Dr. Boyce Watkins Discusses Health Care On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
TheGrio Speaks – 2/20/10
Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University
Malcolm X's legacy ignored 45 years after his murder
5:20 PM on 02/19/2010
OPINION - Malcolm's legacy has been treated like the neglected step-child of the African-American struggle for freedom and equality...
Journalist, author and broadcaster.
Tiger's been tamed, now leave him alone
5:03 PM on 02/19/2010
OPINION - Black superstars cause much media and public hurt when they supposedly betray the collective self-delusion of sport as pure and pristine...
Sports contributor
Why we should accept Tiger's apology
12:53 PM on 02/19/2010
OPINION - For better or worse, Tiger Woods seemed to want you to know that he's not much different from you or I...
President of Gilchrist Entertainment
Hollywood's most overlooked resource: black female directors
8:22 AM on 02/19/2010
OPINION - It took 74 years for the Academy Awards to acknowledge a black female as best actress. How long will it be before black woman is nominated for best director?...
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Sports contributor
Five things Tiger Woods should say at mea culpa media event
11:31 AM on 02/18/2010
OPINION - What can Tiger Woods do to redeem himself besides just saying 'I'm sorry'?...
Writer and human rights advocate
New census prisoner policy could benefit American cities
8:46 AM on 02/18/2010
OPINION - America's prison population could play an important role in the country's redistricting battles, and help reshape America's electoral map...
Associate Professor of International Studies at George Mason University
Why the US won't 'take over' Haiti
8:17 AM on 02/18/2010
OPINION - There is no need for 'nation-building'. What is required is temporary international guardianship...
Writer for VIBE, Newsday, The Source, Publishers Weekly, and Giant Magazine.
Why remaking 'We Are the World' may have been a mistake
9:01 AM on 02/17/2010
OPINION - Something about the remake feels inauthentic, the simplicity of the original has more sway...
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Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University
The stimulus one year later: A bold move that began a jobless recovery
8:14 AM on 02/17/2010
OPINION - Abysmal disparities in economic opportunities prove that equality has not yet been achieved...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Felon Disenfranchisement is UnAmerican
“I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”
– Conservative activist Paul Weyrich, at a 1980 training session for Christian conservatives
While there are a number of very worthy issues that need to be addressed in this area, I propose that we include the issue of felon disenfranchisement in our deliberations. Felon disenfranchisement is critical as it impacts the outcomes of elections throughout the country. Too often, conservative, anti-minority candidates are elected because of the disproportionate removal of African Americans and other minorities from the election rolls. As the policies that disenfranchise felons disproportionately impacts African Americans (both those caught up in the criminal justice system AND the larger Black public which does not get the policies that it could because supportive people are not elected to office), we must understand it undermines the policies that we believe to be helpful to our community.
The increase in felony convictions over the last generation or so has proven to be an effective way to lock out African American voters. Between 1970 and 2000, the overall number of state and federal prisoners grew by over 600 percent, from fewer than 200,000 to nearly 1.4 million. Nearly five million Americans, two percent of the voting-age population, are prohibited from voting as a result of felony convictions. The laws that created these barriers are undemocratic and antithetical to American ideals, particularly in the case of those who have completed their sentences, parole, or both, and have thus completely “paid their debt to society.”
Racism is the root of felon disenfranchisement laws. Conservatives created these laws in the post-Reconstruction era South in an effort keep African Americans out of the political process as they sought to “redeem” the South in the name of White supremacy. Over time, these laws spread nationwide and 48 states and the District of Columbia prohibited inmates from voting while incarcerated for a felony offense; 36 states prohibit felons from voting while they are on parole; and 31 of these states exclude felony probationers as well. Three states deny the right to vote to all ex-offenders who have completed their sentences. As the GOP became the home of the conservative movement, Republicans all over the country have continually resisted efforts to overturn these scandalous, undemocratic laws. They often argue that these laws are an appropriate supplement to the incarceration process. The reality is that they understand the numbers which clearly indicate the GOP would have a much more difficult time winning elections around the country, particularly in the South.
The impact of these laws on African American political participation has been profound. According to the Sentencing Project, in its 2005 report Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the United States, more than 1.4 million African American men, or 13% of Black men, are disenfranchised, a rate seven times the national average; in six states that deny the vote to ex-offenders, 25 percent of Black men are permanently disenfranchised. Given current incarceration rates, 30 percent of the next generation of Black men can expect to be disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime. In states that disenfranchise ex-offenders, as many as 40% of Black men may permanently lose their right to vote. Ex-offenders who have completed their sentences comprise approximately 1.7 million disenfranchised people in the United States.
According to 2004 report by the People for the American Way/National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Suppression in America", Florida disenfranchised approximately 827,000 ex-felons for the 2000 presidential election. That number is all the more stark when one consider that estimates of felon turnout range from a low of 20.5 percent (for the 1974 congressional elections) to a high of 39 percent (for the 1992 presidential election), with an average estimated felon turnout of about 24 percent in non-presidential year Senate elections and about 35 percent in presidential election years. While well below general turnout rates, these estimates are enough to change electoral outcomes. Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen, authors of "Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy", argue that the outcome of the 2000 presidential election “would almost certainly have been reversed had voting rights been extended to any category of disenfranchised felons.” They concluded that Democratic nominee Al Gore would have one the popular vote by more than one million votes. The disputed election in Florida reveals the impact felon disenfranchisement had on the 2000 contest. Given estimated rates of turnout (27.2 percent) and preference (68.9 percent) for Florida incarcerates, Gore would have carried the state by 80,000 votes and, thereby, the presidency. AND WE NEVER WOULD HAVE HAD GEORGE W. BUSH!!
I readily acknowledge that this is an issue that cannot be easily addressed at the federal level. However, President Obama can use the bully pulpit of the White House to expose this issue to the public as well as its political and policy implications.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
University of Alabama Huntsville Murder
U. Alabama Huntsville is confirming that three people were killed in a campus shooting. The suspect was a female. Another student was injured, and the woman is in custody. Another student was injured as well. The shooting took place in the science building.
The Latest on Black Politics – 2/12/10
Holder may abandon civilian trial for 9/11 mastermind
By theGrio
1:14 PM on 02/12/2010
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Eric Holder is leaving open the possibility of trying professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed before a military commission...
Some blacks back Tea Party, despite movement's racist reputation
7:52 AM on 02/11/2010
A small but increasing number of black conservatives and libertarians are getting involved in the protest movement...
Blacks have endured a decade-long jobless recovery, leaders say
By Adam Howard
6:31 PM on 02/10/2010
In a meeting that many in the African-American community considered a long time coming, President Obama met with black leaders today ...
Leaders leave real black issues out in the cold at White House
6:16 PM on 02/10/2010
OPINION - Black leaders still insist the president's travails are born of process and not of substance...
Obama invites black leaders to White House for economic talks
By theGrio
3:05 PM on 02/10/2010
WASHINGTON (AP) - African-American leaders grappled with how to improve economic opportunities for blacks...
Former Va. governor urges DNC chairman's firing
By theGrio
12:29 PM on 02/10/2010
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Democratic former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder is urging President Obama to fire DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, another former Virginia governor...
Obama welcomes crowd to White House to honor civil rights music
By theGrio
9:46 AM on 02/10/2010
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Obama welcomed an all-star lineup of performers to the East Room of the White House yesterday to pay tribute to the music of the civil rights era...
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Dr. Boyce Watkins on MSNBC’s TheGrio.com – 2/11/10
Ex-NCAA star's lawsuit may expose league exploitation
8:23 AM on 02/10/2010
OPINION - We should also stop allowing the NCAA to earn excessive profits from the images of athletes without compensating them...
Obama's decline reflects the perils of democracy
8:17 AM on 02/08/2010
OPINION - Obama has been given the simple, yet impossible task of improving the economy while being given no resources in order to get the job done...
Haitian children need a future, not a one way ticket out
9:47 AM on 02/04/2010
OPINION - Like ebony fashion accessories, Haitian kids have suddenly come into style...
Republicans' fear of a black president reaches new heights
9:03 AM on 02/03/2010
OPINION - The deceitful lies and illogical rants that drive the GOP right now are simply mind-boggling...
The pros and cons of Black History Month
7:47 AM on 02/02/2010
OPINION - Since most Americans are woefully uneducated on African-American history, it's clear that allocating one month to the topic is not enough...
Obama focuses on 'the Benjamins' in State of the Union
9:14 AM on 01/28/2010
OPINION - President Obama used his standard recipe of charisma, charm and vocal rhythm to renew his national agenda...
What if Obama gave a State of the Black Union address?
8:36 AM on 01/27/2010
OPINION - Obama's State of the Union should be addressed to all Americans. But, it is intriguing to imagine what a speech specifically for African-Americans might sound like...
The Supreme Court has sold out the American people
7:28 PM on 01/22/2010
OPINION - The 5-4 ruling on campaign financing was arguably the most un-American and destructive decision in recent US history...
How to rebuild Haiti after the quake
9:11 AM on 01/19/2010
OPINION - The Haitian people need a future that is worth looking forward to, and one that is devoid of the same old heartache...
Would Martin Luther King support Obama?
1:15 PM on 01/18/2010
OPINION - Obama and MLK might be "frenemies": Distant friends in public, with a fractured relationship behind closed doors...
Destroyed and desperate, Haiti needs our help
10:42 AM on 01/13/2010
OPINION - The earthquake in Haiti was not only a global tragedy, it was a wake-up call for all of us to do what we know we were supposed to be doing in the first place...
Bill Clinton's Obama remarks should be a wake-up call
3:12 PM on 01/11/2010
OPINION - If the allegations in "Game Change" are true, this is going to destroy the already wounded relationship between the Clinton family and the African-American community...
Reid's 'Negro dialect' remark politically incorrect, but totally right
7:14 PM on 01/09/2010
OPINION - I don't think that Senator Harry Reid is a racist. Although Reid seemed to think that President Obama could win the election because he is "light skinned"...
Is Harold Ford Jr. the next 'great black hope'?
8:30 AM on 01/07/2010
OPINION - Meet Harold Ford Jr., a former Congressman from Tennessee who has now become the next Barack Obama, at least in the eyes of enthusiastic Democrats...
Single black women should end the blame game
9:05 AM on 01/04/2010
OPINION - I recently watched an ABC News special about black people not getting married. It featured a set of beautiful, intelligent black women who couldn't find husbands...
Five ways to get your money right for 2010
7:00 AM on 01/01/2010
OPINION - Although we've got some work to do, black folks are always "movin' on up."
The most racially charged stories of 2009
10:02 AM on 12/30/2009
OPINION - As we bring in the New Year and look forward to a new decade, I thought it might be fun to review the most racially-charged incidents of 2009.
Holder should stop patronizing black dads for political points
9:20 AM on 12/28/2009
OPINION - Mr. President, if you cannot also address the good things that black men do, then please do not address the negatives. Both you and Eric Holder are more intelligent than that...
NCAA's educational mission is great scam of 21st century
9:41 AM on 12/21/2009
OPINION - For the NCAA, the educational mission of their professional sports league is one of the great scams of the 20th and 21st centuries, no different from the Ponzi schemes of Bernie Madoff...
Tiger Woods' rep slips from Obama to OJ
9:12 AM on 12/14/2009
OPINION - Tiger Woods is a black athlete. He isn't "Caublinasian," mixed or any other ethnicity. He is, officially, a black man...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
African American Politics: Black Leadership Meets with President Obama
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and three prominent African-American leaders grappled Wednesday with how to improve economic opportunities for blacks, whose joblessness looms well above the national average and is nearly twice that of whites.
On a day of treacherous weather in Washington, Obama kept his scheduled meeting with Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP; Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League; and the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network. Dorothy Height, chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women, could not make it to the White House because of the pounding snow and winds that kept most of the nation's capital shut down.
The meeting did not yield immediate announcements or initiatives.
Obama and the other leaders focused on targeting aid to regions to help black people and other groups that have been hit disproportionately hard by the recession, Jealous told The Associated Press.
"When you try to focus on how to lift all those boats, what you come back to are places -- geographic areas, urban and rural, where assistance should be located," he said. "That approach can work if Congress lets it work."
He added: "This is about place. It's not about race."
Click to read.Friday, February 5, 2010
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