Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama vowed to knock off their racial jawing and sniping at each other before their Las Vegas debate. And they should. Now they should start talking about racial profiling, affirmative action, housing and job discrimination, the racial disparities in prison sentencing, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, health care for the poor, failing inner city schools, and ending the racially-marred drug sentencing laws, and what they intend to do about them. They only pecked around the edges at these issues in Las Vegas.

 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is not the only person President Barack Obama owes a profound debt of gratitude to. He also owes a debt to Fannie Lou Hamer. King put the moral and political face to the modern civil rights movement. Hamer put the moral and political face to the voting rights and equality movement. The movement transformed the Democratic Party and American politics. It made Obama’s presidential triumph possible.

The Obama camp did it again. They manufactured yet another issue out of a non issue when they pounded Hillary Clinton for supposedly defiling Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by minimizing his role in the civil rights struggle. Here’s Hillary’s terrible sin per the Obama campaign crowd. She said that Dr. King’s dream was realized when President Lyndon Johnson shoved the 1964 Civil Rights Bill through Congress. This was anything but a put down of King.

Here’s a political trivia quiz for the voters who will decide who’ll fill the vacated twenty sixth district state senate seat formerly held by Mark Ridley-Thomas. What does the district encompass? What committees does the senator sit on? Did you receive a newsletter, e-letter, bulletin, or attend a townhall or meeting from the senator telling you what legislative bills, motions, hearings, initiatives he introduced or passed? Did he invite you to a community event, activity, or meeting to give you an update on his legislative actions?