Black Man 101

Black Man 101

Are you familiar with “Black Man 101”? Black men never get to graduate from this constantly changing and mandatory course in survival and behavior modification. With the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, the Black Man 101 curriculum has been...
The Swinging Electorate

The Swinging Electorate

It’s official: African Americans are the nation’s most important swing state. Last summer, I predicted that the African American vote would tip the scales in the 2012 election of Barack Obama. My organization, the National Urban League, foresaw a...
What Post-Racial America?

What Post-Racial America?

Having an African-American president is convenient. It boosts U.S. credibility in the Global South and makes us look like we’re making progress toward wiping out racism when we’re not. But it will take more than President Barack Obama’s tenure to...
The New Normal for African-American Voter Turnout

The New Normal for African-American Voter Turnout

In 2008, for the first time in our history, African Americans voted at the same rate as white voters. We spent the next four years hearing that that high turnout was a fluke. “Experts” told us we would lose our enthusiasm. We’d be daunted by new...