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NEWS ABOUT: African Americans

Wanda Sykes Mocks NBC's Black History Menu—on NBC

Jay Leno a little uncomfortable during the riff

(Newser) - Jay Leno may have thought Wanda Sykes wanted to talk about her injured foot and her 9-month-old twins, but she made it clear last night on his show , "I'm here for that delicious Black History Month menu that NBC is serving in their cafeteria." Leno seemed clueless, and... More »

NBC Serves Fried Chicken to Honor Black History Month

A move that doesn't go over well once it hits Twitter

(Newser) - The NBC commissary at 30 Rock is catching plenty of flak after an employee snapped a photo of the day's special—fried chicken, collard greens, and black-eyed peas "in honor of Black History Month"—then shared it with his 1.2 million Twitter followers. Questlove, the drummer for... More »

Forget 'Negro' and 'Black,' Bring Back 'Colored'

Reid affair offers opportunity to rethink terms for black Americans

(Newser) - The controversy over Harry Reid's use of the word "negro," along with its inclusion in US census forms, has opened up a chance to settle the debate over what black Americans should call themselves once and for all, Cord Jefferson writes at The Root , suggesting "colored" be... More »

Black Optimism Surges

About 40% say they're better off now than 5 years ago, up from 20%

(Newser) - The last two years have seen a big increase in black Americans’ sense of how well-off they are in society. A Pew poll concludes that the election of President Obama was a “spur for this sharp rise in optimism,” in which 39% of respondents say they are better... More »

Reid Apologizes for 'No Negro Dialect' Remark

He gave an unfortunate appraisal of candidate Obama

(Newser) - Harry Reid apologized today for his "poor choice of words" in 2008 when he said candidate Barack Obama had a chance to win because he was "light-skinned" and had "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Reid made the comments privately, but they're coming... More »

'Negro' Box on 2010 Census Raises Ire

Government contends older blacks use the term

(Newser) - Census respondents this year can identify themselves as “black, African-Am. or Negro,” which does not sit well with some black Americans. “It’s a bad vibe word,” a man tells the New York Daily News of the Negro identification. “Doesn’t agree with my heart.... More »

Blacks No Longer Majority in Harlem

4 in 10 are African-American in cultural capital

(Newser) - Harlem, the New York City neighborhood often characterized as the capital of black culture in the US, no longer has a majority African-American population. And the shift that occurred a decade ago has accelerated in recent years as whites and Hispanics have bought into an area abandoned by many blacks... More »

Counting Blacks as 3/5? OK by Glenn Beck

Founding Fathers had abolition in mind, says pundit

(Newser) - Glenn Beck today put his spin on a provision in the US Constitution that once counted slaves as three-fifths of a person, painting it as a tool by which Northern abolitionists meant eventually to outlaw the practice. An African-American caller took issue with Beck’s reliance on the founding fathers,... More »

Quarter of US Households Have Limited Bank Access

Minorities, low-income families hit hardest

(Newser) - A quarter of US households have little or no access to banks—relying instead on nontraditional services such as check-cashing shops, pawn shops, or payday loans, and often paying exorbitant interest rates. The first comprehensive survey of its kind by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. showed that 71% of families... More »

Second Scribe Sues NY Post for Racism

Fired reporter accused paper of Jim Crow-style segregation

(Newser) - A reporter fired from the New York Post is suing the paper for racism, claiming that he was subjected to routine humiliation and Jim Crow-style segregation. Austin Fenner—who lost his job the same day as editor Sandra Guzman, who is also suing—says he was fired for being an... More »

Gay Vote May Settle Atlanta Mayoral Race

Norwood, Reed neck-and-neck ahead of today's vote

(Newser) - Mary Norwood will become Atlanta's first white mayor since the '70s if she defeats Kasim Reed in today's runoff election—but the contest hasn't been as racially charged as some expected. A fifth of black voters favor Norwood and roughly the same proportion of whites favor Reed. The city's large... More »

Ex-Editor Sues 'Racist' NY Post

Employee says boss called her 'Cha Cha #1'

(Newser) - A former associate editor of the New York Post says she was fired for complaining about the paper’s racist and sexist atmosphere. Sandra Guzman, who identified herself as the “only female editor of color at the Post,” is suing parent News Corp. Her suit claims she was... More »

Steele: I Scare White Republicans

RNC chair says he sees it in meetings

(Newser) - Rack up another gaffe for Michael Steele. The Republican National Committee chair has been trying to improve his party’s relationship with minority voters, but he may have been a little too honest in a recent interview with NewsOne's Roland Martin. Martin suggested that white Republicans were "scared" of... More »

Atlanta May Elect 1st White Mayor in 36 Years

Frontrunner Mary Norwood vows to fix the city's accounting mess

(Newser) - A simple focus on accounting is poised to radically—read: racially—change the politics of Atlanta . In a majority-black city that hasn’t had a white mayor in 36 years, a Caucasian city councilwoman from a tony neighborhood has a commanding lead in the polls. Mary Norwood has promised... More »

Half of US Kids Will Get Food Stamps at Some Point

Figure hits 90% for black children, study finds

(AP) - Nearly half of all US children and 90% of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say. The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and bolsters other... More »

Critics: New Black Barbie Not Black Enough

But fans say black women come in all 'shades, shapes, varieties'

(Newser) - Mattel's new black Barbie dolls are more than just white dolls with a paint job—which is what the toy company tried last time. But some critics still say Mattel hasn't gone far enough. The trio of Barbies have features like fuller lips and wider noses, but some complain that... More »

Good Hair Has a Few Knots

Chris Rock shines as interviewer, but social issues get lost in the weave

(Newser) - Chris Rock is a natural and hilarious interviewer, critics agree. But watchers are split on whether the substance of a rather complicated debate shines through in Big Hair, his documentary on black women and their coifs. A sampling:
  • Rock has helped craft a film with "much good feeling and
... More »

First Lady's Roots Linked to Slave Girl

Genealogist fills in gaps of her lineage

(Newser) - Michelle Obama can trace her lineage to a female slave sold as a young girl from a South Carolina plantation and sent to Georgia. As a teenager, Melvinia Shields became impregnated by a white man, possibly her master, and those two are the great-great-great grandparents of Michelle. A genealogist working... More »

Black Caucus Worries About Resurgent Racism

Anti-Obama anger troubles CBC ahead of triumphant annual conferences

(Newser) - The Congressional Black Caucus is enjoying unprecedented power, with more of their members in leadership roles than ever before, not to speak of one of their number in the White House, but many are disturbed by changes in the political atmosphere, Politico reports. As the 42-member group holds its annual... More »

Slavery Reparations Should Be Obama's Next Stimulus

Time for the president to break his long silence on America's racial divide

(Newser) - President Obama is taking so much heat from opponents wrongly convinced that he's keen on redistributing white America's wealth to African-Americans that he might as well go ahead and do it, Naomi Klein writes in the Guardian. Obama's administration has been pursuing "race-neutral" policies that do nothing to close... More »

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