Here's an article that I wrote for the Paris News -my hometown paper- that appeared in last Friday's paper.  Thanks to Mary Madewell for the opportunity.  The 2008 Presidential Election has forced Americans to examine race in a way that we haven’t in years. But in my estimation, the uncomfortable analysis of the subject — especially between Black and White America — began last year. Early in 2007 the nation focused its attention on Paris, Texas, and the case of a former Paris High School student that citizens are all too familiar with. The racial spotlight then moved from the Red River Valley to Don Imus and degrading comments that he made about the Rutgers University Women’s basketball team. Eventually the light was directed towards Jena, Louisiana and the plight of six black males involved in a melee at school. That fracas was reportedly set off by unwarranted images conjured up by the hanging of three nooses in the Jena High courtyard. But after the light dimmed, and as the media and big city experts rolled away, the citizens of a town like Paris are left to pick up the pieces. As a former resident following the proceedings from afar, I felt the ...

Here is an article that I wrote that appears in Sunday's Dallas Morning News Opinion section (Points).  Thanks to Nicole Stockdale for the opportunity. On a sunny and mild afternoon – a day that would have been great for football – the city of Dallas and Mayor Tom Leppert unveiled a new and improved version of the historic Cotton Bowl. I walked away impressed by the wider concourses, expanded media area, club-level seating and toilets that actually flushed (yes, I checked). But any mention of the Cotton Bowl since has been met with one word: Cowboys.It's as if residents expected Dallas to throw in the towel when America's Team chose to make its move further west. But the days for debating what could have and should have been with the Cowboys are long gone. The fact is, Arlington is getting itself a world-class stadium, but it's hard for Dallas to miss something it hasn't had since 1971. The $57 million approved by Dallas voters for the Cotton Bowl was necessary to protect the birds that were already in hand, even though the one in the bush was nice. The newly renovated stadium is being touted by leaders as the ninth-largest football stadium, by ...

I received an email tonight with some important information for voters. Apparently it is unlawful in the State of Texas to wear "campaign materials" i.e. buttons and t-shirts inside the polling place.  The source of the e-mail said they contacted the Texas Election Board and confirmed that this was true. I did a quick search on the net and came across a law paper titled You Can't Wear That to Vote by Kimberly J. Tucker.   Here's how she began her work in the subject: My research for this article began on Election Day 2004 when I was told that I could not wear a campaign button into the polling room while voting in Virginia...a Virginia election official told me I had to take off my “John Kerry for President” button in order to vote. I responded “that is not a law.” When the official protested, I said, “show me the law," and she brought over a book of rules. According to Tucker there are ten states -- Delaware, Kansas,  Minnesota,  Montana, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont-- that prohibit a voter from wearing a "badge, “lapel,” “button,” or “pin” in a "campaign free" zone.  You can throw T-Shirts in the mix as ...

The folks I'm talking to in Houston say conditions are still tough.  FEMA has trucks with ice and supplies, but residents don't know where to go to get them.  Officials are asking residents to boil their water before drinking, but it's hard to do with no electricity. Cellphone batteries are running down - no way to charge them.  Many who use cable companies for home phone service are unable to receive calls. Here are some other newspaper reports. Dallas Morning News: Hundreds of first responders at two staging areas in Texas for Hurricane Ike have run out of food and water. Congressman John Culberson said Sunday that 300 National Guardsmen, state troopers and other emergency workers are going hungry at a high-school football stadium — and at another staging area on Houston’s west side. Culberson blamed FEMA for the gaffe and says he tried to contact Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who is touring flood-stricken areas of Texas. Houston Chronicle ...the Federal Emergency Management Agency struggled today to move supplies to distribution centers throughout Houston as nearly 5 million people across the region continued to live without power and access to clean drinking water. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff ...

Here's an interview I conducted with Aaron Paz of El Paso about a petition he's circulating to get Hillary Clinton on the Obama ticket as V.P.

I know that the lines that divide Democrats and Republicans are strong. But how can anyone explain their vote against honoring the late great Barbara Jordan? But that's exactly what State Representative John Davis (R-Clear Lake) and his counterparts did during the 79th Session of the Texas Legislature in 2005. Barbara Jordan became the first African-American female to serve in the Texas Senate in 1967. She would eventually become the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in U.S. Congress. Even still, Rep. Davis voted against having a state office building named in her honor. According to a memo received by Dallas South, during the 79th Session of the Texas Legislature in 2005, State Rep. Jim Dunnam (D-Waco) introduced an amendment to the General Appropriations Act which would have renamed a state office building “The Barbara C. Jordan State Office Building.” Davis and his buddies below didn't find Jordan worthy of such an honor, however he did vote for naming a portion of US Highway 290 in Harris County after Ronald Reagan. In November, Davis is opposed by Sherrie Matula (D-Houston), in a race for Texas House District 129. Matula is a former member ...