A 2008 ABC News/Washington Post poll of 1,125 U.S. adults (including 201 African Americans) shows that many Americans think race relations are improving:

• When asked if they think race relations in the United States are excellent, good, not so good, or poor, 4 percent said excellent (up 2 percent from 16 years ago); 47 percent said good (up 17 percent); 36 percent said not so good (down from 45 percent); 12 percent said poor (down from 21 percent). The remaining 1 percent was unsure (down from 2 percent).
  

Sam Chapman, founder of Empower Public Relations in Chicago, Illinois, has banned gossip in his office. Two years ago, Chapman left a larger company where office backbiting was epidemic and damaged both careers and morale. Now he calls the shots, and one of his primary rules is that if you have something to say to or about a colleague, you must say it to their face.

The penalty for breaking this rule ...

On Saturday, July 9, 2007, thousands of people, including state and city officials, gathered in Detroit's Hart Plaza for a funeral. They all watched as a horse-drawn carriage made its way through the streets carrying a small pine casket adorned with a black wreath. The funeral, conducted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wasn't for a person, though. It was for the ...

Live so that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.

—Will Rogers, actor, writer, and speaker, 1879–1935

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal, has lectured throughout this country on the powerful, and often negative, impact of words. He often asks audiences if they can go 24 hours without saying any unkind words about, or to, another person. Invariably, a small number of listeners raise their hands, signifying "yes." Others laugh, and quite a large number call out, "no!" ...

As a new Christian, I was challenged to apply my weekly Bible study personally. I was working through Colossians. The Holy Spirit caught my attention with Colossians 3:8: "But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language." I tried to slide past it, but he kept bringing me back to the words "get rid of anger."

I had a violent temper. Whenever it flared, ...

Three preachers were on a non-productive fishing trip when they began to discuss various topics to pass the time. One preacher said he thought it would be nice if they confessed their biggest sins to each other and then prayed for each other. They all agreed, and the first preacher said that his biggest sin was that he liked to sit at the beach now and then and watch pretty women stroll by.

The second ...

We never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray!

—Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill (1907–1994)

About 20 years ago, I said something impromptu to the new members standing in a row across the front of the church. As we received them, the Holy Spirit prompted me to add, "And now, I charge you that if you ever hear another member speak an unkind word of criticism or slander against anyone—myself, an usher, a choir member, or anyone else—that you stop that person in mid-sentence and say, 'Excuse ...

An elderly man had serious hearing problems for a number of years. His family tried again and again to convince him to get a hearing aid. Finally he relented. He went to the doctor and was fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed him to hear 100 percent.

A month later he went back to the doctor. The doctor said with a smile, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you ...