"Obama: Black Like Me"
As Sen. Barack Obama surges in the polls and furthers his quest for the Democratic nomination, his blackness continues to be scrutinized as often as…
Desegregating the Valley of the Sun: Phillips v. Phoenix Union High Schools
POPULAR opinion has always held that Phoenix, Arizona, has offered newcomers opportunities to enjoy freedom from the racial tensions and antagonisms…
Let’s Recognize Arizona’s Trailblazing Women
All citizens and residents of the United States should celebrate the myriad contributions of American women to this state, America and the world. On…
Arizona’s Reckoning with Race
In Race Work: The Rise of Civil Rights in the Urban West (University of Nebraska Press, 2005), I argue that between 1946 and 2000, fired with…
Shooting Down Racism
BETWEEN 1947 and 1954, Dr. Lincoln JohnsonRagsdale and Eleanor Dickey Ragsdale helpeddestroy residential segregation in Phoenix, Ari-zona, presently…
Politicians Will Exploit Bias Fears
On March 14, 1970, President Richard Nixon attended the Gridiron Club in Washington, D.C. The evening featured performances that taunted Republican…
To Reach Blacks, GOP Must Take Progressive Tack
The November election nears, and African-Americans must decide who they will vote for. As the nation’s second largest racial minority, our vote…
Liberia is America’s Creation
As the Bush administration ponders the matter of intervention in Liberia, it must consider the historical relationship between America and its orphan…
Creative Conflict
Creative Conflict examines the lives of Lincoln and Eleanor Ragsdale and their trail-blazing leadership during the height of the Civil Rights movement…
Human Relations and the Legacy of Progressive Action
Between 1953 and 1970, fired with a passion for racial equality, Civil Rights leaders in Phoenix drew upon an arsenal of social justice weapons in the…
The Rise of Black Phoenix
Phoenix is the largest city in the Southwest and one of the largest urban centers in the country. It has developed a popular reputation as a desert…