Video: "Walking In The Front Door"

Go here to view Skip Gates' video. From the story: "Many of us today can remember when it was a huge deal for a black person to enter the White House through the front door, and not through the servants' entrance. As the Obama family takes up residence at the White House, Henry Louis Gates Jr. gives the history of this remarkable journey."

"Why Black Preachers Are Better"

From Howell Raines, writing in The Daily Beast.

Ethnic And Racial Health Disparities

Click here for a story on the Kaiser Family Foundation's webcast on the existence of and need to address and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care.

64%

That is the number of African Americans who use the Internet, up from 56% in December 2007.

President Obama "Does Not Have Any Slave Blood In Him"

So said Southern Christian Leadership Conference president Charles Steele. The response on Michelle Obama Watch: "File this one under foolishness and chicanery . . ."

"Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job"

From The Onion.

President Barack Obama

What an amazing day.

The First Black President Indeed

I just saw on C-SPAN President-elect Obama and his wife Michelle at today's community service day lunch at the Coolidge Senior High School in Washington, D.C. Moving around the room and talking to those in attendance, he said "preciateya" a couple of times, something my mother and aunt say, and "What's going on, man?" in a way I often hear when brothers greet and talk to one another. As Michelle said to those who (ridiculously) questioned whether Obama is "black enough," "Stop it."

Dyson On King And Obama

Michael Eric Dyson, writing in The Root: President-elect Obama "may be the realization of [Martin Luther King, Jr.'s] dream, but he is not the extension of King's prophetic ministry. Neither should he be expected to carry that mantle. As the first president who is black, Obama has made millions of black hearts, including mine, swell with pride. But he is a politician, not a prophet, and should be judged as a political figure."

On post-racial, "a term Obama has never used": "Obama's success should not move us toward a post-racial society, but it should move us toward a post-racist society. A post-racist society aims for racial justice and harmony by removing racial impediments and social obstacles that prevent folk from flourishing. A post-racist society creates opportunity for all people to realize their ambitions and goals without unjust restraint and unfair barriers."

Gates & Stauffer On Lincoln

An article by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and John Stauffer asks the question "what would the man who is remembered for freeing the slaves say about his first black successor?" Noting that is difficult to answer that question, Gates and Stauffer contend that "Lincoln would have been, um, surprised. Lincoln was thoroughly a man of his times, and while he staunchly opposed slavery--on moral grounds and because it made competition in the marketplace unfair for poor white men--for most of his life he harbored fixed and unfortunate ideas about race." Lincoln favored abolition but not equality and had "ambivalent feelings about blacks themselves, especially about whether they were, or could ever be, truly equal with whites." According to the authors, in the month prior to emancipation becoming law Lincoln "proposed a constitutional amendment guaranteeing financing for blacks who wished to emigrate to Liberia or Haiti." Lincoln also used the words "Sambo," "Cuffee," and "nigger," told "darkie" jokes, and enjoyed minstrels in black face. Lincoln met with more black leaders than any preceding president and "became quite taken with one black man, Frederick Douglass," who, like Barack Obama, had one black and one white parent and was one of the greatest writers and speakers of his generation. "Lincoln, seeing this masterly orator of mixed-race ancestry [Obama], would most likely first have been reminded of his exceptional friend, Douglass."

President-Elect Obama On Race

From the President-elect's Washington Post interview: "There is an entire generation that will grow up taking for granted that the highest office in the land is filled by an African American. I mean, that's a radical thing. It changes how black children look at themselves. It also changes how white children look at black children. And I wouldn't underestimate the force of that."

"What I hope to model is a way of interacting with people who aren't like you and don't agree with you that changes the temper of our politics. And then part of that changes how we think about moving forward on race relations. Race relations becomes a subset of a larger problem in our society, which is we have a diverse, complicated society where people have a lot of different viewpoints."

Malia Obama On Her Daddy

Malia said: "First African-American president. Better be good." Priceless.

From Slavery To The Inauguration

Consider this: "The inaugural itself will be at the Capitol, which was built by slaves who baked the bricks, sawed the timber and laid the stone for its foundation. When Mr. Obama delivers his Inaugural Address, he will be looking out across the National Mall, which was once a slave market, beyond the White House, also built by slaves, to the Lincoln Memorial, honoring the president who freed the slaves."

Frank Rich's "White Like Me"

Recommended: Frank Rich's "White Like Me" piece in the January 18 New York Times. A snippet: "Last week I joined a group of journalists at an off-the-record conversation with the president-elect, a sort of preview of the administration's coming attractions. But as I walked some desolate downtown blocks to the standard-issue federal office building serving as transition headquarters, ghosts of the past mingled with hopes for the future. The contrast between the unemployed men on Washington's frigid streets and the buzzing executive-branch bees inside was, for me, as old as time."

And: "Today the nation's capital still has no voting representation in Congress and is still a ward of the federal government, reduced to begging, pleading and cajoling for basic needs. Some 19 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and that 19 percent remains a secret to many who work within the Beltway."

Michael Eric Dyson On Obama's Use Of Language

Michael Eric Dyson, writing in the Washington Post on President-elect Obama's use of language, opines that "as much praise as [Obama] has justly received for speaking in a way that doesn't assault the white eardrum or worldview, his rhetoric is firmly rooted in black soil." Dyson recounts a January 2008 Obama speech in Sumter, South Carolina in which the then-candidate, speaking to a largely black audience about efforts to misrepresent his ideas, said "They're trying to bamboozle you" and "It's the same old okie-doke." In Dyson's view, "if you weren't familar with black culture, most of what he said and how he said it went right over your head--and beyond your ears."

A Mississippi High School's First Racially Integrated Prom

Charleston High School, located in the Mississippi delta, had its first racially integrated prom in 2008, ending a tradition of separate and privately organized proms for black and white students. In 1997 actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for an integrated prom; that offer was finally accepted last year and the event was captured on film for a documentary entitled "Prom Night in Mississippi."

School Resegregation

UCLA's Civil Rights Project recently released a report on the increasing segregation of minorities in highly unequal schools.

Prince A Plagiarist?

From Billboard: "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," Prince's 1994 hit, was plagiarized from a song written by two Italian composers, according to an Italian appeals court.

America's New Face(?)

From Politico: "Like the entertainers and athletes who preceded them as crossover pioneers, Obama and a new generation of smart, well-educated black professionals have unlocked the secret to political success by offering a broad-based, non-threatening agenda to whites while retaining their racial integrity with black voters." According to Sam Fulwood, "a new generation of black politicians--including Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.)--is challenging the Bible-toting civil rights leaders rather than joining them in reflexive protest marches. Obama is an exemplar of this group."

Tuskegee Airmen To Attend Obama Inauguration

At Tuesday's inauguration the living members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the nation's first black pilot squadron, will attend. The Airmen were invited by President-elect Barack Obama.