If some of the recovery money had gone to cities instead of states, the urban population, read "Black" and "Brown," would be better off with recovery jobs.

One of the challenges, I think, is that Americans are not sufficiently vested in foreign policy.

We didn't hold President Obama as accountable as we might have.

Don't believe the hype that black North Carolinians are not voting. We've heard this time and time again. It's just not the truth.

When Ronald Reagan became president, students could no longer get food stamps.

As I write in the book, I do not regret either of my votes for President [Barack] Obama, nor my support of him when he ran for the Senate before that. I get excited as I ever did when I see that black man on Air Force One. But I won't settle for symbolism, and our President's record should be open for analysis.

Some of the federal programs to help homeowners were never fully implemented.