In today’s top news, President Obama is expected to step up his energy level in the next presidential debate Tuesday, the Florida State Board of Education set learning goals for students based on race and a Maryland community is hosting a belt drive to combat sagging pants.

President Obama is expected to step up his energy level in the next presidential debate Tuesday. [CNN]

The Florida State Board of Education set learning goals for students based on race. [CBSNews]

A Maryland community is hosting a belt drive to combat sagging pants. [WashingtonTimes]

A poll shows Obama has taken the lead among early voters. [Reuters]

A gunshot was fired at an Obama campaign headquarters in Denver. [CNN]

Thousands gathered in Charlotte, NC, for the 17th anniversary of the Million Man March. [WSOC]

50 Cent recorded a new song with nascent rapper Chief Keef. [BET]

Shyne slams Drake as an “actor from Canada.” [BET]

A rep. for Bobbi Kristina says she is no longer engaged. [CNN]

Paris debuts first Black Fashion Week. [BET]

In today’s top news, U.S. runner Allyson Felix wins her first gold at her third Olympic games, Harry Belafonte critiques Jay-Z’s and Beyonce’s dedication to humanity and the Census Bureau aims to expand narrow definitions of race.

Allyson Felix wins her first individual gold at her third Olympic games. [LA]

The Census Bureau aims to expand narrow definitions of race. [AP]

Harry Belafonte critiques Jay-Z’s and Beyonce’s dedication to humanity. [THR]

Kenyan fossils indicate a new human species, researchers say. [BBC]

An unexpected drop in jobless claims signals a modest improvement in the economy. [Bloomberg]

The U.S. women’s gymnastic team is set to turn Olympic gold into green. [AP]

South African double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius will get another chance at Olympic glory. [NYT]

Rick Ross earns his fourth no. 1 album on Billboard 200 chart. [Reuters]

In today’s top news, Soul Train pioneer Don Cornelius dies at 75, Beyoncé fans want to erect a monument to the singer in Houston and BET celebrates Black History Month.

Soul Train pioneer Don Cornelius dies at 75. [BET]

Beyoncé fans in Houston are clamoring for a monument to the singer. [BET]

BET celebrates Black History Month. [BET]

Flavor Flav speaks out on his recent family feud. [BET]

A Congolese inventor has created the first African tablet. [News.com.au]

More and more Americans are shirking census race labels. [FOX]

Connecticut student bullied for not being ‘Black enough.’ [NewsTimes]

South African lesbian killers get 18 years in prison. [BBC]

Pfizer recalls one million packets of birth control. [MSNBC]

Photography exhibit examines Black male fashion. [BET]

As the dust settles from the Shirley Sherrod-Tom Vilsack-Andrew Breitbart-NAACP-Tea Party flap, people are trying to make meaning of the torrent of events that dominated the news over the last 48 hours.

There are so many lessons about judgment and race, history and politics, to take back to our jobs, families, relationships and communities.

At the risk of sounding preachy, we can’t afford to file this incident under yesterday’s news without taking instruction from all the powerful instances of truth it offered.

President Obama might not make another speech on race and racism as a result of this, but we must script our own in conversation with our families, loved ones and others in our communities from different backgrounds and races.

Read my take on the whole Shirley Sherrod dust up here.

BET News’ Traci Curry also shared her views on the incident. She says President Obama, who should know all about miscontruable video clips, missed an opportunity to show the leadership qualities most of his supporters find so admirable in him.

Have you learned anything about politics, race or anything else?

It seems the hysterical activism of the Tea Party movement has found a less fiery but equally agitating counterweight in the NAACP.

At the Civil Rights organization’s 101st convention in Kansas City, Mo., the group passed a resolution denouncing racism in the Tea Party.

That move kicked off a volley of accusations between the NAACP and prominent voices in the Tea Party.

“We felt the time had come to stand up and say, ‘It’s time for the tea party to be responsible members of this democracy and make sure they don’t tolerate bigots or bigotry among their members,’” NAACP President Ben Jealous said. “We don’t have a problem with the tea party’s existence. We have an issue with their acceptance and welcoming of white supremacists into their organizations.”

Tea Party members fired back as well.

“I am saddened by the NAACP’s claim that patriotic Americans who stand up for the United States of America’s Constitutional rights are somehow “racists,” said Sarah Palin, one of the most prominent national leaders associated with the broad-based, loosely organized conservative movement. “The charge that Tea Party Americans judge people by the color of their skin is false, appalling, and is a regressive and diversionary tactic to change the subject at hand.”

Kansas City Tea party activist Alex Poulter chimed in, saying the NAACP’s characterization of the conservative movement is not true.

“The movement is made up of a “diverse group of folks who are upset with what is going on with this country. It’s unfounded, but people are running with these accusations like they are true,” he stated.

Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau explained the motivation of the resolution. “It calls on the tea party and all people of good will to repudiate the racist element and activities within the tea party,” he pointed out.

In a related story, a billboard created and posted by a Tea Party group in Iowa compared President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Critics — including some Tea Party members — blasted the billboard as offensive. According to the AP, the sign shows large photographs of Obama, Nazi leader Hitler and communist leader Lenin beneath the labels “Democratic Socialism,” ”National Socialism,” and “Marxist Socialism.”

Yesterday, the group decided to pull the Iowa ad but memories of  Tea Party rallies where members carried racist signs (some overt, others subtle) or shouted racial epithets remain.  Leaders insist those displays are not representative of the broader mission and movement of the Tea Party.

Last night, after a day of spirited back-and-forth, the NAACP sent out an e-mail titled “Acts of Racism” to supporters and members. It was signed by the group’s president.

The e-mail began, “We are not backing down. Yesterday, the NAACP passed a resolution condemning the racist acts of Tea Party protesters. The backlash from the Tea Party has been furious. But we are not an organization that shies away from controversy. The NAACP was founded on hope, not hate — and we will not stand idly by as racists work to divide our nation.”

In the e-mail, was a link to a pledge to “unify America and stop the racism.”

Read the full text of the e-mail below:

Dear __________

We are not backing down.

Yesterday, the NAACP passed a resolution condemning the racist acts of Tea Party protesters. The backlash from the Tea Party has been furious.

But we are not an organization that shies away from controversy. The NAACP was founded on hope, not hate — and we will not stand idly by as racists work to divide our nation.

Add your name to our pledge to unify America and stop the racism:

http://action.naacp.org/PledgeToStopHate

The NAACP does not have a problem with the Tea Party, nor its existence. We have a problem with their acceptance and their welcoming of prejudice into their organization.

And in case there is any misunderstanding about what defines racism, let me be clear.

In March, racial slurs were hurled at members of the Congressional Black Caucus as they passed by a Tea Party health care protest in Washington, DC. Missouri Representative Emanuel Cleaver was spat on. People at the rally held signs covered in bigotry.

That is racism. That is racism filled with hate, ignorance and acts of violence. And we will not stand for it.

We are calling on all Americans to stand for the values that have made our country the land of the free and the home of the brave. Sign the pledge now:

http://action.naacp.org/PledgeToStopHate

The past year has been one of major triumphs and major setbacks in the fight for racial equality. But we will not let bigotry silence us.

We are one people. We are one nation. And we are all NAACP Americans.

Thank you for your support,

Ben Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

Seriously, Michelle Bachman, “a nation of slaves?” Really?

Rep. Michelle Bachmann is a smart woman. She’s an elected national official. She’s an articulate woman, a trained attorney.

Her impressive educational background and legislative experience makes it very likely that she carefully chooses her words, and weighs the impact they will have on the ears that hear them.

So, choosing the phrase “nation of slaves” to describe America during President Obama’s presidency while speaking to the Western Conservative Summit in Denver this weekend was at best strategic and, at worse, racist.

She used the phrase while criticizing President Obama’s policies.

Bachmann said, “We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves.”

Bachmann, who is running against Democrat and Minnesota state senator Tarryl Clark in the November elections, says she is giddy” at the possibility that Republicans will win a majority in he U.S. House of Representatives.

It’s a scary thought: the possibility that leaders elected to usher America into the next decade will choose language that clearly singes with words that are racial hot buttons, invoke fear or foster racial division or distrust.

Let’s say Republicans did win the House of Representatives in November. It’s a scary thought if Bachmann is representative of a majority of the incoming Republican Caucus of the 112th Congress.

Get more on the story.

See These Photos Also: Outrageous Public Outbursts

Kerry Washington is a “dime” by any standard.

She’s beautiful, smart, talented, and she speaks seven languages. She also hangs out with the Obamas.

Starring in David Mamet’s Broadway play “RACE,” the Bronx-born Washington plays a legal assistant in a law firm that is taking on a racially charged case.

Her character is passionate and outspoken about race. Washington, clever and believable, leans into the role commendably.

But what does she think about race in real life? Watch the BET News interview exclusive above to find out.

To get tickets to the show or to get more info on it, visit this site.

Lionel McIntyre, a 59-year-old professor at Columbia University in New York, was arrested and charged with assault and harassment after allegedly punching  a white colleague in the eye during a heated argument about white privilege.

Carrie Davis, the alleged assault victim is also an employee of Columbia University.

From New York Times:

The encounter happened in Toast, a popular, noisy bar and restaurant on Broadway north of campus, where the chatter often runs to current events and politics. Professor McIntyre liked to engage fellow patrons on the subject of race, according to one regular customer, Daniel Morgan, who considers himself a close acquaintance of both Professor McIntyre and Ms.  Davis.

The incident has also become a cultural/political issue.  In response to reporting of the story in the New York Post, a blogger wrote that McIntyre should be charged with a hate crime.

While not condoning the punch, noted columnist and educator Boyce Watkins understands how McIntyre felt.

What do you think?  Should McIntyre be charged with a hate crime?

Wholesaler Pulls Controversial Black Doll from Shelves The wholesale giant Costco Corp. has apologized to those offended by an African-American doll who wore a headband that said “Lil’ Monkey” and was cuddling a stuffed monkey. The apology followed a complaint from a North Carolina customer about the Black “Cuddle with Me, Doll with Plush Monkey,” The Associated Press reports. Costco immediately snatched the doll, which also comes in Caucasian and Hispanic versions, from its shelves. “We are sensitive to any complaint that a product we carry would cause discomfort to any segment of our membership,” Costco CEO Jim Sinegal said in a statement. “As soon as it became clear to us that this toy item was offensive to some of our members, we decided to remove it from our warehouses. We don’t believe there is room for argument in matters of this type, even though it was an honest mistake, made while we were attempting to do the right thing.” Costco only carried the Black doll in its Northeast and Southeast regions, according to AP. The version of the doll that cuddles a panda is still carried by the wholesaler.

Atlanta Mayoral Wannabes in a Race About Race Make no mistake about it; Atlanta’s mayoral race is about race. On one side is the city’s top African-American candidate, Lisa Borders, president of the Atlanta City Council. On the other is frontrunner Mary Norwood, another councilwoman, who happens to be White. A few days ago – at least publicly – this race was about, crime, housing and city services, and who’s best suited lead the city after Shirley Franklin. That was before the local Black Leadership Forum sent a memo urging African-American voters to stand behind the Black candidate. “For the last 25 years Atlanta has represented the breakthrough for Black political empowerment in the South,” read the memo. “In order to defeat a Norwood (White) mayoral candidacy we have to get out now and work in a manner to defeat her without a runoff, and the key is a significant Black turnout.” Now, in this crucible of the Civil Rights Movement, where most of the 440,000 residents are African American, this race is all Black and White. Recent polls put Norwood at about 30 percent, 2 percentage points above Borders. Kasim Reed, a state senator, who is also running, has just a sliver of potential voters with 8 percent. Both of the African-American candidates were quick to distance themselves from the racial dynamic, saying that the next leader of Atlanta should not be chosen based on skin color. Said Borders, “We have had two Atlantas for far too long.” Reed echoed those sentiments, calling the memo racially charged and vitriolic,” adding that it “dishonors the legacies” of former mayors, both Black and White. “This campaign should be waged on the merits of each candidate, not the color of their skin,” Reed said.

Barack Obama’s election was a key moment in history, but we’re kidding ourselves if we think America is now blind to race, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a CBS “Sunday Morning” interview. “I think all Americans were quite taken with the fact that we were able, after the long history we’ve been through, that initial birth defect of slavery, that we’ve elected an African American,” Rice said in that interview. “And that’s enormously heartening for people in the country, but also people worldwide who still have trouble with differences.” Rice, who rose segregated Alabama to become the nation’s first Black woman secretary of State, said that the United States still has come a long way. ” I do think we’ve gotten to the place that we don’t see a person and say, ‘That’s a Black person, therefore they must be …’ And that’s an enormous step forward.” She said that Americans aren’t “united by nationality. …We’re not united by religion. You can be African-American or Mexican-American or Korean-American, and still be American. You can be Jewish or Presbyterian or Muslim or nothing at all, and still be American. But there are very few Americans who don’t really believe that it doesn’t matter where you came from, it matters where you’re going. And that’s what unites us, and that’s also what people worldwide find so remarkable.”