Category: National News

Black residents are increasingly departing large U.S. cities, a shift that could affect African-American political power according to data from the first results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s population census. The population of the nation’s capital now exceeds 600,000 residents, 53 percent of whom are African American, and there has been a gain of nearly […]

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators adopted new rules Tuesday to keep the companies that control the Internet’s pipelines from restricting what their customers do online or blocking competing services, including online calling applications and Web video. The vote by the Federal Communications Commission was 3-2 and quickly came under attack from the commission’s two Republicans, who […]

The unusually blistery Dec. 14 evening did not deter the people with invitations to the White House Christmas Party from enduring the time-consuming security checks to get inside. And it did not deter AFRO’s Washington Bureau Chief Zenitha Prince and Executive Editor Talibah Chikwendu, either. Inside, the annual bash quickly warmed up; there were things […]

The days between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1 mark an honored holiday celebrated within the African-American community. This seven-day event, known as Kwanzaa, commemorates the culture and community of Black people. Kwanzaa was created by author and political activist Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966. Dr. Karenga sought “to reaffirm the communitarian vision and values of […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a potential Republican presidential candidate, said Tuesday he was not trying to downplay the pain that many endured during the South’s segregation era when he defended his home town’s 1970 public school integration process. Barbour spoke out a day after several liberal activists criticized his published comments about […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Two decades after integration of the U.S. military, race riots flared on Navy warships in the Vietnam era. Long after servicewomen were officially placed on an equal footing with men, sexual harassment is still pervasive. Now the military has a new social challenge: Allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in […]

Senate Democrats on Dec. 18 voted to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on gays in the military.  Republicans, however, continued their attempts to amend the arms control START Treaty while successfully blocking the immigration reform DREAM Act. The measures were issues on which Obama issued campaign pledges during the 2008 presidential campaign. He […]

President Obama Dec.17 signed into law the $858 billion tax cut bill passed by the House over objections from both Democrats and Republicans. “We are here with some good news for the American people this holiday season,” Mr. Obama said. The bill passed in the House Dec. 16 as a result of a 277-148 vote […]

A federal judge in Virginia has ruled part of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform unconstitutional. It is the first major setback for the reform and in particular, the provision which would allow for every American to be covered by 2014. “The unchecked expansion of congressional power to the limits suggested by the Minimum Essential Coverage […]

Having won the endorsement of the man dubbed America’s “First Black President,” Bill Clinton, the Obama administration on Dec. 10 peddled the tax deal made with Republicans as a boon for the African- American community. “We feel we really were winners in this deal because we got a lot of priorities through that not only […]

Although a new federal report credits HBCUs with doing a superior job of graduating more students in the fields of science and technology, higher education leaders says the report is built upon a faulty premise. “The general population has to deal with and discuss the report very cautiously, because it sends very confusing signals,” said […]

In a move that seemed to surprise Washington insiders, beleaguered Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele announced his intention to run for re-election despite a rocky first term. After weeks of silence – and a growing clamor for his ouster among allegations of financial mismanagement and frequent verbal gaffes over the past two years – Steele […]