What Makes a Black Sellout?

On and off the bench, they often work at cross-purposes

(NEWSER) - The lives of Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas have parallels—humble beginnings, fatherless childhoods, Yale Law, affirmative action—but their conclusions are contrary. “For the first time, the Supreme Court would include two minority judges, but ones who stand at opposite poles of thinking about race, identity, and opportunity,” Jodi Kantor and David Gonzalez write in the New York Times. More»

African-Americans remain less employed, more often imprisoned than whites

(NEWSER) - Though a black family occupies the White House, inequality between African-Americans and whites persists in the US, a study by the Urban League says. Blacks are twice as likely to be jobless, three times more likely to be poor, six times more likely to have spent time in prison. A composite “equality index” puts the socio-economic status of blacks at 71% of whites, CNN reports. More»

(NEWSER) - A Chicago family is trying to use its household spending to invest in the black community by buying exclusively from black-owned businesses for 1 year, the Tribune reports. The Andersons’ ambitious “Ebony Experiment” has them driving 14 miles for groceries (and farther for other stuff) and has earned hate mail accusing them of racism—but they say it’s worth the costs. More»

'Skin pigment trumps ideas' among Dems: Kass

(NEWSER) - Roland Burris says this is his media moment, but Illinois' "circus of the politically bizarre" still belongs to Rod Blagojevich, John Kass writes in the Chicago Tribune. No hapless jester, the brazenly calculated governor has dumped Democrats back into the racial politics Obama was supposed to transcend. More»

Changing tastes have many preferring 'black'—or just 'American'

(NEWSER) - African Americans are increasingly shunning, well, the very term "African American," with many just preferring "black" amid increasingly complex origins and loyalties, reports the AP . "African American" rose to popularity in the 1980s, thanks in large part of Jesse Jackson's 1988 run for the presidency, but it's America that looms larger for many. "Africa was a long time ago," said a Miami entrepreneur who started the Facebook page " Don't call me African American " (now with more than 800 likes). "Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually, I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America." More»