenues to succeed.” The president’s courageous comments merit praise and consideration. But we’ve had a long conversation about race in America. …
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently spoke at a conference sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago on disaster recovery in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which caused an estimated $39 billion in damage in New Jersey. Christie talked through the plans for rebuilding after the initial steps to get power and water back up and return the area to “normalcy,” using some $60 billion in federal relief contributions. A disaster like Sandy causes a structural dislocation beyond local capacity. Storms, tornados, earthquakes and sudden deindustrialization are all disasters. Houses and roads are destroyed; the local economy is ruined; …
So, there we were once again at this painfully uncomfortable, but familiar place, waiting and wondering, waiting for simple justice in the case of the killing of Trayvon Martin…
Endorsement of Governor by some Black clergy fails accountability test.
Critics of the state’s “stand your ground” law and Saturday’s acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of teen Trayvon Martin hope to make Florida pay.
Their message as they implore state lawmakers to change the law: Don’t travel to Florida, and don’t buy Florida oranges and other Sunshine State products.
Living life as a Black man in America will leave you permanently exhausted.
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