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July 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The hallmark of a person

Abe Novick: Up, up, and aliya

July 1, 2009

Rabbi Avi Shafran: The Road Taken

The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta: Get into the holiday spirit with these Star-Spangled desserts

June 30, 2009

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg: What makes a great parent?

Caroline B. Glick: Ideologue-in-Chief

June 29, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Beware of 'Caveat Emptor'

Steven Emerson: ACLU pushing for more money for Hamas

June 26, 2009

Rabbi Yoni Posnick: Learn the secret to a healthy marriage from a scriptural villain

Caroline B. Glick: Barack Obama vs. International Law

June 25, 2009

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf: The Absurd Power of Truth

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 24, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity

The Kosher Gourmet by Andrea Weigl: Summer on a stick: Making frozen treats can be easy, creative and fun

June 23, 2009

Martin M. Bodek: 'On Surnames': And so, We Begin

Caroline B. Glick: The Obama Effect

June 22, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Working for a corrupt firm

N. Richard Greenfield : Where are American Jews?

June 19, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Emotion v. intellect

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's rare opportunity

June 18, 2009

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sometimes it is more essential to define the nature of evil than good

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 17, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Language of Confusion

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Nothing pleases Dad more than a thick, juicy onion-smothered steak. Add home-Baked Potato Chips and …

June 16, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Career v. Careersism

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's losing streak and Israel

Richard Z. Chesnoff: ‘Palestinians’: Never Missing an Opportunity …

June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: How Judea and Samaria can become 'Palestine'

Daniel Pipes: Where Netanyahu's speech failed

June 12, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Some big thoughts about not acting so big

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's High Commissioner

June 11, 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: Our historically challenged President

Mitch Albom: Beware the True Believers

Lewis Grossberger: What we learn from the new Hitler photos

June 10, 2009

Mort Zuckerman: What Obama and his advisors won't -- or refuse to -- grasp about Israel and the Muslim world

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky Lotsa pasta: Tips, techniques and (amazing) taste

June 9, 2009

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: America's first Muslim president?

June 8, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Merchant must take responsibility for careless shopper?

Mark Steyn: A superpower that feeds on mediocrity cannot survive for long on leftovers from the past

Richard Z. Chesnoff: How do you say 'kumbaya' in Arabic?

June 5, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: In quest of spirituality

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's Arabian dreams

Charles Krauthammer: The Settlements Myth

June 4, 2009

Paul Greenberg: The War Comes to Little Rock

The Kosher Gourmet by Judy Hevrdejs: Splash it on! Tap your inner jazz musician and improvise when stirring up a vinaigrette

June 3, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Should terrible teacher be exposed?

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Israel Lobby: Missing in Action

June 2, 2009

Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won't Dare Give in Egypt

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pressure on Israel raises war risk

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 5, 2008 / 2 Sivan 5768

What does Obama's victory mean?

By Larry Elder


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "I intend to proudly vote for Obama," said a caller to a National Public Radio show, "because I want to show the world what America is all about — that a person of color can become president of the United States."


Let's put aside whether the caller would express the same enthusiasm were Obama a tax-cutting, Iraq-war-supporting Republican. And let's put aside what, if anything, America needs to "prove" to the rest of the world.


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Obama — bright, sharp, a solid speaker — ran an incredible, come-from-nowhere campaign to topple a front-runner who, at one time, led by some 30 points. But as Obama once said in criticizing his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the caller acts as if America, as regards race, were "static."


What of the last 40 or so years?


  • Today, if black Americans' gross domestic product were measured separately, it would be the 16th-richest country in the world.

  • Nearly 80 percent of blacks live above the poverty level, contrasted with 65 percent 40 years ago.

  • The greater percentage of blacks live either middle-class or better lives.

  • The employment rate for married black men equals the employment rate for married white men.

  • The average black woman with a college degree makes more money than the average white woman with a college degree.

  • The highest percentage of blacks in American history — 46 percent — own their homes.

  • The majority of blacks live in integrated neighborhoods (defined as living with at least 10 percent of neighbors belonging to "other races").

  • Black-white interracial marriage has soared — after anti-miscegenation laws were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1967 — from 65,000 in 1970 to 422,000 in 2005.

  • Los Angeles, a city devastated by the Watts riots in 1965, with a population about 11 percent black, hired back-to-back black police chiefs.

  • A black man served as United States ambassador to the United Nations.

  • A black man served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  • Two blacks have served as members of the United States Supreme Court.

  • The largest association of doctors — the predominately white American Medical Association — elected a black physician as leader.

  • The largest association of lawyers, the American Bar Association, elected a black president.

  • The Ford Foundation, one of America's largest philanthropic private foundations, with 2007 assets valued at $13.7 billion, was led for 12 years by a black man.

  • Blacks hold or have held CEO positions at major companies, such as Merrill Lynch, American Express and Time Warner.

  • Black-owned businesses grow at a rate faster than white-owned businesses.

  • The multiracial Tiger Woods is the world's most famous and wealthiest athlete in earnings and product endorsements.

  • Major League Baseball — America's pastime — is comprised of 40 percent black, Latino and Asian players.

  • The Super Bowl, the most-watched sporting event in America, recently featured two teams headed by black coaches.

  • Black females have won the Miss America beauty pageant.

  • Black economist and best-selling author Thomas Sowell, based on the number of newspapers that carry his column, is one of the country's top 10 columnists.

  • "The Cosby Show," a positive, upbeat sitcom about a black, upper-middle-class family, reigned for years as America's most-watched television program.

  • Black faces on television abound — in commercials, as local and national news anchors, and in shows playing a variety of characters — from doctors and lawyers up to and including the president of the United States.

  • Will Smith, a black actor, tops the list of the nation's movie box-office stars.

  • Black actor Samuel L. Jackson appeared in more movies than any other actor of any color during the 1990s.

  • Black television host Oprah Winfrey, arguably one of the most powerful television personalities in the history of the medium, has amassed, to date, a fortune estimated at $2.5 billion.

  • Blacks serve or have served as mayors in many American cities, including the three largest — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

  • The current speaker of the California Assembly is the first black woman to head a statewide legislative body.

  • Blacks comprise 10 percent of the House of Representatives, including some from primarily white Southern districts.

  • A black man serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee — arguably the most powerful committee in the House.

  • A black man served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

  • Virginia, one of the states of the original Confederacy, elected a black man governor.

  • The Republican Party, in the last election cycle, nominated blacks as candidates for governor of Ohio, governor of Pennsylvania, and senator from Maryland.

  • Blacks have served the current administration as back-to-back secretaries of State.


So, what does Obama's candidacy mean? His victory shows that America grows ever closer to Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a society that judges people based on content of character, rather than color of skin.


Obama's victory does not prove this. It confirms it.

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JWR contributor Larry Elder is the author of, most recently, "Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card--and Lose." (Proceeds from sales help fund JWR)

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