The arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates is an example of poor police work, to be charitable, and the vestiges of racial relationships between black and white men. The police officer, after having been presented with two valid identification cards demonstrating who Gates was and where he lived, should have...

President Barack Obama's restrained part-olive branch, part-truth telling 55-minute speech at Cairo University was an outstanding first step in attempting to bridge the gulf that exists between the U.S. and Muslims around the world. While it will take years, if not decades, to create a more peaceful, loving, and just...

The Grand Old Party is in bad shape. From humiliating defeats in the last two national elections and its recent outburst of internecine warfare, to a new party chairman who has gotten off to a rocky (to be charitable) start to the sexist, racist response to President Barack Obama's selection...

Michael Steele has been under a barrage of criticism from fellow Republicans since his ascendancy to the chairmanship of the Grand Old Party. Along the way, he has embarrassed himself and his supporters with some of his rhetoric and for not seeming to show where he wants to take the...

The recent guilty pleas of two corrupt Luzerne County, Pennsylvania juvenile court judges is further evidence that the U.S. criminal justice system is shot through with corruption and has a penchant for punishment over rehabilitation that only serves the interests of politicians who want to give the appearance of making...

President Obama recently announced a change in strategy regarding the U.S. embargo with Cuba. As the Washington Post noted Obama lifted the Bush Administration restrictions that limited Cuban American travel to the island to once every three years. The new policy also removes the limits on the amount of money...

President Barack Obama's response to Attorney General Eric Holder's "nation of cowards" comment has given us more insight into his views on leading the country into an informed, reasonable, and necessary discussion on race in America. The new insight is worrisome. His timidity on this issue appears to go beyond...

I'm in Los Angeles today to blog the State of the Black Union conference. I'll be posting throughout the day with observations about event. Note: All times are Pacific Standard.

10:55 AM Q & A session: Morial gives "action items" for making sure that the stimulus money gets to the...

I'm a fan of political cartoons and political satire. When well done, they can humorously humble those overrun with hubris, subvert stodgy convention, and speak truth to power. I understand satire can sometimes be harsh and be painful to some. But Sean Delonas' cartoon that recently ran in the New...

Michael Steele's ascension to the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee is a tremendous step forward for a party seeking to avoid slipping into the political abyss of its own creation. The symbolism of Steele's win is undeniable -- a party whose late 20th century rise to dominance was largely...

The Republican National Committee is on the verge of choosing a new leader that will be tasked with leading the party out of the political wilderness. This is a critical choice that the party must get right. In this case, the leader of the party will likely have a disproportionate...

I think it Barack Obama's election will say less about race than many expect. That's because he's likely to say very little about it during his presidency. My understanding of life is: problems don't go away by ignoring them. But politics allows limited candor on certain issues and race is...

Barack Obama will soon be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. He's deep into his transition and moving with dispatch to be ready to work immediately upon taking office. Given all that is on his plate - Israel/Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, economic crisis, plunging real estate values;...

Barack Obama's historic presidential campaign and pending presidency has catapulted the concept of a "post-racial" America to the top of our politico-socio lexicon. The "post-racial" America, as some have called it, refers to a country that has moved beyond race (in an almost Colbertian way). It is touted by liberals...

Senate Democrats now find themselves in a quandary for which they can only blame themselves. In what may prove to be an overreaction to the federal corruption indictment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Senate Democrats issued a statement indicating that they would not seat his choice to replace Senator Barack...

I'm not a Republican (or a conservative), so I won't be surprised if the Grand Old Party ignores my advice. However, a well-functioning democracy requires at least two counterbalancing political parties able to compete with each other for the hearts and minds of the masses. Tuesday's election results show that...

Please forgive me for hitting the "pause" button on your celebration, but a reality check may well be required in these exciting times. The reality of politics and race are such that having a black President will mean little if there are no changes in the material conditions of Black...

Barack Obama is about to become the next President of the United States and he should thank George W. Bush for this opportunity. Without Bush, the change argument on which Obama has based his candidacy, doesn't ring with the same sense of urgency that it does now. Obama's relative inexperience...

Many of the numerous reasons why African Americans have so comprehensively rejected the Republican Party are now on display in the presidential campaign. Senator John McCain's campaign, directly and indirectly, is using race and, to a lesser extent religious bigotry, to prime voters around the country to enter the ballot...

This is the point in a presidential election cycle when the "battleground states" -- those which are undecided and likely to be close for the rest of the contest -- begin to take shape. That's in part because of state developments including "hot" state and congressional races and controversial ballot...