CNN

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Race relations have not improved as much in the U.S. as many hoped they would with the election of our first African-American president. When Barack Obama was elected, we heard a lot of talk about all the good it might do for racial tensions.

Barack Obama and his family arrive on stage for his election night victory rally at Grant Park in Chicago on November 4, 2008.

Well, maybe not... Consider this: 56 percent of Americans think a solution to this country's race relations problem will eventually be worked out. But that's exactly the same percentage of people who felt this way when Gallup first asked this question 46 years ago in December of 1963. So despite all the progress we've presumably made in the last half century - much has not changed.

Gallup conducted a one-night poll on November 5 of last year - right after President Obama won. At that point, 67 percent of those surveyed thought race relations would get better. They haven't.

Not surprisingly, blacks are much more pessimistic about this question than whites. Among blacks, optimism has decreased since last summer from 50 percent to 42 percent.

Gallup also found that 79 percent of Americans say blacks have equal employment opportunities to whites. That number is up since last summer. But - here again - blacks are overwhelmingly more pessimistic about equal job chances.

Lastly, the poll shows 51 percent of those surveyed agree that there's widespread racism against blacks in the U.S.

Here’s my question to you: Why hasn't the nation's first African-American president had a greater impact on race relations?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

A white Louisiana justice of the peace has refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. It's 2009 - the United States has its first ever African-American president; and Louisiana has some knuckle-dragging moron Justice of the Peace who takes it upon himself to decide who can get married.

Keith Bardwell of Tangipahoa Parish, north of New Orleans, insists he's not a racist and that he tries to treat everyone equally. Then he says this:

"I just don't believe in mixing the races that way. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

In addition to being a justice of the peace, Bardwell is also a social scientist. He says the reason he refused this couple a marriage license was out of concern for any children they might have... saying neither black nor white society accepts biracial children, and they would suffer.

Bardwell says he's turned down about four couples during his career - and he still has a job? And Louisiana allows this kind of crap to go on?

The bride, who is white, insists this is all about discrimination and racism - and wants Bardwell to resign. She's right and he should be fired.

Civil rights groups are calling for him to go too.

The ACLU says the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that the government cannot tell people who they can marry... they want the state judiciary committee to investigate. I wonder if they will.

Here’s my question to you: What does it mean when an interracial couple is denied a marriage license in Louisiana in 2009?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Former President Jimmy Carter says racism plays a major role in the recent opposition to President Obama. Carter says part of this "intensely demonstrated animosity" is based on the fact that the president is black.

Former President Carter tells "NBC Nightly News" that racism has surfaced in opposition to President Obama.

Carter says that racism is bubbling up among many white people all around the country because they think African-Americans aren't qualified to lead. he calls it "an abominable circumstance."

The former president also says racism was at play in the recent outburst by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who called President Obama a liar. Some say a white president would never be treated this way.

But critics say all this is nonsense. The head of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele says President Carter is "flat-out wrong." Steele, who is black, says the opposition isn't about race, but rather about policy. He calls these charges of racism a distraction by Democrats to shift the debate away from health care reform.

Then there's Rush Limbaugh - he talks about how race rules all in what he calls "Obama's America." The right wing radio host suggests that race is at play in nearly every aspect of society today... including the story of the white kid who got beat up on an Illinois bus by black students.

Limbaugh also says racism is behind the media's treatment of Kanye West after his stunt at the video music awards, which Limbaugh considered relatively mild behavior.

Here’s my question to you: Does racism have anything to do with the opposition to President Obama?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Congressman Charlie Rangel played the race card in the health care debate. Rangel says racial bias and prejudice against President Obama because he's an African-American are behind the opposition to health care reform.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

Rangel stated: "Some Americans have not gotten over the fact that Obama is president of the United States. They go to sleep wondering, 'how did this happen?'"

It's a cheap shot and probably just about the last thing that President Obama needs in the already-heated debate. And it's even more of a cheap shot coming from Rangel, considering the fact that the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is under investigation for several ethics violations.

Mr. Rangel was forced to file amended financial reports to the House Ethics Committee after it was discovered he apparently "forgot" to report millions of dollars in assets and income. Just another hack politician who when the going gets tough resorts to race politics.

The Washington Post is calling on Rangel to resign as chairman of that committee.

But I'm sure he's not going anywhere - any more than Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina or Larry Craig of Idaho or any of a number of so-called public servants who use their elected office as a way of avoiding the rules the rest of us live by.

For his part, Rangel says it's not fair for him to comment until the ethics committee wraps up its investigation. In the meantime, he should just go away.

Here’s my question to you: Is Congressman Charlie Rangel, up to his ears in ethics investigations, out of line in saying race is at the center of the health care debate?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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Pres. Obama (R), Sgt. Crowley (2nd R), Prof. Gates (2nd L), and VP Biden (L) drank beers on the White House South last night. The so-called Beer Summit was held after Crowley arrested Gates at his home, sparking tensions and racial furor. (PHOTO CREDIT: SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

After beers at the White House - Sgt. James Crowley and Prof. Henry Gates say their talks were productive and that they plan to meet again.

The two men - at the center of what grew into a national conversation on race - met with President Obama and Vice President Biden at a patio table outside the White House.

Crowley says it was a frank discussion - that they agreed to move forward rather than dwell on the past. He didn't give more specifics except to say that no one apologized. Gates says he hopes the experience will "prove an occasion for education, not recrimination."

President Obama said he was thankful to both men for joining him for a "friendly, thoughtful conversation." The White House is probably glad to have this meeting done with, hoping the president can get the nation to focus on his priority of health care.

It probably wasn't the president's finest moment - a new Pew poll shows 41-percent of those surveyed disapproved of the president's handling of the Gates arrest - only 29 percent approved.

Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct - after making charges of racism against Crowley. President Obama inserted himself into the debate by saying the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" while admitting he didn't know all of the facts. Later, the president walked back his comments a bit - but stopped short of apologizing.

Here’s my question to you: Sgt. Crowley says no one apologized at the White House meeting. Were apologies in order?

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(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

100 days into office, the history Barack Obama made in becoming this country's first African-American president hasn't been lost.

It's something that Mr. Obama rarely talked about on the campaign trail - or since he's taken office - but it is a subtle part of his larger message of change; and may have already improved race relations in this country.

A new New York Times/CBS poll shows 66 percent of those surveyed say race relations are "generally good" in the U.S.; that's up from 53 percent who felt that way in July. 22 percent say they're "generally bad," and that number is down from 37 percent. When it comes to black Americans, the percentage who say race relations are good has doubled since the summer.

When asked a question about his historic presidency at his last press conference, Mr. Obama said that at the inauguration there was "justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move us beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination," but then added, "that lasted about a day."

But these poll numbers suggest otherwise. One white woman polled in Indiana - a Democrat - says since the election she's noticed "people of different races being kinder to each other." A Republican white woman in Kansas City says Mr. Obama's openness and acceptance has helped others act the same way. A black Democratic woman in Ohio says with Obama as president, whites and blacks seem to be working toward the same goals.

Here’s my question to you: How has President Obama affected race relations 100 days into office?

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Nearly 46 years after the March on Washington, the Attorney General says Americans remain in their "race-protected cocoons." (PHOTO CREDIT: AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

From CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Some tough words from the nation's first African-American attorney general.

Eric Holder says the U.S. is "essentially a nation of cowards" when it comes to openly talking about race relations.

Holder was speaking to Justice Department employees celebrating Black History Month. He says that although the workplace has become mostly integrated, Americans still self-segregate themselves on the weekends and in their free time. "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," said Holder.

Holder says race is often a political discussion, but not one among average Americans. He says he was motivated by President Barack Obama's speech on race last fall. At the time, then-
candidate Obama called on the nation to break "a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years." He delivered that landmark speech to try to distance himself from the hateful sermons of his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Holder echoed Obama's words in saying there's still so much work to be done in this area. He called on people to be more honest with one another and open to criticism. The attorney general described Americans as being stuck in what he calls their "race-protected cocoons" and said that when it comes to how most of us spend our free time the country in some ways isn't so different from 50 years ago.

Here’s my question to you: Do you agree with Attorney General Eric Holder that the U.S. is a "nation of cowards" when it comes to race?

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