race – News Stories About race - Page 8

Americans Optimistic
on Race Since Obama: Poll

Apr 27, 2009 7:54 PM CDT

Americans Optimistic on Race Since Obama: Poll

(Newser) - More Americans say race relations are looking good since the election of Barack Obama, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. Among 973 adults surveyed last week, two-thirds said race relations were good and the number of blacks in agreement doubled since last summer. Despite resignation over the economy...

Time to Stop Fighting the
Civil War in History Class

Apr 20, 2009 11:56 AM CDT

Time to Stop Fighting the Civil War in History Class

Obama means 'honest' discourse on race

(Newser) - Ask a Northerner what caused the Civil War and he'll say slavery, while Southerners are likely to say states’ rights, or economic differences. That self-justifying shorthand is reflected in what's taught in schools, too. But with the election of Barack Obama, historians say new ground has been broken in the...

White Firefighters'
Bias Claims Head
to High Court

Apr 10, 2009 10:12 AM CDT

White Firefighters' Bias Claims Head to High Court

Conn. team complained after promotion test dumped

(Newser) - Hoping to become lieutenants, 77 New Haven firefighters took a promotion test—but when none of the 19 black firefighters qualified, the city jettisoned the results. Their hopes dashed, 17 white firefighters sued the city for racial discrimination, and the case is now set for the Supreme Court. It marks...

Turk Broadcaster
Reports on Obama
in Blackface

Apr 8, 2009 12:46 PM CDT

Turk Broadcaster Reports on Obama in Blackface

Apparently he meant it in a good way

(Newser) - A Turkish newscaster delivered his report on President Obama’s trip to Turkey in blackface, the Huffington Post reports, in what was apparently supposed to be a strange tribute. Roughly translated, the anchor is saying, “Welcome, Mr Obama. You took our hearts with your hospitality. ... We will do whatever...

Supreme Court Won't Hear Mumia's Appeal

Apr 6, 2009 10:18 AM CDT

Supreme Court Won't Hear Mumia's Appeal

Abu-Jamal says was convicted by biased jury in 1981 cop death

(Newser) - Mumia Abu-Jamal has lost his bid for a new trial in the 1981 killing of a police officer, the AP reports. The Supreme Court said today it won’t take up Abu-Jamal's claims that prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from the jury that convicted him of murdering a Philadelphia policeman. The...

McCain Asks
Obama to Pardon
Boxing Champ

Apr 2, 2009 5:00 AM CDT

McCain Asks Obama to Pardon Boxing Champ

Wants to overturn racially motivated conviction

(Newser) - John McCain has introduced a resolution requesting a posthumous presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world, the LA Times reports. Johnson suffered what McCain calls a “racially motivated conviction” in 1913 for dating a white woman. Prosecutors said he’d violated the Mann...

Brazil Prez Blames
'Blue-Eyed Whites' for Mess

Mar 27, 2009 4:51 AM CDT

Brazil Prez Blames 'Blue-Eyed Whites' for Mess

Brazilian president doesn't know a 'single black banker'

(Newser) - The world's black and indigenous people are paying the price for the blunders of "blue-eyed" bankers, Brazil's president declared yesterday. "This crisis was fostered and boosted by irrational behavior of some people who are white, blue-eyed," Lula da Silva said at a press conference in Brazil with...

Blacks Still Unequal
in US: Report

Mar 25, 2009 1:36 PM CDT

Blacks Still Unequal in US: Report

African-Americans remain less employed, more often imprisoned than whites

(Newser) - Though a black family occupies the White House, inequality between African-Americans and whites persists in the US, a study by the Urban League says. Blacks are twice as likely to be jobless, three times more likely to be poor, six times more likely to have spent time in prison. A...

Armstrong Crashes, Breaks Collarbone in Spanish Race

Mar 23, 2009 1:10 PM CDT

Armstrong Crashes, Breaks Collarbone in Spanish Race

Cyclists looks set to recover quickly, team manager says

(Newser) - Lance Armstrong broke his collarbone today in a crash during the first leg of a 5-day race in Spain, ESPN.com reports. Armstrong’s bike collided with other contestants in a pileup around 12 miles from the finish. A Twitter from the leader of Armstrong’s team said the cyclist...

Disney Under Fire for
Black Princess's
White Prince

Mar 18, 2009 11:34 AM CDT

Disney Under Fire for Black Princess's White Prince

Why isn't first black princess with black prince?

(Newser) - Disney has unveiled its first black princess—but her prince appears to be white, and the criticism is pouring in, the Mail reports. In the upcoming The Princess and the Frog, New Orleans’ Princess Tiana is voiced by Dreamgirls actress Anika Noni Rose—and while her prince hails from “...

Couple Buys Black-Owned Only in 'Ebony Experiment'

Mar 9, 2009 3:32 PM CDT

Couple Buys Black-Owned Only in 'Ebony Experiment'

(Newser) - A Chicago family is trying to use its household spending to invest in the black community by buying exclusively from black-owned businesses for 1 year, the Tribune reports. The Andersons’ ambitious “Ebony Experiment” has them driving 14 miles for groceries (and farther for other stuff) and has earned hate...

Snowshoes Go to the Races

Mar 7, 2009 8:06 AM CST

Snowshoes Go to the Races

National competition tomorrow in Oregon

(Newser) - Some 1.7 million North Americans go snowshoeing yearly—but only 150 of them are likely to compete in tomorrow's ninth annual National Snowshoe Championships in Oregon, the Wall Street Journal reports. Running on top of the snow can be a slog, but for some, it’s a passion. “...

Burris Camp
Returns to
Race Card

ANALYSIS

Mar 3, 2009 10:26 AM CST

Burris Camp Returns to Race Card

Ill. senator hopes to box in white Dems for 2010 campaign

(Newser) - Roland Burris doesn’t have much support in Washington or money in his war chest for a reelection bid, but he retains one reliable weapon, Politico reports: the race card. As controversy over his appointment has reemerged, Burris hasn’t hesitated to chalk it up to racial politics. A Burris...

Obama Sends Messages Whites Don't Hear

ANALYSIS

Mar 3, 2009 9:44 AM CST

Obama Sends Messages Whites Don't Hear

"Dog-whistle" politics lets prez court blacks without alienating whites

(Newser) - It’s no surprise that President Obama has a strong connection with black Americans. But how did he manage to avoid being pigeonholed Jesse Jackson-style? Nia-Malika Henderson writes in Politico that Obama uses “dog-whistle politics," employing allusions, cadences—even a swagger—that resonate with black Americans but go...

White House
Opens Up
on Race

Feb 28, 2009 3:03 PM CST

White House Opens Up on Race

Obama's inner circle talks candidly about racial issues

(Newser) - In a break from the tone of the Obama campaign, members of the White House inner-circle are talking candidly about race. Eric Holder's "nation of cowards" remark caught the most attention, but Michelle Obama and EPA chief Lisa Jackson—also the first African-American in her position—have moved the...

Holder: We're Still a 'Nation
of Cowards' on Race

Feb 18, 2009 3:42 PM CST

Holder: We're Still a 'Nation of Cowards' on Race

Americans don't discuss racist past enough: attorney general

(Newser) - We may have elected our first black president, but America remains "a nation of cowards" on race, Eric Holder said today in a speech honoring Black History Month. "Average Americans simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial," said the attorney general. He vowed...

Prime Time Is White,
Reality TV Is Real

ANALYSIS

Feb 17, 2009 8:22 PM CST

Prime Time Is White, Reality TV Is Real

Scripted shows still focused on white rich people

(Newser) - Another way reality TV is “realer” than its scripted cousin: Its diverse casts reflect the population, while scripted TV sticks to stories about young, well-off white people, writes Greg Braxton in the Los Angeles Times. “We're looking to create shows that everyday people can relate to," says...

Obama Aside, Marketers Still Bypass Blacks

ANALYSIS

Feb 2, 2009 4:07 PM CST

Obama Aside, Marketers Still Bypass Blacks

$913B in buying power goes relatively ignored by Madison Ave.

(Newser) - Many of the advertising folks who named Barack Obama Marketer of the Year have cut spending directed at African-Americans, whose buying power is nearly $1 trillion, Marissa Miley writes in Advertising Age. “Why people continue to question this customer segment continues to baffle me,” says one author. “...

Obama Team
Won't Promote
Him as Racial
Pioneer

Jan 19, 2009 4:00 PM CST

Obama Team Won't Promote Him as Racial Pioneer

Obama team focuses on message of unity, not historic status

(Newser) - Barack Obama's inauguration as the first black president tomorrow will make history, but don't expect him to dwell on that point, Politico reports. The president-elect's team is weaving a narrative not about a racial milestone, but about unity—just look at the diversity of yesterday's We Are One festivities.

How to Fix the Education Divide

OPINION

Jan 12, 2009 12:43 PM CST

How to Fix the Education Divide

Racial gap is 'last great civil-rights battle': Klein and Sharpton

(Newser) - America is facing its “last great civil-rights battle”: the racial education gap, write Joel I Klein and Al Sharpton in a Wall Street Journal. “Today the average 12th-grade black or Hispanic student has the reading, writing, and math skills of an eighth-grade white student,” they note. But...