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Mortgage Bias: Economic Jim Crow
(The Root) —The mortgage crisis of 2008 has revealed the true color of money: black and white. On July 12, Wells Fargo — the largest residential mortgage lender in the United States — agreed to a $175 million settlement in a racial-discrimination suit brought by the Department of Justice. The case originated with charges first…
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Romney
(The Root) — Mitt Romney has elevated the tactics of pandering, flip-flopping and endless reinvention to a level of high art — or vaudeville. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has long been accused of lacking “core” values. This assessment of Romney’s dubious character has come from those on both the left and the right of…
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GOP Amnesia and the American Jobs Act
(The Root) — The Republican Party has spent the past three years honing its winning political strategy: to lie, keep lying and hope Americans will believe it. The monthly jobs report released by the Labor Department has become a circus event for these shenanigans, giving Mitt Romney, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric…
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Polls Put Romney Back in His Place
(The Root) — Despite his Reagan-esque looks, a near-perfect family life and a vast fortune, nobody seems to like Mitt Romney that much. And as the past weeks’ political postscript has been written, President Barack Obama has proved the ultimate comeback kid, winning on immigration, health care reform and personal likability. With fewer than 130…
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GOP Snake Oil, Health Care and the Supremes
(The Root) — The Supremes have delivered their verdict on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s chief legislative achievement: the Affordable Care Act. And in a fortunate though unpredicted twist of fate, Obama won. Now it’s time to separate fact from fiction and unpack all the lies that Republicans told in their attempt to destroy…
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Will Real Race-Baiters Please Stand Up?
When it comes to the dark history of racial politics in America, the modern-day Republican Party constitutes a case study in cognitive dissonance. Reince Priebus, current chairman of the Republican National Committee, recently blamed President Barack Obama for GOP operatives’ race-baiting methods. Yes, you read correctly: Priebus blames Obama for the racist tactics used by…
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Don't White People Kill Each Other, Too?
When it comes to America’s racial past and present, lies and snake oil are sold in many colors. In the wake of the Trayvon Martin tragedy, conservatives in media have sought to deflect from the racism and racial profiling that precipitated his untimely death by referencing the broader social malaise of supposed “black-on-black violence.” On…
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Trayvon Martin and Vigilante Justice
The tragic death of Trayvon Martin has ignited a firestorm of emotion across the country, in the African-American community and beyond. At the heart of the case are centuries-old ideologies about black masculinity and white fear. Recently, a group named the New Black Panther Party offered $10,000 to anyone who makes a citizen’s arrest of…
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How the Right Invented 'Barack X'
Have you met Barack X? He’s the candidate that the political right has invented in a bid to win back the White House: a fictional president with no decipherable religion and questionable loyalties. According to their dogma, Barack X is raising taxes, destroying the military, apologizing for America, waging war on religion and creating death…
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The Mogul Who Buys Black-History Treasures
Billionaire financier David Rubenstein has become an ambassador for championing the importance of preserving the African-American experience and introducing it to a global audience for generations to come. His recent purchases of an original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery, reflect his belief that black-American…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
