Imprisoning the next black generation
by Monique L. Dixon
Advancement Project

When our children are being arrested in our schools for "crimes" such as fighting, that used to warrant in-school detention, a short suspension or a phone call to parents, it is a sign there is a not only a failure in our school systems, but in our justice system as well. An injustice to those such as the Jena 6 is a stark example of how negligence and racial discrimination overshadow those systems and criminalize our young people.

Jena 6 refers to six Black teens charged with beating a White teen in 2006. The alleged beating came after White students hung nooses from a tree at a Louisiana high school, according to “USA Today.”

Students of color are being suspended from public schools at much higher rates than their White peers. This phenomenon, recently coined as "learning while black," adds a new, unexplored dimension to the issues of racial profiling and providing legitimate educational opportunities for poor and minority children.

The criminalization of ordinary student misbehavior is nothing new. It has been the reality of school discipline practices in America since the late 1980s when schools adopted "zero tolerance" ...   more »

In the highly competitive race for black evangelical votes in South Carolina, McClurkin just might give Obama the needed edge. However, that edge will come at a high price. It reveals that Obama is not only a vote-whore, but a candidate who plays the race card as well. — Washington Blade

After the dealings I’ve recently had with black bigots in the Democratic Party, I’m saddened and disgusted — but not surprised — that Barack Obama has shown his true stripe by embracing bigotry against gays and lesbians. Obama has adopted the Republican Southern Strategy to attract homophobes, bigots and segregationists to their party — only Obama would look rather silly pandering to segregationists. so Obama ditched them at the side of the road and pandered to homophobic bigots. 

As I have stated previously, blacks in my Texas State Senate District 23 block-voted against equal rights for gays and lesbians in the resolutions committee at the most recent convention. Then, on Labor Day, Senator Royce West — who is black and the State Senator for District 23 — made the egregious claim that same sex marriage is simply one issue and that we likely agree on most others. True enough, but it is my civil rights that are being ...   more »