Free Republic

A video aired on German TV has shown an army recruit on firing practice being ordered to pretend he was in New York's Bronx facing hostile African Americans. In the grainy 90-second video, the instructor tells the soldier to swear as he fires his gun. US civil rights leader, Al Sharpton, said it was outrageous to depict blacks as "target practice". New York officials say they are saddened and frustrated that the Bronx district is depicted so negatively. "Clearly these folks don't know anything about African-Americans or the Bronx," said Bronx borough president Adolfo Carrion Jnr, who recently returned from...

It’s the kind of controversy that I pray will turn into a productive conversation among black people of faith. Last weekend, James H. Cone, a prominent theologian who has used the teachings of compassion for the downtrodden espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. to shape a generation of black ministers, decided to sit out graduation ceremonies at the Interdenominational Theological Center after officials invited Bishop Eddie Long to speak at its commencement. A number of students had also threatened to boycott the ceremony as well. Long is senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, an Atlanta church that boasts...