Holder: We're Still a 'Nation of Cowards' on Race

Documentary traces one couple's story through New Orleans disaster

(NEWSER) - Trouble the Water, a new documentary, is ostensibly about Hurricane Katrina, centered around home-video footage shot during the disaster by a resident of New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. But the film, which frames Kimberly Roberts’ footage within a larger context, transcends that one event to put forth a peerless discussion of race in America, Andrew O’Hehir writes in Salon. More»

In response to question about race, president checks one box

(NEWSER) - When he filled out his census form yesterday, President Obama identified himself as African-American. The son of a black Kenyan and a white Kansan, Obama had the option to check more than one box. He didn't hesitate before choosing "Black, African Am., or Negro," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs tells USA Today . The first family's form also reflected the fact that Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, lives with the Obamas in the White House, notes the AP . More»

(NEWSER) - Sorry, Jimmy Carter: The White House doesn't think hostility toward President Obama is motivated by race, the Washington Post reports. “The president does not believe that the criticism comes based on the color of his skin,” said Robert Gibbs. Carter started a firestorm by asserting just that—the fervent anti-Obama animosity, he said, "is based on the fact that he is a black man." Administration officials say that while race might be a factor for some, people are mostly upset at his sweeping reform proposals. More»

Poll numbers plummeted amid Sotomayor, Gates controversies

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s downward opinion-poll trajectory among whites seems to be linked to the “blackening” of his image, writes Joan Walsh in Salon. It accelerated during two racially charged moments this summer: Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court, marked with debate over her “wise Latina” comment, and the Henry Louis Gates controversy. At such times, Walsh argues, “there's no denying, he got blacker to a segment of the white population.” More»

(NEWSER) - The Gates controversy might finally change—for the better—the way the media portray President Obama on race issues, writes Brent Staples in the New York Times. "Up to now, he has been consistently and wrongly portrayed as a stern black exceptionalist who takes Negroes to task for not meeting his standard," writes Staples. Obama himself "is not happy with this characterization." More»