Obama Raises Black Hopes

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• Dems Leave the South Behind

  Nov 11, 08 8:01 CST
  Remember when the only winning Democrats were Southerners? Dixie’s desertion of the Democrats made Republicans the dominant party, and only when Democrats stole back part of the pivotal region could they win. Well, writes Adam Nossiter in the New York Times, the South is pivotal no longer. While running up his big total nationwide, Barack Obama actually lost ground in the white South, most likely because of race.
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• Obama Brings Radical Change —for Black Comedians

  Nov 10, 08 2:41 PM CST
  The 2008 election was a game-changer for many facets of US society, and not least for black comedians, the LA Times reports. Many have made careers out of lampooning and railing against a system that seems stacked against them. “Now, there’s this self-made black man, and they don’t want to undermine the possibility of hope,” says a professor. More »

• Jesse's Face Spoke for Millions

  Nov 5, 08 1:18 PM CST
  Not long after the networks declared Barack Obama the next American president, writes Rebecca Traister in Salon, the years worth of emotions that led up to that moment flashed across the face of Jesse Jackson. In minutes, the civil rights leader's expression transformed from a still one of disbelief, (or perhaps resentment, or shock) to unabashed, weeping joy.
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• The Civil War Ended Last Night; Time for Reconstruction

  Nov 5, 08 8:48 CST
  The American Civil War finally ended last night, writes Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. The struggle that began at Bull Run was brought to a close when white America elected a black American president—the ‘Bradley effect” trumped by the “Buffett effect” of rich whites secretly voting Obama, wanting to share the younger generation’s hope. “Obama will always be our first black president,” Friedman writes. “But can he be one of our few great presidents?” More »

• An Obama Win Would Belong to LBJ

  Nov 4, 08 12:02 PM CST
  Unless the polls are wrong, the winner of today’s election is clear: Lyndon Baines Johnson. “We have lost the South for a generation,” Johnson said when he signed the Civil Rights Act. Well, “for that generation, time’s up,” Richard Cohen writes in the Washington Post. Barack Obama isn’t a transformational figure, he’s “a conformational figure,” representing a seed that’s already blossomed. It was planted by Johnson.
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