Barack Obama Talks Immigration, Intolerance with Journalists of Color at First Post-Trip Forum

By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Last year, when Sen. Barack Obama was making the circuit of conventions for journalists of color, the question was whether the prospective candidate was black enough. This year, when he appeared before the UNITY: Journalists of Color convention in Chicago, the presumptive Democratic nominee joked, “I’m too black.”

Obama appeared Sunday at the close of the convention in a session aired live on CNN to talk about his observations from his trip to the Middle East and Europe, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. economy and questions from the journalists about faith, affirmative action, immigration and apologies for slavery and to Native Americans.

About 6,000 journalists convened in Chicago last week to discuss coverage of communities of color and the status of journalists of color in the news industry, particularly given a recent wave of buyouts and layoffs that cost 1,000 jobs in June alone, according to some estimates.

UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a coalition of four national associations -- NABJ, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the National American Journalists Association and the Asian American Journalists Association -- that places its total representation around 10,000. The organization challenges the journalism industry to make its staffs reflect the country’s diversity, and it advocates for fair and accurate news coverage about people of color.

Obama originally had been expected to appear at a town hall session on Thursday at the convention, but the overseas trip and other commitments by Republican opponent John McCain’s campaign disrupted those plans.

Barack Obama Talks Immigration, Intolerance with Journalists of Color at First Post-Trip Forum....