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 …

I know there’s a need for the NAACP, but I have not always been sure that the organization itself understands where it is needed in the times since the white-hot days of the 60’s and 70’s. Like many of my contemporaries, I have been frustrated with the NAACP’s slowness to embrace and utilize digital technology to get important work done. Further, I’ve sometimes perceived lack of a unifying focus. I let my membership lapse.
But my friend Kevin Myles, president of NAACP Kansas, has been steadfast in his commitment to the …

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 …

A reader, Charlton McIlwain wrote in to ask me to let y’all know about a survey he’s conducting.
Mcllwain says, “I am a professor of media, culture & communication at New York University and co-director of the Project on Race in Political Communication (RaceProject.org).
I am interested in the ways that children and parents talk about issues of race, ethnicity, racism, etc. and am conducting a survey primarily geared to collecting funny, interesting, alarming, or challenging anecdotes that parents have about a time when their child, themselves or other children they …

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” …

For the most part, my reaction to the Tiger trouser snake scandal has been a ‘Kanye shrug’. I certainly wouldn’t want the absolute worst moments of my marriage all over the tabloids. On the other hand, I conduct myself in such a way that even the worst moments wouldn’t be particularly interesting or considered outrageous by anyone other than my hubby.
I am perplexed as to why Gatorade hasn’t dropped Tiger Woods endorsement deal yet. But then again, it is an energy drink. I guess it all makes then since at …

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 …

Mike Huckabee has done something reasonable and, in these divided times, that makes it newsworthy and admirable. In a talk at the Hudson Union Society, where he discussed his forthcoming book, “A Simple Christmas”, Huckabee pushed back against the conservatives who criticized President Obama’s visit to Dover Air Force base. Via Huffington Post:
When he [Barack Obama] was at Dover the other day, and went there to pay respect for soldiers, I heard a lot of people on the Right say “Aw, that’s just a cheap photo-op.” No, I think it …

A Black conservative town hall filled the studio audience of Glenn Beck’s Friday the 13th show. I wouldn’t characterize it as a horror story, far from it. Solid points about the need to instill more black urban kids with a love for education and learning were made. But I will say right off that it was frightening to observe the monstrous delusions of many who spoke during the show. And what had me gasping in cynical laughter, was that every time a ‘black conservative’ stood up and said anything that …

Congressman John Lewis and the white man who beat him bloody during a civil rights protest in 1961, came together to accept the Common Ground award Thursday night. “The Common Ground Awards are presented annually to honor outstanding accomplishments in conflict resolution, negotiation, community building, and peacebuilding. Recipients have made significant contributions toward bridging divides between people, finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems, and providing inspiration, and hope where often there was none.”
The reconciliation journeys of Rep. John Lewis and Elwin Wilson embody the best of these principles.

According to AP:
Elwin …

There was quite a dust up on the liberal interwebs yesterday when it was wrongly reported that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had declared he would have dissented in the landmark ‘Brown vs Board of Education’ case. As you may know the ‘Brown vs Board of Education’ decision was unanimous and it ended government sanctioned ’separate but equal’.
In truth, Scalia stated that he would have dissented from the majority in ‘Plessy v Ferguson’. ‘Plessy v Ferguson’ opened the way for Jim Crow and the institutionalization and reinforcement of racist …

I have a bit of empathy for the “birthers”. Really. I understand that not all of us have the emotional maturity or mental capacity to deal with deep disappointment in a rational, non-self destructive manner. Instead, like a two year old infant reacting to the calamity of not getting a much desired new toy; some of us default to blind rage, shrill tantrums and stubborn self-righteousness when things don’t go our way.
Whether you support his policies or not, there is a new sheriff in town, and you get to …

Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
And Michael Jackson, the artist, has provided me with more moments of sheer joy than any other entertainer in my lifetime.
I remember The Jackson 5 cartoon series.
I remember ‘Ben’ and ‘Got to be there’ and ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’
I remember when I loved (heart filling, far away, dreamy love) Michael Jackson. We were both little kids.
I remember screaming out loud in astonished delight as I watched Michael Jackson do the “Moonwalk” for the first time during the ‘Motown 25: …

If you have been relying on print, cable or network news outlets for information on the Iranian uprising – you have been missing out. The real, heart gripping action/information has been most available on Twitter. Many of us following the Iranian activists (#iranelections #iran9 #irandemocracy) are also supporting them by retweeting (recirculating to our networks) information/images and taking actions like changing our account locations and timestamps to Tehran to help thwart the Iranian government’s attempt to identify protesters. I believe that instant contact social networks will become increasingly important in …