Editor's note: Molly Haskell is a writer and film critic living in New York. She grew up in Virginia and is the author of, among other books, "From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies."

Molly Haskell
Special to CNN

The premiere of "Gone with the Wind" took place in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15, 1939, but not without a territorial struggle of its own, a war between the states of California and Georgia.

Producer David O. Selznick of course wanted it in Hollywood. But William B. Hartsfield, the feisty mayor of Atlanta, with a rampant Junior League and the full force of its citizenry behind him, argued it was "their" story and won the day.

Selznick was terrified that he and the hyper-glittery event would be ridiculed by Northerners. Margaret Mitchell, by then a Pulitzer Prize winner and long past her scapegrace flapper days, was terrified the movie would be a vulgar travesty, embarrassing her in front of her friends.

It was, of course, a triumph - for the South it was like a sweet vindication for their humiliation at the hands of Sherman's army. For Selznick, the biggest gamble of his life would go on to win 10 Oscars and become a success beyond his wildest dreams. In its day the longest and most expensive film ever made, it had cost $4,250,000 to produce. It would go on to become a global hit and, with dollars adjusted for inflation, it remains the biggest blockbuster of all time.

But the tensions and ironies present at the premiere were an indication of fault lines that, without ever completely tarnishing the film as an audience favorite, would plague its 70-year history. How could it not be so in a movie that told "our" nation's history, the Civil War and Reconstruction, from the unreconstructed South's point of view?

A hundred-thousand people turned out on a bitter cold night and there were bands on every street and old men marching in Confederate uniforms. The stars arrived in full force ... the white ones, that is.

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Editor's Note: Michael J. Rosenfeld, of the Department of Sociology at Stanford University has done a significant amount of research on family trends and social change in the United States. His book, "The Age of Independence: Interracial Unions, Same-Sex Unions and the Changing American Family," details the increasing number of interracial marriages in the United States.

Rosenfeld uses U.S. census data and in-depth interviews to examine the histories of families and couples.

See some of his findings here:

The increasing percentage of American couples that are interracial.

The decreasing support in the US for laws against interracial marriage.

Michael J. Rosenfeld
Department of Sociology
Stanford University

Until very recently, individual level census data from the past had never been available for scholarly analysis. What we knew about family life in the past came from diaries, from the official records of a few towns and churches, or from travel writers such as Tocqueville.

Now that we have individual level census records from 1850 through 2000, we are able to look into long term trends in family life in a way that inevitably must cast some of our previous assumptions aside. I use the newly available census data to describe the rise of the independent life stage, and the sharp increase in the number of interracial and same-sex unions in recent years.

My analysis of census data offers a new explanation for why the tumult of the industrial revolution failed to produce an increase in nontraditional unions: most families in the industrial revolution moved to cities and factory towns together, so the basic structure of parental supervision over young adults was maintained.

Learn more about Rosenfeld's research here.

Terence McKay claims a justice of the peace refused to give him and his white girlfriend a marriage license.

CNN

Civil rights advocates in eastern Louisiana are calling for a justice of the peace of Tangipahoa Parish to resign after he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple.

"He's an elected public official and one of his duties is to marry people. He doesn't have the right to say he doesn't believe in it," Patricia Morris, president of the NAACP branch of Tangipahoa Parish, located near the Mississippi line, said Thursday.

"If he doesn't do what his position calls for him to do, he should resign from that position."

The demands for Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish's 8th Ward, to step down came after he wouldn't issue a marriage license to Beth Humphrey, 30, and her boyfriend, Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond.

"I was just really shocked, because he's an elected official," Humphrey said.

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Candy Crowley and Ed Hornick
CNN

Race and politics are a combustible combo that explodes into headlines when an ex-president lights the fuse, as Jimmy Carter did recently.

"When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat told students at Emory University on Wednesday.

"I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African-American," he added.

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Tom Foreman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

Sometimes, even in the jaded world of been-there-done-that journalism, when I’m flipping through the headlines with a world-weary glance, I still see something that makes my eyes pop like a cartoon character. And this week it is a Rasmussen poll addressing this thorny issue of race and politics.

Or I suppose I should say it’s thorny if you see it that way.

Let me explain. The Rasmussen folks posed a question to the effect of: Do you think opposition to President Obama’s health care reform plan is based on racism? 88 percent of Republicans and 78 percent of unaffiliated voters said “No way.” But among Democrats that number plummeted to just 39 percent. The poll goes on to say that 22 percent of them take it much farther, saying the opposition to health care reform is primarily racist, and the rest of the Dems at least suspect that could be so.

In simple terms: Many Republicans and independents say health care reform is in trouble because people don’t trust the policy. Many Democrats say it’s because Barack Obama is black.

It is impossible to prove which perspective is correct. Race is one of those incredibly dicey areas in which people are hesitant to reveal their true feelings. It’s kind of like surveys about infidelity. There is always the nagging fear for the respondent that somehow the cloak of anonymity will be ripped aside, and their secret views will be exposed to the world…or in the case of infidelity, to the wife.

Make no mistake: Most voters do not believe the Obama Presidency is being unduly hurt by racist leanings, and plenty of critics have pointed out that he won the office because of enormous support from whites.

But frankly the “real truth” about whether racism is at play probably doesn’t matter much. In politics, perceptions often trump reality, and these numbers suggest the perceptions are running so deep, that they are fundamentally altering the debate.

Think about it. If you support President Obama, and believe that those who are pushing against him are doing so just because they are bigots, why would you even bother to listen to their complaints about his policies? By the same token, if you are on the other side and believe his supporters are simply screaming racism because their cause is philosophically flawed, why would you take the trouble to consider their political position?

Still, that is the fix in which we find ourselves, and there is no reason to believe it will stop with health care. But it could stop honest debate as we know it. And honest debate in D.C. is already in short supply.

A Tea Party rally protester holds a sign with President Obama depicted as a witch doctor.

Ashley Fantz
CNN

Posters portraying President Obama as a witch doctor may be racist, organizers of Tea Party protests say, but they reflect anger about where he is leading the country.

The posters, showing Obama wearing a feather headdress and a bone through his nose, have recently popped up in e-mails, on Web sites and at Tea Party protests.

The image has stoked debate and cast attention on the rallies, which have drawn people Tea Party organizers describe as on the fringe and not representative of the overall movement. Their general viewpoint, leaders say, is that there's been too much federal government intervention, particularly concerning health care and taxes.

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Ella Perlis
AC360° Associate Producer

Tonight we continue our eye-opening series on medical malpractice. If you think tort reform will result in a decline of costs and spending, you may be surprised by Gary Tuchman’s report tonight. He went to a town in Texas, where despite caps on medical malpractice awards, treatment and tests for Medicare patients costs almost $15,000 per year, per patient! That is about double the national average for Medicare spending. Do you think tort reform is a necessary part of the health care overhaul?

Four days ago Annie Le’s body was discovered in the walls of a Yale medical lab, and today Raymond Clark was charged for her death. Police collected over 250 pieces of evidence before arresting him at a Super 8 motel this morning. Clark is being held on $3 million bond. Police describe the crime as an incident of “workplace violence.” Both Le and Clark worked in the lab, but authorities still have not released details on their relationship. We are digging deeper and will have more information tonight on Clark and the investigation.

Today President Obama announced a significant change in U.S. policy and strategy toward Iran. He canceled the Bush Administration initiative to create a long range missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The President said there will be a new approach based on updated intelligence indicating a need to protect from short and medium range missiles. Defense Secretary Gates, who also served under the Bush Administration, spoke after President Obama today stating that the new program is better than the one he supported three years ago. Former Presidential candidate, John McCain reacted immediately, calling the decision “misguided” with the “growing threats posed by Iran’s missile and nuclear programs.” More Republican backlash is sure to follow, but Russia, which opposed to the missile defense system, is probably delighted by the news.

We’ll also follow up on the conversation about race and politics in America. Today Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) said racist attitudes are not welcome in the GOP, and opposition to the President is based solely on policy. Boehner called the election of President Obama a “defining moment” for the country. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the protests remind her of the violent clashes over gay rights in the 1970s. Do you think it’s that bad? Did President Carter’s comments help or hurt the conversation? Do we need President Obama to address all of the rhetoric in order for the country to move on?

What else are you following today? Let us know!

See you at 10 p.m. ET, and stay tuned for a special hour at 11pm! Anderson Cooper and Ali Velshi host Money & Main Street.

David Doss
AC360° Senior Executive Producer

John Legend is on 360° tonight. Yes, that John Legend, the Grammy award-winning singer. He e-mailed Anderson and me this morning about our show last night. He had some strong thoughts about the discussion we had last night after former President Carter made remarks connecting  recent protests and Congressman Joe Wilson – the South Carolina Republican who shouted, “You Lie” at President Obama — and concluded racism is bubbling to the surface of American politics. Our debate was spirited and—no surprise—today the debate over the former President’s remarks has only grown louder.

And that brings me back to John Legend… He worries about the town halls and the tea parties and where we are headed. He’s done a lot of thinking about all of this, so we invited him to join our panel tonight with David Gergen, conservative activist Nick Lott and CNN Political Analyst Roland Martin…and he said yes.

Cynthia Tucker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

David Scott is hardly a racial rabble-rouser.

A veteran Georgia lawmaker before he won a Congressional seat six years ago, he represents a working-class district in the Atlanta suburbs, where he has established himself as a cautious legislator who works hard to hew to his district’s moderate values. But Scott, who is black, is convinced that racism plays a part in the hysterical opposition to President Obama’s health care reform proposals.

“Racism is playing an extraordinarily unfortunate role in this,” he said in an interview Monday.

Many commentators, political analysts and fellow Democrats share Scott’s view that some part — perhaps just a sliver, perhaps more — of the right-wing assault on President Obama’s health care reform plans stems from a deep-seated racial antagonism toward the president. Count me among them.

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Editor's note: John Feehery worked for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republicans in Congress. He is president of Feehery Group, a Washington-based advocacy firm that has represented clients that include News Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He formerly was a government relations executive vice president for the Motion Picture Association of America.

John Feehery
Special to CNN

It is altogether ironic that the one person to have a Sam Adams beer at the infamous beer summit, hosted by the president, was Skip Gates, the Harvard professor whose arrest led to the summit.

Sam Adams was the key revolutionary figure in the Boston Tea Party of 1774, the spark that lit the American Revolution.

And now, 235 years later, Tea Parties have sprung up around the country as a reaction against the rule of President Obama and the Democratic Congress.

It is unlikely that Skip Gates will be spending any time addressing a Tea Party in his hometown of Boston any time soon.

And unlike the popular perception promoted by some in the media, the Tea Party is distinct from the Republican Party, probably as distinct as Sam Adams beer is from Bud Lite.

The Tea Party presents the first truly grass-roots threat to the ambitious agenda of President Obama. Largely misunderstood as anti-tax activists, and attacked by congressional Democrats as a collection of crazy right-wingers, the folks who go to Tea Parties are not concerned primarily with tax policy (although if the Democrats move to raise taxes on just about everybody, that could change).

Instead, they are mostly motivated by out-of-control spending, towering debt, and the pervasive feeling that government is too big, too powerful, too unaccountable and too cozy with Wall Street.

While the Tea Party movement presents a threat to the Obama administration, it also presents a challenge to congressional Republicans. After all, many of the protesters have as low a regard for the GOP as they do for the Democrats, and they hold the previous administration in as much as contempt as they do the Obama White House.

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Petula Dvorak
Washington Post

We will never know if Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) would have screamed "You lie!" at a white president. Or if Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. would have been arrested at his home if he were white. Or if the parents who feared that President Obama was going to deliver a political address to America's schoolchildren would have felt the same way if Hillary Rodham Clinton or John McCain were giving that speech. Or if the tens of thousands of overwhelmingly white protesters on the Mall on Saturday would have assembled against a president who looked more like them.

Many black people, who have endured experiences I can't begin to imagine, would say the answer to those questions is painfully obvious.

"Take a look at the Joe Wilson incident. There are a number of members on the Democratic side who believe George W. Bush should have been in prison, that he is a criminal, yet they didn't disrespect him that way," said Michael Fauntroy, a professor of public policy at George Mason University who specializes in race relations. "The disrespect that's going on with President Obama has race woven into it."

The overtones of race are crackling in the air whether it's a controversy over politics or pop culture.

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New citizens take the oath of citizenship during ceremonies in Montebello, California, earlier this year.

Rudy Ruiz
Special to CNN

One of the greatest challenges for minorities in any democracy is that their priorities often differ with those of the majority.

Consequently, even if a minority group does not experience outright tyranny, it can suffer tragic neglect. That's the lingering problem with immigration reform.

Latino leaders have long called for comprehensive immigration reform. During the presidential campaign, it finally seemed destined for reality as candidates sought the crucial Latino vote.

But today, where's immigration reform on the list of priorities?

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Sgt. James Crowley and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. sit down with the president and vice president Thursday.

Gregory Rodriguez
The Los Angeles Times

President Obama's biergartenbiergarten moment at the White House on Thursday may have started out as a political stunt, but in the end it could become a model for the future of race relations in America.

I'm not talking about the "teachable moment" nonsense. Nor am I particularly impressed by the idea that people of different backgrounds should get together to talk about their backgrounds. What's new here, and what I think might just stick, is the idea that people in conflict should sit down and throw back a few beers.

I'm not suggesting that Budweiser should sponsor a Middle East summit, but in the case of intra-national squabbles, which are essentially family squabbles - Henry Louis Gates Jr. and James Crowley actually share distant Irish ancestors - casual get-togethers might be more productive than formal "dialogue."

As simple as that sounds, it's actually heresy in the world of professional human relations, which is partial to statistics, mediation and the tit-for-tat airing of grievances. The other day, Yale University Press sent me the newly published report of President Clinton's 1997 Initiative on Race. It's full of really exciting bar graphs, testimony and legislative recommendations - the stuff of dialogue. I don't mean to be ungrateful or anything but, really, who's going to read that? And if they did, what exactly would it change?

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Sgt. James Crowley and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. sit down with the president and vice president Thursday.

Elizabeth Gates
The Daily Beast

In a world in which the conversation on race has traditionally taken a back seat to both logic and reason, it’s no wonder that yesterday’s so-called “Beer Summit” at the White House seemed to make little sense at all. It wasn’t because the President was wrong in offering up a few cold ones to my father, Henry Louis Gates, and the now infamous Sergeant James Crowley in an attempt to tame the media blitz around my father’s arrest—it was because like most issues that make their way to TMZ, the reference point had shifted.

The debate over Red Stripe and Blue Moon had somehow overshadowed the fact that this story began with a black Harvard professor and a white cop from Natick, Mass—and as CNN’s countdown clock to the event taunted viewers like a time bomb, it was clear that this day wasn’t going to be the beginning of a serious discussion on human relations but rather a circus-like ending of a misunderstanding between a couple of very decent men.

I can’t say that I was shocked.

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Sgt. James Crowley and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. sit down with the president and vice president Thursday.

Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

For the last two weeks, Americans have been divided into two feuding camps: "Team Gates" and "Team Crowley." But after Thursday, those terms seem antiquated.

As everyone knows, on July 16, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested by Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department. Gates was charged with "loud and tumultuous behavior in a public place."

Thursday night, Crowley and Gates shared a beer with President Obama, who had earlier acted clumsily when he said the Cambridge Police had "acted stupidly." Once it became clear that Crowley didn't fit the caricature of a racist cop - even teaching police academy cadets how to avoid racial profiling - Obama backed off those remarks and invited the parties to the White House for some brews.

Peanuts and pretzels were served in silver bowls, but humble pie would also have been appropriate - for Obama and for Gates. Ironically, both of these learned men have talked about how this incident should be a teaching moment.

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