In U.S. elections, it’s winner take all — and Blacks are the losers
For generations, America considered itself a democratic beacon, a shining exemplar of responsible self-governance. Now, it seems we have given up on the very idea of a one-person, one-vote democratic republic in which ordinary citizens’ voices count equally.
Democracy crisis existed in America long before Trump became president. How do we fix this?
We’re trapped in an obscene distortion of democracy. But we don’t have to be
What if major foundations got behind the idea of a New Great Migration? If we won’t change the Constitution, let’s change the composition of the states.
Story time: Republican National Convention re-imagines Donald Trump as kind and fair
Black and Hispanic speakers at the Republican convention are trying to paint Donald Trump as the second coming of Abraham Lincoln. Good luck with that.
Portland, Kenosha killings put America in dangerous place. For once, Trump must be president
If Trump won’t lead, Joe Biden has to get out of the basement and go to the scenes of the worst violence. Show us what a leader looks like.
George Floyd protests: We’re not waiting for color-blind justice any more
If Martin Luther King Jr. was exhausted in 1963, the patience of others desperate for an end to police violence is surely at an end by now.
After 100 years, the American Civil Liberties Union is still fighting
The American Civil Liberties Union isn’t taking ‘democracy for granted.’
We should welcome deep digs into 1619. Slavery and white supremacy shaped today’s America.
You don’t have to be black to see the importance of slavery to the American story. It has fundamentally shaped who we are. Erasing that erases history.
Donald Trump’s depressing racist vitriol brings out the worst in too many Americans
How much does Trump have to do with the ugliness permeating the public square? What we know is that white supremacists consider him one of their own.
Forget blackface. Stop celebrating KKK and Confederacy to get past lynching and slavery
My problem is not with people who were young and stupid and wore blackface. It’s with people who don’t take history seriously enough to learn from it.
Scary to be a man: Minorities have known forever what Kavanaugh just helped Trump discover
Column: One year after Charlottesville, Trump has normalized racism in America
President Trump’s divisive and racial rhetoric is becoming the new normal. We can’t let that happen to us as a nation.
Bill Cosby went from America’s dad to reluctant founding father of the #MeToo movement
Bill Cosby will be remembered as a human rights pioneer. His excellence paved the way for Barack Obama. His abuses helped spark the #MeToo movement
Martin Luther King Jr. would be disappointed in today’s small and divisive leaders
50 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, we are dealing with the same racialism that blinds us to reality and our own potential as a nation.
Oprah 2020: Do we need another glitzy amateur in office?
If being a watchable TV personality selling fantasy qualifies one to be president, we might as well prepare ourselves for the Kardashian dynasty.
In Alabama, black voters rescued white voters from their worst impulsesMoore is a backward-looking, self-righteous bigot who ran against someone who has tried to deliver the South from darkness. And yet he almost won.
NFL protests: Donald Trump fumbles First Amendment football
Denying people constitutional protections is precisely the opposite of what the government’s job is — even if those people are provocative.
Keep Confederate monuments, but put their horrific history on center stage
While Trump is far from right, he is not totally wrong. We must confront our past, not whitewash it.
Charlottesville unmasks Trump. Stop expecting him to denounce white supremacists.
Time to remember that ‘we are the change we seek.’ America can move forward even as this president marches us backwards.
Trump justice double standard: Presumed guilty unless you’re family
To Trump, the mere suggestion of a crime has always been enough to condemn and destroy, whether the alleged offender is Hillary Clinton or innocent kids accused of crimes.
Trump lying about Comey firing isn’t new
This is the same guy who maintained for years that Obama was born in Kenya.
Black Americans choose life for Dylann Roof
Black people have seen what eye-for-an-eye justice has done to their communities.
Trump’s monumental challenge on race: Ellis Cose
The minorities he aggressively disparaged aren’t going to tolerate second-class treatment.
Other countries have healed, and so will we: Ellis Cose
Reconciliation starts by acknowledging grievances that existed long before Trump stirred the pot.
At Sunday debate, Trump still soft-headed on crime: Ellis Cose
Getting tough on crime has always been more about fueling racial resentment than protecting victims.
Civil war on race isn’t in the cards: Ellis Cose
Our world is more nuanced than the haters imagine. Obama knows this and so do many Americans.
Ellis Cose: Baltimore cries out for end to denial
There are 3 interrelated problems that we can’t seem to come to terms with.
Ellis Cose: Addressing race is the cure to racial strife, not the cause
Michelle Obama’s speech refused to ignore racial inequality, but advocated American unity.
Cose: Reform criminal justice now
Dirty Harry approach gets too many gunned down by their protectors as more die in custody.
Germany’s humane prison system: Ellis Cose
Focus on preparing prisoners to return to society could provide model for reforming our failed criminal justice system
Student ‘safe spaces’ reflect idealistic yearning: Cose
Why are we ridiculing students who seek to make the world a better place?
The Race Gap in the Economic RecoveryFallen Star
Artur Davis was on track to be Alabama’s first African-American governor—till he took black voters for granted.Want to See Obama’s Future? Take a Look at Cory Booker.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker is converting campaign inspiration into capable governance.Movement ‘Mother’
The legacy of Dorothy Height.
Don’t Dismiss Michael Steele
Just because he has been an ineffective RNC
chairman doesn’t mean he isn’t also held to a different standard.
Drowning in Hate
Ugly rhetoric perverts our politic
What’s the Moral Price for Playing Politics?
Antigay policies can be attributed to populist,
even democratic, politics, but that does not absolve
their perpetrators of bigotry.
David Paterson’s Dilemma
Black solidarity no longer trumps all.
Black and Blue at the Times
A top editor’s bruising experience.
A New Jim Crow?
The tragedy of America’s jails.
Children Are Not Too Old to Change
Rehabilitative approaches work better than punitive ones in reforming juvenile offenders. So why don’t more states adopt them?
Red, Brown, and Blue
America’s color lines are shifting
The GOP’s Civil-Rights Problem
The ‘Un-Palin’
Oprah is the real unifier in chief.
LEARNING THE LESSONS OF SESAME STREET
For 40 years it has taught children diversity and the alphabet, but what else should we be teaching them?
FIRED IS THE NEW RETIRED
The idiocy of axing older employees.
ACORN, Heal Thyself
The group’s problems lie within
How Obama Made Earth Wind & Fire Cool Again
Some 40 years later, the funk band is still selling out stadiums. Thank you, Mr. President
What Sotomayor is Starting
The evolution of Latino politics
Actual Innocense
A death-row case tests whether swift justice can also be certain.
Caricature Witness
The ugly assumptions behind the case against Judge Sotomayor.
A Message of Hope From a Pile of Bones
If Rwanda can recover, says an Anglican bishop, others can, too.
A New Mission for the NAACP
The youngest president in association history leads at a time when many question the body’s very necessity.
Changing The GOP
Steele’s task: transforming a party that likes the way it is.
Revisiting ‘The Rage of a Privileged Class’
Obama’s presidency renders absurd the argument that blacks are barred from playing at the highest levels. But do isolated victories add up to systemic change?
An Epic Moment, Yes. But Transcendent? No.
Americans are getting more comfortable with one another
To Dream a Little Dream of Us
This contest is not about who is the best orator; it is more about who is the best dream merchant.
So What If He Were Muslim?
We haven’t fully accepted the notion that all religions should have equal access to the Oval Office.
The Meaning of a Milestone
Obama exceeded expectations. Can he raise them, too?
Ready, But Are We Willing?
We may have arrived at the point where race, even as it remains a potent factor, is not the only or most important one.
McCain’s Hidden Advantage
No matter what Obama does or what issue he takes, many voters may vote purely on demographic and racial terms.
The Lessons of Rwanda
The important thing is not how quickly the country is healing but how easily it descended into madness.
It Was Always Headed Here
Obama invited some serious thinking, an invitation that’s been extended many times in the past.
Understanding Obama’s Appeal
What his fans see—and why it’s trouble for Clinton.
A Dispute Over The Dream
This election is about making history; each campaign sees the other one as an obstacle to that effort.
An Obama-Carter Reality Check
Obama’s candidacy, even if he loses, has already had a huge impact on American perceptions.
The Rise of a New American Underclass
The real issue is not how many people to let in, but how to help them all fit in.
The Harm of ‘Get Tough’ Policies
The Supreme Court’s ruling on federal cocaine sentences could be a turning point—toward justice and righting an old wrong.
Why I Write
I pondered why it was that my city, my world, was so divided by color.
Opening Doors for Fellow Refugees
Solis fled Nicaragua. Now she’s forming a foundation to help other refugees come to U.S. universities.
From A Prison to Princeton
His dorm room was ‘beautiful,’ he says. ‘I didn’t have to use my kerosene lamp.’
Ignore the Noose Makers
Because of lynching’s violent, racist history, the mere invocation of it can make people insanely angry.
Obama: Go On Offense
Democrats should rely on appeals that evoke fairness, equality and a common destiny.