Sometimes, when I am eminently bored, I like to scour the New York Times archives for racial slurs. This weekend, hungover and manageably nauseous in a trendy Silver Lake coffee shop, the search term was "nigger," and I came across my greatest find yet: "'Nigger Day' In a Country Town."

"Nigger Day" was originally published on November 30, 1874, nine years after the end of the Civil War, and the reporter's name is listed only as "Our Own Correspondent." In circa 4,000 words, the article depicts the pastoral charm of a day in Huntsville, Alabama, right in the middle of Reconstruction, when black sharecroppers would come in from [...]

Some sage political advice for Carolyn Maloney from the Daily News' Liz Benjamin: If you're planning to give up a House seat you've held for 9 terms to challenge an incumbent Senator who has almost all-including the President of the Unites States-of the Democratic establishment behind her, it's probably better for your campaign if you don't go around sounding like a Richard Pryor record.