1,063 words
Although he was a supporter of President Obama, Henry Louis Gates Jr. did the President no favor when Gates made a scene and was arrested by a Massachusetts cop in 2009. Obama unwisely commented on the matter and had to hold a “beer summit” to smooth things over later. The cost of Gates’s temper tantrum was staggeringly high: In no small part due to their racial animus, Gates (and the President) turned a minor misunderstanding into a national firestorm, all during a massive economic crisis and while Obama was trying to navigate his health care reform through Congress. Read more …
Ghana is Great
Black Star Gate in Accra, Ghana.
2,112 words
In one of my recent items, I contrasted the biased Afrocentric narrative, which is hip now and popular with many schoolteachers these days, with a rather frosty counter-narrative informed by visitor reports from tribal regions. The latter is biased too, which I did acknowledge even if a bit flippantly, as it put a pretty harsh spin on things. That ignited an intense debate about how far traveler reports to tribal regions could be trusted Read more …