On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and those who had been slaves were now free. There are a number of accounts as to why freedom took so long to arrive in Texas:

Well it’s Wednesday, which means another sports journalist has been suspended for lacking the most basic understanding of historic atrocities and their present day reverberations.

Contributor Andrew Padula has been in situations throughout his life where he’s felt compelled to address racial issues from his unusual perspective. Andrew is a white, politically conservative, blues musician who’s been teaching and touring the U.S. and Europe since 1993. He can be seen with blues legend Bobby Parker on B.E.T. Jazz Central as [...]

From the New York Post:
Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama.
“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was [...]

In the winter of 2004, a source first told me that the Federal government had sanctioned testing an AIDS vaccine on mostly black and Latino foster children ages 1 month to late teens. I did not believe it. When finally convinced that it was true, I sobbed openly as we walked through the park. I [...]

In the promo for ‘Meeting David Wilson,’ you hear documentarian David A. Wilson make a jarring introduction: “Hello, David Wilson? My name is David Wilson, I believe your family once owned mine.” Let’s talk about race indeed.
‘Meeting David Wilson’ is a 90 minute documentary that follows David A. Wilson as he travels from his [...]

The concept of “race” may be the most powerful social construct ever created. This link takes you to a PBS site that lays out “Ten Quick Facts about Race.” Some highlights:
Race is a modern idea - Ancient societies did not divide people according to physical differences, but according to religion, status, class, even language.
Race [...]

UPDATE: Absolut says ‘Sorry.’
Here’s the Absolut ad that first appeared in Mexico:

It depicts the border between Mexico and United States prior to the February 2, 1848 signing of The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following Mexico’s loss of the Mexican American War. The terms of that Treaty were changed by the United States and some believe [...]

As frequent readers of this blog already know, I have long held that our inability to openly discuss and resolve racial issues limits what Americans will do for each other even as we claim the common, seemingly unifying objective of wanting our country to be as prosperous and as ideal a place that it could [...]

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke out about America’s state of race. And as you’ll see there’s not a lot of daylight between her and Barack Obama on this issue.
“Black Americans were a founding population,” she said. “Africans and Europeans came here and founded this country together — Europeans by choice and Africans in [...]

George Washington has been on my mind pretty heavy during the past 48 hours. Happy Birthday, Mr. President. I think of George Washington as a courageous and strong soldier, a devoted family man and thought leader who helped unite a young America during the Constitutional Convention. I also think of our nation’s first President as [...]

Oh, no he didn’t.
Julian Bond has stooped to playing the race card for Hillary Clinton. On February 8th, Julian Bond wrote a letter to Howard Dean suggesting that not seating the delegates from Florida and Michigan “could remind voters of the sordid history of racially discriminatory primaries.”
From the Associated Press:
A prominent civil rights leader has [...]

Natural Blues
Moby
featuring Alan Lomax Field Recordings
–More…
–Even more…

oh lordy, trouble so hard
oh lordy, trouble so hard,
don’t nobody know my troubles but God
don’t nobody know my troubles but God
went down the hill, the other day
my soul got happy and stayed all day
oh lordy…

Contributor Carole McDonnell’s short stories and essays appear online and in print, in speculative fiction, ethnic, and Christian publications. Wind Follower, published by Juno Books, is Carole’s first novel. You will usually find Carole here each Sunday when she serves up observations about race from the perspective of a socially tolerant, observant Christian. Let us [...]

Contributor Andrew Padula has been in situations throughout his life where he has felt compelled to address racial issues from his unusual perspective. Andrew is a white, politically conservative, blues musician who has been teaching and touring the U.S. and Europe since 1993. He can be seen with blues legend Bobby Parker on B.E.T. Jazz [...]