DISQUS

Great post, B-Serious and important update. The relationship between the CBC and Obama over the next few months/years is going to be interesting.

Thanks for sharing this dnA. This is really important info that will help folks re-assess the African-American audience and how best to reach us. I actually talk a lot about the new digital divide which falls along income and educational lines. Which tends to account for some of the lingering disparity in online use as minorities still suffer more from poverty and inadequate access to quality education.

guttaperk -- i'm going to need you to re-read my post and click on some of the links. the evidence is strongly in favor of gun laws reducing crime. this is an emotional issue that leads people to ignore the facts. Americans don't like to be told what they can and cannot do and that includes the buying of guns.

My mom really wanted to enroll us in our local Jack and Jill but my father thought it might make us snobs. She also really wanted me to be a debutante and have a cotillion. I put the kibosh on that one myself. So yeah, I'd have to say that the Obamas just don't qualify. Ha.

We all have the senior citizen (or citizens plural) in our family that can't cope with modern communications. My grandmother is famous for telling people to "look it up on the internet" because she's seen it on tv. But do we really want that senior running a modern government?

Amen to all y'all. I'm looking forward to hearing from the NAACP's PR firm in the comments...let's hear your side of the story.

Thanks for the comments. We appreciate the community's support and ideas. We want to improve the blog to bring the full power of your voices to the forefront. Keep the ideas coming!


(Adding cornbread to the watermelon! Hilarious.)

Wow that Jim Inhofe sure does love himself some brown people. All that dripping compassion must be hiding some ugly stuff. Hmm, perhaps such as a pro-torture voting record, "outrage over the outrage" about Abu Ghraib and a vocal skepticism on climate change. To name a few.

dnA -- I cannot believe you just rickrolled the JJP audience. That...is...hilarious!!! And also put me in a good mood since Hillary finally stepped down.

Yes, the divide and conquer strategy employed by Clinton is notable because ultimately it was counter-productive. In a way, that says a lot about how far we've come as a country. Though it doesn't say great things about Clinton's cynical attitude toward race, religion and ethnicity as exploitable.

This is a great piece, Jack/Baratunde. Here's my favorite part:


"People still ask, "Is America ready for a black president?" That's the wrong question. America has never been "ready" to extend its ideals to all of its citizens without being pushed. Was America "ready" for emancipation or women's suffrage or Simon Cowell? No, but we've got them now and in two of those three cases, we are much better for it."

Lord, this is so well-written. Hits every point perfectly. Obama should have lunch with Ferraro?! Um?

Yeah, Rangel's statement is crazy. When is the end for Clinton? That was months ago...

Some people still don't seem to understand how powerful and destructive racial hate imagery can be. Where's the link to the diary that posted this? I'd like to see the comments over there about this. Truly, truly disturbing. The right wingnuts treat Condi Rice with more respect than this in general.

Buy a hybrid y'all. Also invest in swiss francs.

Great post Jack. Really -- it's way past time for the remaining super-delegates to end this and give Obama the few remaining votes he needs to clinch the nomination. Clinton -- exit stage right.

So what happened is that obviously Brownie Leader Mommy looked stoopid because Egypt is in fact in Africa. She had to admit in front of everyone that I was right.


I recommend a book called Black Athena on the African roots of Egyptian history, culture and language and how in the past racism thwarted serious scholarship in this area.

It's true -- thanks to the Bush Administration, our government has a lot of questions to answer about its own human rights record and say, torture, illegal wiretapping, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, etc.


Still I'll quote MLK: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Just as I am concerned with human rights AKA civil rights here in America, so am I eager for civil rights elsewhere.

"Wow" is right! That's exactly what I said when I first read this. What's also fascinating is that with almost all advanced bigotry of this sort, you always see other forms of hatred creep in -- note the sexism, the homophobia. I'm shocked that the author didn't manage to sneak in an anti-semitic swipe, even a coded one. Although I'm not sure -- maybe "New York advisors" qualifies.


To the white former Republican, thank you for your comments and for cultivating an open mind. It's inspirational.

Also, re: Bob Johnson -- don't get me wrong. I loathe the man. But the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation is sizable and well-known. And Magic Johnson whose thoughts I would consider long before I listened to anything


Unlike Bob, Magic has chosen to invest in underserved communities and has been a consistent spokesperson for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. I have a lot of respect for him.

OK, I hear you. And yes, blacks have been the battered wife of the Democratic party for a few decades now. Candidates come out to churches and barbershops sure, but only around election time. You may not like the way it sounds. But would you really vote for John McCain or Mike Huckabee over Hillary Clinton? I'm not sure I would. I would probably choose her or stay home. And voting is important to me. Maybe if a strong independent ran, I might consider him/her. But I think a lot of African-Americans would make the same calculations as I did. And yes, it's dismaying that in November, if Obama or Edwards don't receive the nomination, we may face being placed in a position between having to vote for a race-baiter and a racist. Or not voting at all.

TX is interesting to me -- it's a majority-minority state. It's definitely not a shoo-in this go-round as a red state.


Re: veep choice for Obama -- great idea for a blog post. I have some ideas on that and will get back to you...

dnA, thanks for posting on this. Other blogs have been following the Ron Paul & white supremacist angle and I think you have brought a new and important perspective. An African-American perspective. I hope you'll follow the story because Ron Paul is not what he seems...

Thanks rikyrah and Thomas! Bruce -- thanks for your insight. I'm not endorsing Obama per se (though as an African-American, my heart can't help but root for him to do well). I've got issues with all the candidates.

Nice summary! Felt almost like I was there...