Free Republic

Cognitive Dissonance: In recent days NBA star LeBron James appeared on host Don Lemon’s little-watched CNN program to complain about how POTUS Donald Trump is “dividing” America and fostering racism. Prominent black figures making such baseless claims about the president is nothing new. During the interview, however, James and Lemon also discussed the former’s opening of a new school in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, for “at risk” black youths. It’s good that James is giving back to his community. Charity, for the most part, is admirable. But if he’s really concerned about protecting blacks who are ‘at risk,’ he...

AmericaÂ’s urban communities need a reformation. So why do they keep electing Democrats whose progressive policies hold them hostage on the plantation of liberal ideology? Every week a prominent Democrat is in the news labeling their opposition as racist as if it is some sort of sport. Do you support school choice that helps struggling black parents endgenerational poverty? Racist. Call out black crime rates that disproportionately claim black victims? Racist. Criticize the welfare state that keeps black people hooked on government handouts? Racist. Are you a Republican? Automatic racist. And if youÂ’re a black conservative like I am, itÂ’s...

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has become President Donald Trump's fiercest congressional critic. In eight years, Obama never had a Republican nemesis the likes of Waters, who recently said, "I'm taking the gloves off." Seventeen years ago, I wrote Waters a letter. She never answered. It read, in part:Congresswoman Waters,Your power in America, and especially in the black community, is substantial. I honestly, and sincerely, urge you to rethink your positions on several issues. Despite my acknowledged harsh criticisms of you, I never once attacked you personally. I said, on many occasions: "I don't question her heart, but I question her...

Betsy DeVos has done more for the black community than most “civil rights” leaders On Wednesday students at the largely black Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., interrupted a speech by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Some heckled her, while others turned their back. She was supposed to speak for an hour but left after 20 minutes. This is not the first time DeVos has received a rude reception. Back in February, left-wing protestors channeled their inner Orval Faubuses and prevented her from entering Jefferson Academy in Washington, D.C.

President Trump kicked off February by inviting leaders from the black community to the White House to engage in dialogue and hash out solutions. Day one of Black History Month was the perfect time to dive into what he vowed while on the campaign trail: address the needs within communities of color. The “forgotten man and woman” was a recurring Trump theme in the 2016 election. One could make the case that despite the obvious irony, no group was as forgotten during the last eight years as black Americans, many of whom find themselves living in violent Chicago neighborhoods, lacking...

During a presented Don Lemon discussion panel Monday night, the severity of ridicule against Dr. Ben Carson was jaw-dropping and unprofessional in the extreme. Removing all pretense of substantive discussion, Don Lemon, Marc Lamont Hill and Peter Beinart began openly mocking the nomination of Dr. Carson for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This is the weekly point-counterpoint show on Houston Fox affiliate KRIV 26 between Community activist Quanell X and AM 740 KTRH NewsRadio show host Matt Patrick. Quannel X discusses Donald Trump's Minneapolis speech. I was absolutely floored when I watched this last night. I think this video has the potential to dramatically shift the narrative of Trump support in the African-American community. Pay special attention to Quannel X's silence at the end when Matt Patrick sums things up. Youtube Recording of Fox 26 KRIV Faceoff -PJ

Donald Trump has landed himself in hot water again, this time over a statement he made Michigan. Addressing the Black community, he said: “You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed – what the hell do you have to lose?” Trump left the teleprompter to make this unscripted statement and every political commentator, news reporter, and disgruntled tweeter had something to say about it. Rather than wasting your time with another article focusing on Trump’s offensive speech, his ignorance, or any other way his campaign has managed to...

Those who want a better future for themselves and their families will heed his message. Those who choose not to, he doesn’t need. Polls can be useless Donald Trump’s recent speech regarding the atrocious state of urban, majority-black communities was a stellar achievement. As with much of the good he proposes for the nation, someone, somewhere will always impugn his efforts and this occasion was no different. Whatever can be done to hack away at his steely resolve will be done by those who are headed for irrelevance if this man becomes the next President of the United States. The...

Hey media, they're "riots" not "protests" Dear media outlets, All the violence we’ve been witnessing in Milwaukee for the last few days? Yeah, that’s not a “protest.” You keep calling it that, but the fact is you’re just plain wrong. These are “riots.” Ugly, violent, racist, riots. I know, I know. You get all uncomfortable when you’re forced to report things accurately. You hate to use a label that you think will get you called “racist” by the left. God forbid you’re not invited to the White House correspondent’s dinner.

My musical tastes do not include rap and hip-hop, but when Snoop Dogg comments on the "Roots" remake, saying he is tired of movies about slavery and would prefer a series "about the success that black folks are having," he is singing my song. The original "Roots" drew a phenomenal 130 million viewers when it aired on ABC in 1977. The remake, now playing on The History Channel, will probably draw far fewer viewers, just because it is on cable and most are familiar with the story-line. The filmmakers apparently are targeting a younger generation. While there is no question...

White teenage unemployment is about 14 percent. That for black teenagers is about 30 percent. The labor force participation rate for white teens is 37 percent, and that for black teens is 25 percent. Many years ago, in 1948, the figures were exactly the opposite. The unemployment rate of black 16-year-old and 17-year-old males was 9.4 percent, while that of whites was 10.2 percent. Up until the late 1950s, black teens, as well as black adults, were more active in the labor market than their white counterparts. I will return to these facts after I point out some elitist arrogance...

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ran headlong into the leftist meat grinder by questioning whether college admission of blacks with academic achievement levels significantly lower than the rest of the student body is beneficial to blacks. His question came up during oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, wherein the court will rule whether the use of race in college admission decisions violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection of the laws" to all citizens. Justice Scalia's questions generated news headlines such as "Justice Scalia Suggests Blacks Belong at 'Slower' Colleges," "Scalia questions place of some black...

As the new school year begins, you might like to be updated on some school happenings that will no doubt be repeated this academic year. After this update, I have some questions one might ask the black leadership. The ongoing and escalating assault on primary- and secondary-school teachers is not a pretty sight. Holly Houston is a post-traumatic stress specialist. She counsels teachers in Chicago public schools and reported, "Of the teachers that I have counseled over the years who have been assaulted, 100 percent of them have satisfied diagnostic criteria for PTSD." It's not just big-city schoolteachers traumatized. Dr....

Video number eight from the Center for Medical Progress has been released, containing segments of material from its previous seven videos, depicting Planned Parenthood's gruesome commerce in infant body parts. This includes commerce in intact cadavers. One segment shows an executive of one of its client firms laughing about it. This latest video has provoked a new round of demonstrations by thousands across the nation to continue to raise awareness about the sickening, inhumane, and yes, uncivilized behavior that is tolerated in our nation. And even more unbelievably, that taxpayer funds (more than $500 million dollars annually) are funneled...

There was a remembrance march held in Ferguson, Missouri that was supposed to be peaceful in nature. It started as such but ended differently. I must first ask, why was there a remembrance march for the one year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown? Was the intention to mark how the community in Ferguson has turned the corner and made improvements to address the real issues underlying the problems in the community? I have no time to play a politically correct game but will ask, why was there a protest march to remember a young black man who assaulted...

No one living has missed the slogan “ Black Lives Matter”! Even presidential contenders have been scolded because of their opinions about this slogan. But what about the economics of the black and brown communities? As the United States continues to become increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, the wealth gap between the races has reached a 24 year high. According to the Pew Research Center, white households today have about 16 times the wealth of black households, compared to having just 8 times the wealth in 2010. There are many reasons for this widening gap, but according to a policy...

Fourteen to one, in favor. That was the Los Angeles City Council vote to raise, over the next five years, the city's minimum wage from $9 an hour to $15. Of course, as Investor's Business Daily tells us, the $15 per hour really is closer to $20. How does it get to $20? Investor's Business Daily says: "Once all the nonwage costs are added, including payroll taxes, paid sick leave and the big one -- ObamaCare's employer mandate -- minimum compensation for a full-time worker could rise as high as $19.28 an hour by 2020, an IBD analysis finds. That...

Hustlers and people with little understanding want us to believe that today’s black problems are the continuing result of a legacy of slavery, poverty and racial discrimination. The fact is that most of the social pathology seen in poor black neighborhoods is entirely new in black history. Let’s look at some of it. Today the overwhelming majority of black children are raised in single female-headed families. As early as the 1880s, three-quarters of black families were two-parent. In 1925 New York City, 85 percent of black families were two-parent. One study of 19th-century slave families found that in up to...

Reflecting upon Ferguson and Baltimore—along with Detroit and other cities—reveals what they all have in common: most of their African-American residents are captives on what some might call the new plantations—urban islands of poverty surrounded by the fetid waters of political disinterest. The new plantations aren’t so new, created as they were by The Great Society, when Lyndon Johnson wrapped himself in the mantle of the brave new world, and despite presumably noble instincts, laid the foundations for a social slavery he would never have imagined. It’s debatable, of course, but when one peruses the photographic journals compiled by Pittsburgh’s...