African Americans

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Minority Car Dealers Stand to Lose Big in Closures

(Newser) - African-American and Latino car dealers will likely take a big hit in the dealership closures announced by Chrysler and planned at GM, the Wall Street Journal reports. The minority dealerships, located mainly in urban areas, have faced stiff competition as business has moved increasingly to suburbia. “We're more vulnerable,...

Africans Have World's Greatest Genetic Diversity

Landmark study tracks modern humanity's origins to area in South Africa

(Newser) - The people of Africa have by far the world's most diverse genes, says a new study that sheds light on humanity's origins. Researchers—who traveled deep into remote areas of Africa to study more than a hundred populations—have pinpointed the origin of modern humans to an area near the...

Americans Optimistic on Race Since Obama: Poll

(Newser) - More Americans say race relations are looking good since the election of Barack Obama, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. Among 973 adults surveyed last week, two-thirds said race relations were good and the number of blacks in agreement doubled since last summer. Despite resignation over the economy...

US Boycotts United Nations Racism Meeting

Obama bows out over Israel critique; black caucus upset

(Newser) - The Obama administration will boycott "with regret" a UN conference on racism next week over language in the meeting's final document that could single out Israel for criticism and restrict free speech, the State Department said today. The decision will likely please Jewish groups that lobbied against US participation,...

Number of Blacks Jailed for Drugs Declines

But number of white inmates increases

(Newser) - A profound shift may be under way in the racial makeup of the nation's prison population, the Washington Post reports. For the first time in 20 years, the number of blacks imprisoned for drug offenses is falling sharply while the number of whites is rising, the Washington Post reports. One...

Few Blacks Followed Anderson's Lead
 Few Blacks Followed 
 Anderson's Lead 
analysis
Apr 6, 2009 5:01 PM CDT

Few Blacks Followed Anderson's Lead

(Newser) - Marian Anderson shattered a racial barrier when she sang at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939—70 years ago this week—yet despite planned tributes, the power of the moment has faded, Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker. Most young people know nothing of Anderson, and "black...

Time to Get Tough on Obama, Say Some Blacks

Making 'history is not enough,' argue commentators

(Newser) - He made history on January 20—but some black politicos say the honeymoon is over with President Obama, the Washington Post reports. Taking the president to task will ultimately help him lead, says talk show host Tavis Smiley. “History is not enough,” notes black media personality Jeff Johnson....

Obama Inspires School's 'Pull Up Your Pants' Day

Florida school hands out belts to tighten waistbands

(Newser) - Among Barack Obama’s many inspirational quips, it’s “Brothers should pull up their pants” that stuck with the Florida high school teacher behind today’s Pull Up Your Pants Day. Fed up with droopy drawers, she enlisted community members to hand out belts to kids who could use...

Scholar Who Lived Black History Dead at 94

John Hope Franklin embodied black history

(Newser) - Influential historian John Hope Franklin died yesterday at 94. The author of a seminal book on race, Franklin was born and raised in an all-black community in Oklahoma, marched in Selma, and assisted on a Brown v. Board of Education brief. "He managed to embody this history and yet...

Blacks Still Unequal in US: Report

African-Americans remain less employed, more often imprisoned than whites

(Newser) - Though a black family occupies the White House, inequality between African-Americans and whites persists in the US, a study by the Urban League says. Blacks are twice as likely to be jobless, three times more likely to be poor, six times more likely to have spent time in prison. A...

Supreme Court Limits Power of Voting Rights Act

(Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today that a part of the Voting Rights Act aimed at helping minorities elect their preferred candidates only applies in electoral districts where minorities make up more than half the population, the AP reports. The decision could make it harder for some minority candidates to win...

Couple Buys Black-Owned Only in 'Ebony Experiment'

(Newser) - A Chicago family is trying to use its household spending to invest in the black community by buying exclusively from black-owned businesses for 1 year, the Tribune reports. The Andersons’ ambitious “Ebony Experiment” has them driving 14 miles for groceries (and farther for other stuff) and has earned hate...

Obama Brings Ethnic Media Into Loop
Obama Brings Ethnic Media
Into Loop
ANALYSIS
Mar 9, 2009 10:59 AM CDT

Obama Brings Ethnic Media Into Loop

Latino, black outlets see better access to White House

(Newser) - From phoning Hispanic radio hosts to appearing on Telemundo, President Obama has shown a willingness to connect with the Latino community many feel his predecessor lacked. And while Obama’s first print interview as president was with Black Enterprise magazine, the White House and ethnic media outlets are approaching this...

Jazz Great Ellington Will Grace DC Quarter

Capital honors native son with commemorative coin

(Newser) - Late jazz legend Duke Ellington has been chosen to appear on the District of Columbia's commemorative quarter, CNN reports. The composer and performer, a DC native who died in 1975, beat out abolitionist Frederick Douglass and surveyor and astronomer Benjamin Banneker in a vote of the capital's residents. Ellington becomes...

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

Americans don't discuss racist past enough: attorney general

(Newser) - We may have elected our first black president, but America remains "a nation of cowards" on race, Eric Holder said today in a speech honoring Black History Month. "Average Americans simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial," said the attorney general. He vowed...

Americans Use DNA Tests to Trace African Roots

Obama's rise could accelerate trend

(Newser) - As a kid, Isaiah Washington only knew Africans as the “natives running around with bones in their noses” on TV, “trying to put Tarzan in a pot.” Now, the former Grey’s Anatomy actor is chieftain of a village in Sierra Leone, thanks to a DNA test...

'Obama Effect' Gives Black Models a Boost

Models see shift away from whites-only runways

(Newser) - The figurative—and sometimes real—"Whites Only" signs in the fashion world are starting to come down in the wake of Barack Obama's election win, male models tell the New York Times. Fashion shows in the US and Europe are starting to more closely resemble the real world's diversity,...

Black DC Vies for First Couple's Attention

(Newser) - From churches to hair salons, Washington’s black institutions are gunning for the Obamas’ patronage, the Washington Post reports. Many in the largely black city feel a sense of camaraderie with the first couple—and know that making a connection with the town's hottest celebrities would be “a tremendous...

From Hair to Eternity: Michelle's Black 'Do Puzzle

Letting hair go 'natural' could be first lady's most political move

(Newser) - With fashion mags touting makeovers monthly, will Michelle Obama change her signature look? The first lady’s straight locks are “already starting to look locked in, like armor,” Erin Aubry Kaplan writes for Salon, but a new ‘do is a risky endeavor for a black woman: “...

Black Leaders Pin High Hopes on New AG

Civil rights advocates see opportunity for change under Holder

(Newser) - For decades, black men have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to execution at disproportionate rates. Now, with the appointment of the country's first African-American attorney general, black leaders are hoping Eric Holder will help the Justice Department reform what they see as a broken system. "The most important thing...

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