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...
Don’t Cut Our Kids Out of the Budget

Don’t Cut Our Kids Out of the Budget

Barack Obama won his re-election fight because Americans who are committed to moving forward turned out in record numbers to vote, especially in battleground states. But we can’t go forward unless Congress sits down and makes the hard decisions required to...