White House Aide: With These Republicans, "There'd Still Be Slavery Today"

During an MSNBC interview, NBC's Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd reported that a "very smart White House aide" told him that with the current tide of politics in Washington "there'd still be slavery."

That's a tall charge.

Todd posed the "Lincoln analogy" to the aide which asked about the similarities between Lincoln's fight to pass the 13th Amendment (outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude) and Obama's plan to raise the tax rates on wealthy Americans. 

This Lincoln analogy elicited a response that highlighted the disconnected politics rolling through Washington.

“You know, with this Republican — with the way politics of Washington are today, there’d still be slavery. Lincoln wouldn’t have been able to navigate the polarization between the media, between this ”--unnamed White House Aide

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"Be Like Mike and Talk Like Barack" - New Book, Articulate While Black

Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U.S. explores “language and racial politics in the U.S. through an insightful examination of President Barack Obama's language use--and America's response to it.” Professors H. Samy Alim of Stanford and Geneva Smitherman of Michigan State look at the racializing of linguistic controversies surrounding Obama including the “terrorist fist jab,” comments about his “articulateness,” and his link to the hip hop community. Alim and Smitherman seek to bring the national discourse about race and language to a new level. 

Watch Salim discuss the book on MSNBC's The Cycle.

Record Number of Women Running For Congress in 2012

Today, MSNBC's The Cycle featured a segment on the rise of the number of women running for office this election cycle.

Only 16% of elected officials in Congress are women. In fact, the United States ranks 78th in the world in number of female elected officials.

This fall, a record 334 women are running for positions in the House and Senate.

Guest Lea Goldman of Marie Claire discussed an article in the magazine's latest issue titled "Running in Heels," which profiles 11 of the women working to be elected in November.

You can watch the segment here.

 

Strong Black Woman of the Week: Eboni Boykin

On Sunday's MSNBC Education Nation Student Town Hall, NerdLand host, Professor Melissa Harris-Perry brought together students, teachers, and lawmakers for a frank discussion about the state of education in America. Some of the best ideas and most inspiring stories came from the students themselves.

One of these students was Eboni Boykin, a first year at Columbia University. Boykin graduated from Normandy High School in St. Louis, Missouri. The honor student was a varsity cheerleader, chief editor of the school newspaper, and a member of the student council. 

But unlike many of her peers who shared similar accomplishments, Boykin grew up homeless. She moved from state to state with her mother and mostly lived in homeless shelters or on the floors of acquaintances. She attended around 15 schools through out her childhood as they bounced around in Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri.

Boykin says she was able to stay focused because her mother always told her that education can create a better life. 

That's exactly what she did and she received a full scholarship to the Ivy League institution. "Getting into Columbia definitely teaches me that just keeping the faith and not giving up pays off. And it just teaches me if you hang in there you can have anything you want if you are willing to work hard for it."

She plans to become a journalist and SBW thinks she's off to an amazing start. Kudos to you, Ms. Boykin.