Blacks

Ryan Stewart 5-07-2015
Image via PRRI, Religion & Politics Tracking Survey, May 2015

Image via PRRI, Religion & Politics Tracking Survey, May 2015

The percentage of white Americans (46 percent) who believe blacks and other minorities receive equal treatment to whites in the criminal justice system is exactly the same as it was in 1992 — the year of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, according to the Public Religion Research Institute. In contrast, only 17 percent of black Americans and 39 percent of Hispanic Americans agree. 

Thelma Young 8-19-2011

Broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West just wrapped up their 18-city "Poverty Tour." The aim of their trip, which traversed through Wisconsin, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and the Deep South was to "highlight the plight of the poor people of all races, colors, and creeds so they will not be forgotten, ignored, or rendered invisible." Although the trip has been met with a fair amount of criticism, the issue of poverty's invisibility in American media and politics is unmistakable. The community organizations working tirelessly to help America's poor deserve a great deal more attention than what is being given.

The main attack against the "Poverty Tour" is Smiley and West's criticism of Obama's weak efforts to tackle poverty. For me though, what I would have liked to see more is the collection of stories and experiences from the people West and Smiley met along their trip. The act of collective storytelling in and of itself can be an act of resistance.

'Statue of liberty' photo (c) 2011, Rakkhi Samarasekera - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

"I will call them my people, who were not my people. And her beloved, who was not beloved." (Romans 9:25 referencing Hosea 2:23)

Estranged, alienated, and removed; anyone living in an industrialized modern society in the 21st century would be able to define, or at least identify the sentiments of these words. Our time is one of mass communication and instantaneous access to knowledge. And yet our lives are too compartmentalized, increasingly divided, and our society reflects this. Indeed the existential writers of yesteryear were correct in diagnosing the iron cage that would befall us, ultimately leading to an eclipse of reason.

Rose Marie Berger 3-08-2011

On March 7, 1965, 600 civil rights marchers attempted to walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in support of equal voting rights for blacks and whites.

"After more than 50 years in the military and politics, I am still amazed to see how upset people can get over nothing.
Edward Gilbreath 7-30-2010
The Shirley Sherrod incident, the latest stumble in our nation's clumsy dance with
The controversy over the injustice done to Shirley Sherrod, the African-American woman whose comments on race were taken out of context, misreported, an
Cesar Baldelomar 5-07-2010
Someone please pinch me. This must be a nightmare. After all, is it possible that, in this land of freedom, one of its states -- which back in 1993 refused to recognize Martin Luther King Jr.
Steve Holt 4-15-2010

The Tea Party Express -- the traveling band of conservative speakers, entertainers, and organizers -- stops in Washington, D.C., today on its nationwide effort to "vote them out of office" in the 2010 mid-term elections. Sarah Palin, one of the most galvanizing conservatives in years, has joined the Express in an attempt to bring more mainstream conservatives into its ranks.

Cesar Baldelomar 4-06-2010

I recently viewed an episode of Gangland on The History Channel. This particular show, which documents the rise of the younger members of the Imperial Klan of America (or KKK), really roused my anger. I thought, "How could people be so ignorant and foolish?" Can't they just accept that the United States has always been an ethnically, religiously, and ideologically diverse country?

More Than Equals, co-authored by Chris Rice and the late Spencer Perkins, is considered one of the pivotal books in the Christian racial reconciliation movement that found its greatest momentum in the early and mid-1990s.

Onleilove Alston 12-03-2009
Our country has a long history of underserving and mistreating African-Americans and other marginalized groups.
Jim Wallis 6-11-2009
Words have consequences. In the past few weeks, we have seen just how dire those consequences can be.
Melvin Bray 2-19-2009
What?! Really... the editors of the New York Post thought this would work?

Eugene Cho 2-19-2009
Are you a coward? Chicken? When it comes to the issue of race, why are Americans [including Christians] so reticent and reluctant to engage in honest conversations? What are we scared of?
Barry Clemson 1-08-2009
The dynamics of "violence begets violence" are simple and probably understood by everyone who has ever been in a fight.
Abayea Pelt 11-03-2008
I have been fighting tears for the past few days. And as Tuesday draws closer it becomes harder and harder to keep those tears at bay.