Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a noted author of nine books about the African American experience in America and political analyst. His numerous published articles appear in newspapers and magazines across the country as well as some of the most popular web sites on the Internet. He hosts a nationally broadcast political affairs radio talk show on Pacifica and KTYM Radio Los Angeles. You can follow him on http://earlofarihutchinson.blogspot.com/ or on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson

No Surprise so Many Think Obama’s a Muslim

It’s no surprise that so many Americans think that Obama is a Muslim. The Pew Research Center poll found a big increase in the number of Republicans that think that. Certainly that was no surprise. And only slight less surprising the poll found that lots of Democrats and Independents also think that he’s a Muslim. No president has ever had more pejorative labels slapped on him. He’s been branded a Bolshevik, socialist, Nazi (go figure that one), an anarchist, leftist, an alien, and of course, un-American.

But the Obama is a Muslim tag carries a special taint. No religious group in America has been more distorted, reviled, and demonized than Muslims. Simply utter the word, and this instantly conjures up for many dark images of bombings, terrorist attacks, war, chaos, destruction, and fanaticism. Muslims have stirred the nativist, xenophobia, and religious intolerance pulse in many Americans that has always lurked just beneath the surface in American life. Politicians have at times played to that impulse and it in turn translated it into a massive religious social revolt, and reaped big gains at the ballot box. The rumor and fear mongering images of Islam and Muslims escalated with the emotion throbbing September 11 terror attacks. The attack stirred tremors among Muslims that they would routinely be targeted, subject to search and surveillance, and profiled at airports.. .....click here to continue article

Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad is an author, scholar and co-founder, Managing Director and Host of the Urban Issues Forum. Dr. Samad has written four books, including his upcoming book entitled, REAL EYEZ: Race, Reality and Politics in 21st Century Popular Culture.His national column can be read in newspapers and cyber-sites nationwide. His weekly writings can be read at www.blackcommentator.com. For more information about Dr. Samad, go to www.AnthonySamad.com

President Barack Obama’s First 100 Days:
Is The President’s “Probation” Period Over?

The benchmarks in which we in America seek to establish “acceptance” in the labor force generally comes without much fanfare. New hires commonly have 90 day, sometimes-six month, probation periods that affirm ones competency and synergetic fit in the workplace. Now, we’ve seen probation periods before. We generally see them come and go. But never has there been such a pronounced announcement of a new President’s first 100 days as that of President Barack Obama. The funny thing about America, is that anything that we know is racial, if we were to state it, would be met with adamant denial. But this first 100 day thing is one of those things. It started at day two. Never has 100 days meant so much.

But I swear, I ain’t never seen a President on probation before—but Obama definitely was. It was like some people (like maybe some disillusioned party that controls most of the airwaves) expected to wake up and find the country gone, or something. For previous Presidents, it was like a simple benchmark. For President Obama, it’s an evaluation—a report card, a formal grade on not just how he’s done but if he’s won (over the American public). Like the first time he won was a fluke or something. Surely, after 100 days on the job—once the American people found out he was all talk—Obama-mania would certainly be over, we could let Joe Biden take over and government could get back to duping the public. There was almost this expectation that President Obama wouldn’t be up to the task of leading the nation and the world. He’s exceeded their expectations, if fairly judged. The 100 days was an artificial benchmark to wage early criticism.. .....click here to continue article