Category: The African World

I am sorry, folks. I just have to get my two cents in on President Obama’s proposal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and freeze the pay of federal workers. I will make this brief. During the campaign, one of the things that I and a number of other commentators warned about was the sense…

I had not planned on having this conversation. It came up in the course of another discussion, the subject of which I cannot remember. I asked this 20-something friend whether they had voted on November 2nd. They said “no.” I was perplexed by this response since they had made a point of voting in 2008…

Cover Story Rediscovering “The Souls of White Folk”, 90 years later in the era of the Tea Party The African World By Bill Fletcher, Jr. BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board “But what on earth is whiteness that one should so desire it?” Then always, somehow, some way, silently but clearly, I am given to understand that whiteness…

In 1981 a good friend of mine and I drove from Boston to Detroit for a labor conference. At the tail end of the conference I was asked if I could give a ride to a Scandinavian woman who was attending the conference. Apparently she wanted to get back to the East Coast. My friend…

The midterm elections, while representing a significant gain for the Republicans in Congress, offered more complicated results than the mainstream media is admitting. Let’s look at a few points. First, in virtually every midterm election the party holding the Presidency loses. There are rare exceptions. Second, the actual races were quite competitive, in fact, much…

I met Juan Williams several years ago when he and I were involved in a panel debate. What struck me about Juan was how he carried himself after the debate was completed. During the debate he was articulating his center-right politics, and was quite energetic in his approach. At the end of the debate, however,…

–Bill Fletcher, Jr. -0- Let me begin by thanking the organizers for inviting me to engage in this discussion. The nature of the remarks I am to offer—which focus on the issues of race/racism, xenophobia and migration—are more than enough for a multiple week class. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for you, I do not have…

In August former Vice President Al Gore put out a call for environmental activists to conduct mass demonstrations concerning continuing Congressional stalemate on any climate change legislation. When I started to write this commentary I Googled Al Gore just to see what was out there in terms of the demonstration. What I found caused me…

The October 2nd rallies, sponsored by the One Nation Working Together Coalition, have received a curious response in both the mainstream and progressive media. Needless to say, one can assume a cynical approach by Fox News, but in the more mainstream media there were a range of views from tepid to curious to ignoring altogether.…

I know what you are thinking. If this guy can make the connection between these two very different issues, he deserves a prize. Well, readers, hold onto your hats and let’s see where this ride takes us. There are many things about the insane, Islamophobic debate concerning the proposed NYC Islamic Center that have struck…