Free Republic

As opinion polls registered strong opposition to plans for an Islamic center near Ground Zero, President Obama on Wednesday issued a statement marking the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, calling the holiday "a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country." Obama said Ramadan is a time "when Muslims around the world reflect upon the wisdom and guidance that comes with faith, and the responsibility that human beings have to one another, and to God." He noted Ramadan's call for prayer and sacrifice and almsgiving,...

The First Black President? by: Emmanuel Opati, February 21, 2008 The rise of Barack Obama on the national political scene has inevitably rejuvenated a debate as to who was the first black President. Author Toni Morrison argued that, figuratively, Bill Clinton was the first black President; Lucas Morel believes otherwise. Lucas Morel, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University, says that “to the contrary of Toni Morrison, Abraham Lincoln not William Jefferson Clinton was our first black President and deserves to be studied and celebrated as an integral contributor to black progress in American History.” “No American...