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Home Issue: 150

Issue: 150

September 15, 2005

Cover Story

Hold the United States Accountable

By Ajamu Baraka Guest Commentator

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the debate is already raging on how to deal with those displaced by the disaster and whether to rebuild New Orleans and other coastal communities. Competing interests combined with poor planning and a disjointed response from public and private agencies have created confusion about priorities, funding and other crucial…

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the debate is already raging on how to deal with those displaced by the disaster and whether to rebuild New…

Continue reading 6 min

Commentary

Freedom Rider: Judith Miller and Jayson Blair

By The Black Commentator Guest Commentator

In 2003 the New York Times faced a major scandal involving one of its reporters, Jayson Blair. Blair was caught with his pants down, so to speak. He plagiarized the work of other reporters, quoted people he had never contacted, and claimed to be in places he never visited. The Times called the Blair mess…

In 2003 the New York Times faced a major scandal involving one of its reporters, Jayson Blair. Blair was caught with his pants down, so to…

Continue reading 5 min

Commentary

Katrina: Contemporary Screams of Agony

By Terry Lynn Howcott

There are no words to express what we have witnessed in news accounts out of Louisiana and Mississippi. Overused terms such as revulsion, horror, terror and outrage just don’t compensate. The combined federal abandonment and neglecting to death of perhaps tens of thousands of mostly Black people in hurricane Katrina’s affected regions and the failure…

There are no words to express what we have witnessed in news accounts out of Louisiana and Mississippi. Overused terms such as revulsion, horror, terror and…

Continue reading 7 min

Commentary

The Political Wrath of Hurricane Katrina

By Paul Tiyambe Zeleza

Like most people in the United States, I have been transfixed by the horrific images of the death and destruction wrought by hurricane Katrina on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The proud city of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz and so much of what is original in American popular culture, stands deluged in a combustible…

Like most people in the United States, I have been transfixed by the horrific images of the death and destruction wrought by hurricane Katrina on the…

Continue reading 14 min

Commentary

Expulsion is Transfer: The Colonial Logic of Bush’s Response to New Orleans

By Jonathan Scott Guest Commentator

It’s not so much that the Emperor has no clothes but that his clothes, under the black sky, are shining white, with many thousands gone, enabled deliberately by his white imperial rule. I believe this to be the only honest, rational conclusion to draw from all the evidence on the ground in New Orleans. A…

It’s not so much that the Emperor has no clothes but that his clothes, under the black sky, are shining white, with many thousands gone, enabled…

Continue reading 13 min

Commentary

Jefferson’s Crime: Not Mitigated by the Standards of the Time

By Robert Jensen

One often hears that that we can’t judge people of another era by the standards of our time. This is often asserted when one looks back in U.S. history to evaluate the actions of our founding fathers, for example. When one critiques people such as Thomas Jefferson, not only for owning slaves but for expressing…

One often hears that that we can’t judge people of another era by the standards of our time. This is often asserted when one looks back…

Continue reading 7 min

Commentary

Think Piece: Rethinking Superiority – Reflections on Whiteness

By Tim Wise Guest Commentator

As of this coming year, high school students in Philadelphia, PA will be required to take a course in African American history in order to graduate. In a recent column, I lent my support to the new prerequisite, and responded to those who have attacked the plan, most of whom have criticized such a course…

As of this coming year, high school students in Philadelphia, PA will be required to take a course in African American history in order to graduate.…

Continue reading 18 min

Commentary

The Great American Jobs Scam

By Greg LeRoy

This article, excerpted from Greg LeRoy’s book, The Great American Job Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation, originally appeared in CorpWatch: Holding Corporations Accountable. Lurking within the records of most cities and states in America there lies a scandal. A tax scandal. A jobs scandal. A corporate and political scandal. It’s…

This article, excerpted from Greg LeRoy's book, The Great American Job Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation, originally appeared in CorpWatch: Holding…

Continue reading 14 min

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