The Living Consequences

This is my final analysis of the state of the presidential election before we begin seeing returns this evening.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

In a fascinating decision, the Wall Street Journal appears to have all but endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

It has now been confirmed that Senator Obama’s Aunt Zeituni is living in public housing here in Boston, and that she was ordered to leave the country four years ago.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

The Washington Post has a delightful story this morning about the reactions of older black citizens, particularly those in their 90s, to the possibility that Barack Obama may be elected president on Tuesday.

The article highlights the story of Ruth Worthy, who is 91 years old and grew up in a middle-class household in Boston. The daughter of a doctor, she was the first black to work at the post office in Boston and attended Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

This post addresses the fact that the families of both Barack Obama and John McCain owned slaves. This week, I’ve encountered a number of questions about that slave-owning past and its significance today.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

Barack Obama appeared for an interview on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show on Wednesday night, and I thought the following exchange about the Bradley effect was particularly funny.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

There are polls this week suggesting that McCain may be gaining a bit of ground nationally, and even that the presidential race may be fairly close. This is true, but also misleading, at least in part.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

I said it yesterday, in a slightly different context, and I’ll say it again today.

This election is historic, in that a black candidate is making a serious run for the presidency (and is favored to win, no less) and that should mean something to all of us. This is true, regardless of which presidential candidate you believe can best lead the nation.

Click here to read the rest of this entry

I don’t think it matters which presidential candidate you believe would best lead the country. This story should move us all, and illustrates why this election is truly historic, regardless of who wins (or should win).

Amanda Jones lives in Bastrop County, Texas, and is 109 years old.

She’s also the daughter of a slave, and has just cast an early vote for Barack Obama for president.

“I feel good about voting for him,” Mrs. Jones said.

Her father herded sheep as a slave, and she has now lived long enough to vote for a black candidate for president.

Recent news reports have publicized the fact that John McCain’s family owned slaves in the pre-Civil War South. As Douglas Blackmon related on the pages of the Wall Street Journal last Friday, Senator McCain’s great-great-grandfather owned a 2,000-acre plantation in Teoc, Mississippi where about 120 slaves labored in bondage.

Today at the Huffington Post, Abby Ferber explores the parallels between McCain’s story and that of the slave-trading DeWolf family, as chronicled in Traces of the Trade and Inheriting the Trade.

Click here to read the rest of this entry