Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod claims she was abruptly fired by the Obama administration because the White House feared Glenn Beck would target her in a segment on his show. (Which he did anyway, of course.) Ben Jealous, NAACP president, claims that he was “snookered” by “the right” into misrepresenting, exploiting and demonizing Sherrod. The way the Obama administration and the NAACP bungled the case of Shirley Sherrod should disturb and alarm everyone concerned with fairness, courage and racial honesty.

Denied due process, Shirley Sherrod was misrepresented, exploited, demonized …

While some people are overly invested in the trial of former BART transit cop Johannes Mehserle who was convicted Thursday of involuntary manslaughter for shooting Oscar Grant, life will go on. It seems much of the outrage stems from those who have focused primarily on the race of the cop in question, making Oscar Grant the poster child for racism conspiracy theories.
What most do not realize is there is little “new” about cases such as these. While historically there has been an established pattern of aggression where innocent men were …

Please check out my response to Erica Jong’s racially insulting she wrote for The Huffington Post.
My answer is posted over at Aol. Here’s an excerpt:
Some people are blinded by their own racial arrogance. They are so convinced that their perspective is relevant on what life is like for people of color, that they regurgitate hackneyed perspectives on race as if they are revelations. Writer Erica Jong, famous for books including”Fear of Flying,” published a column in The Huffington Post that stands as exhibit A of this kind of annoyance.
Jong …

Please, can you explain to me why the word “Negro” is still being used in casual discussion in 2010? (…2008 to be precise…)

Most importantly, please explain to me, after so much interracial dialogue, why some white people cannot distinguish between racial ignorance and racial hatred?
Trent Lott’s comments on longing for a segregated America = Racial Hatred
Harry Reid’s word choice in his description of Barack Obama’s acceptability to white voters = Racial Ignorance
Disturbing racial ignorance, but not surprising. [Added 5:45a]
I watched racially stunted and ever-stubborn Joe Scarborough refuse …

So it turns out that HP’s face tracking webcams only work with white folks. Bwahahahaha. “Technology is colorblind” in your face. Check it out via Current.com:

Make sure you watch until near the end. Turns out “Black Desi” has a surprise for his wife to boot.
HP responds:
“We are working with our partners to learn more. The technology we use is built on standard algorithms that measure the difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe that the camera might have difficulty “seeing” …

If you only got your information about Taser from it’s several Facebook pages or blog, you would think that there was universal enthusiasm for this 50,000 volt forced compliance weapon. The glowing praise expressed in chatty accolades would be appropriate to discussions of the latest iphone iteration or Droid functionality.
Lingering on Taser Facebook pages, you’d think that it wasn’t very often that Taser related deaths related occur. And when they do happen? You could be persuaded that it’s always the fault of some drug addicted or genetically challenged skell whose …

We have Nina Turner, a black politician, being caricatured as Aunt Jemima in a black newspaper, the Call & Post. Why? Because she disagreed with them on some legislation. Unacceptable in my opinion and the good news is, I think, most black folks are fed up with this kind of silencing tactic as well.

Read my full article over at Aol’s BlackSpin. Here’s an excerpt:
The decision by Call & Post, owned by Don King, to call-out Nina Turner by portraying her as the subservient, smiling, always-white-people pleasing Aunt Jemima, because she …

You have to hand it to Glenn Beck. He is a wizard at whipping up controversy and, therefore, publicity. Beck’s latest dangling shiny object comes in the form of an announcement that in order to support the sales of his upcoming book which will outline a 100 year plan for America, he is organizing a gathering on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The date is August 28, 2010; the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.
At [a] rally and in a letter on his …

Jesse Jackson who not long ago expressed his support for then presidential candidate Barack Obama by wanting to “cut his nuts off,” has now turned his attention to supporting health care reform legislation in his own inimitable way. Via Talking Points Memo:
The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.
“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.” Source: …

This post is one of many posted in this weekend’s blogging campaign encouraging all of us to remember that we can do better to get our points across than to use simplistic and hateful speech or resort to violence to get our points across. The cartoon of Judge Sotomayor and the murder of Dr. George Tiller brought the sad power of racist marginalization and dehumanizing rhetoric right up to our eyes where we cannot ignore it.

Let me be very clear about why I am offended by Chip Bok’s characterization of …

I remembered that Morgan Freeman paid for a racially integrated prom in his home state of Mississippi, last year. It was a first for his town. I had not remembered that some of the white residents of Charleston, Mississippi, so opposed the idea of a racially integrated prom night, that they sponsored a competing “whites only” prom on the same evening.
But a New York Times profile of another segregated prom season, this time in Montgomery County, Georgia, brought it all back.
The senior proms held by Montgomery County High School students …

I voted today. Here, in Los Angeles, I was one of the few to do so. With prospects of skyrocketing taxes, deep cuts to education and healthcare hanging in the balance, almost nobody cared enough to cast a vote. At the time I write this on Tuesday night, a 12% voter turnout is predicted.
What happened to us?
And by us I mean all of us who gathered last November to stand in line for as long as it took to cast our vote. For a moment, when I stepped into my …

If you’re a black male and want to be a successful CEO, it’s better to have a non-threatening ‘babyface’ than one that conveys maturity and power. According to a new study conducted by Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, some people find a serious, mature face on a black man just too scary. Read on:
Black Fortune 500 CEOs with a “babyface” appearance are more likely to lead companies with higher revenues and prestige than Black CEOs who look more mature, an upcoming study says. [American Express CEO, Ken Chenault, pictured above, …

Latoya Peterson of Racialicious has put together an overview post that incorporates most of the arguments and observations surrounding the meteoric rise of white rapper Asher Roth. [See 'New York Times' article] I’m a fan of classic rap and hip hop. The new stuff that I like is not the type of music to get radio play. Put out a song with too much melody and sophisticated lyrics about real issues and you are sure to have limited spins.
Asher Roth’s catchy little ditty “I Love College” did catch my …

Far be it from me to oppose a good passionate grassroots movement. Maybe I’m dating myself here, but I still remember big, huge marches and demonstrations that energized the heart and focused our nation’s gaze on high ideas – at least for the day. I support the scattered message tea partiers who have every right to take to the streets, distort history, wave their offensive signs and spout misinformation about the “inevitable” consequences of the proposed Federal tax increases.

And believe it or not, I don’t think the anti-spending battle …