Black Americans

Outside of the fact that they are both women and are both prone to many gaffes, it does not make sense to keep comparing these two women. For example, Michelle Bachmann seems to have no problems talking about issues of race, whether she’s completely on or off. Most republicans including Palin will just invoke Dr. King’s dream in talking about race. Bachman makes comments like “President Obama failed black America.” That’s bold, especially for a party that has little black support.

The ridiculous debate over whether President Obama is a real black man or even a strong black man has gotten out of control. He just proved to the world that he's American, now he has to prove that he's black? Wait, if he's not black, am I? Are you?

Video: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-611137

The late Dr. Manning Marable's book on the life of Malcolm X truly provides a view of Malcolm's life that even those of us who have studied him for years were not aware of. One of the revelations in the book is a period of Malcolm's teenage life where he was allegedly engaged in some type of homosexual relationship. This has led to a discussion particularly in the black community on sexuality because Malcolm has been a shining example of black manhood for decades. If this is true, we have to ask, does it matter?

History has shown us that we have always been on the wrong side of history as it relates to segregation, especially with the military. We said blacks couldn't serve and we were wrong. We said women couldn't serve and we were wrong. Now with DADT, we see that we have been wrong again. Our country is stronger when we allow everyone in this country to bring their talents to the table. America has corrected many of its injustices over the years. I am happy with this latest correction that will put us once again on the right side of history.

I’m the child left behind so I rhyme
Didn’t pass the test so I dropped outta line
Outta sight into crime just tryin’ to get paid
They cared more for my braids than they did for my grades
Didn’t quite look the part plus they didn’t have art
No foreign languages no music, not even head start
So when the shotgun went off I didn’t run I stayed
School was just daycare so I ran and played
Acted a fool in school and I thought I was cool
Made a point to act stupid and not follow the rules
Till I got held back and the joke was on me

Post asserts that the winning of Ms. USA by Lebanese American won't do much to change perceptions of Arabs in America. Looking at Black America, many non-blacks started listening to rap music. That gave them a very warped sense of who we are and many started using the n-word and thought it was OK because of what mainly White executives produced. Are Arabs trying to convince America that you can pole dance too? The problem America has is not with Arab women, it's with Arab men. Is this going to change screening at the airport or other racial profiling?

Americans would rather point fingers about race than talk about it directly. As a diversity educator, I encounter people every day who are just not ready to have this dialogue, yet are quick to say that we are post racial now that we have a black president. Most of us still hold stereotypes about other groups but we would never know they are stereotypes until we confront our beliefs. Entire policies from education to law enforcement have been crafted in America based on race and this is still an issue.

Post looks at Obama's effect not only on me, but on many of my students. Across the country, I speak to Black men with a limited vision of what they can be. As Jay-Z said, the day Obama one, the gangster became less relevant and that's real. Kids in my school were coming in with Obama shirts and not Tupac and Biggie shirts. That's a great step forward. Obama has helped me as a father as well as expanded my possibilities of what I believe I can become if I choose. I have no more boundaries and many of our youth believe that now too!

On June 11th, Fox News Megyn Kelly ran a story about Michelle Obama and whether her comments about being proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. As Fox likes to say, "That's fair." At one point during the interview while showing clips of Mrs. Obama, one of the captions said "Outraged liberals: stop picking on Obama's baby mama!" I first heard about this while driving home listening to Michael Baisden.

So the 3 cops who killed Sean Bell got off without even a slap on the wrist. Not even a misdemeanor. An unarmed man gets slaughtered on his wedding day and no justice is served--except for the police. As a young Black male, I instantly placed myself at the scene of that crime. I instantly saw myself leaving my house on the day of my wedding in 2003 after playing video games with my brother, stopping at the mall on the way to one of the happiest days of my life, and being shot at 50 times.