Dr. Cornel West is sounding the alarm, and joined Roland Martin on Washington Watch to talk about it.

This past week in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney had his biggest win to date. He finished with a double-digit lead, and is speech sounded a lot like he was accepting the nomination, rather than celebrating his New Hampshire win. It was filled with many juxtapositions of what the President does and what he will do, but one that stands out is this.

We talked earlier about all of these different comments that Republican candidates have been making when it comes to African-Americans and food stamps and welfare and things along those lines. Let’s be clear. This is all by design in terms of they want to push the buttons of White conservatives who’re walking around with particular views, as well as subjective views, of African-Americans. And so it appears as if they simply want to get a rise out of African-Americans every time they do it.

So, what should we be doing? First of all, not fall for the okey doke. Certainly, keep people accountable [for] what they say, but also continue to push them on policy and challenge them on policy, but also change the conversation to being mad with what somebody says, but explain to the American public that, “Look, more White folks are on welfare and receive food stamps than anybody else.” Black folks don’t need to own poverty. We don’t need to own the issue of welfare, just like when I discuss Affirmative Action, I make it clear that White women have benefit from Affirmative Action more than any other group in this country. So, some things we don’t need to own. Certainly, hold them accountable, but trust me. Let’s not fall for the tricks that they always play when it comes to trying to push the buttons of Black folks.

Since 2008, African-American women have taken pride in the fact that the First Lady is finally someone who looks like them. Not only is she smart; she’s also beautiful. And ask any sister, and she’ll tell you First Lady Michelle Obama can dress.

“Essence” magazine’s editor-at-large Mikki Taylor knows what it takes to have that kind of flair for fashion. She put it in her new book Commander In Chic: Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady.

A recent study by the Yale University Child Study Center shows that Black children — especially boys — no matter their family income, receive less attention, harsher punishment and lower marks in school than their White counterparts from kindergarten all the way through college. A subsequent article published in “The Washington Post” reported that Black children in the Washington, D.C. area are suspended or expelled two to five times more often than White children. It’s a national trend that needs to be addressed.

Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project joined Roland Martin on Washington Watch to discuss this disturbing trend.

To the Republican voters in the other 49 states, I sympathize with you. It must be painful to turn on every cable and broadcast network, read the websites and follow the blogs and realize that you mean absolutely nothing when it comes to choosing a GOP nominee for president of the United States.

Please, don’t even bother. Iowa has it all under control, and what happens there, and in New Hampshire, will settle the race once and for all.

What a load of animal droppings on the Iowa farm fields.

Conventional wisdom, which really means the opinions of the smart, politically savvy know-it-all sages in Washington, says that if you don’t win Iowa or place high there, you won’t be able to raise the money to continue, and you might as well go home and lick your wounds.

Remember when that was the standard talk in 2008 after then-Sen. Barack Obama won Iowa? The political elites said if he beat Sen. Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, the race was over. A lot of voters in the Granite State were offended to hear that, especially women, and backed Clinton. As a result, those two fought it out for another five months in a grueling race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

It has always offended me that voters in the other states are seen as also-rans. And that’s the No. 1 reason why Michigan, Florida, Nevada and South Carolina threatened or successfully moved their primaries and caucuses: They wanted to matter, and not just accept what Iowa and New Hampshire gave them.

No GOP candidate should entertain the notion of dropping out of the race based on what happens in Iowa on Tuesday night. Why end it after one state? I bet former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty regrets dropping out after the Ames, Iowa, straw poll, which Rep. Michele Bachmann won.

Was he having money issues? Sure. But so were Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. The latter two vaulted to the top of the polls based on debate performances. See, it paid to keep going.

It’s true that Iowa can be a game changer if you are not expected to win. It was a huge boost for Obama in 2008, but for past Iowa winners such as Mike Huckabee, Pat Buchanan and Paul Tsongas, it didn’t lead to winning their respective party’s presidential nomination.

Now I doubt Mitt Romney, Ron Paul or even Rick Santorum will slip up after Tuesday night, but no one knows for sure. We’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen in this race so far. So we might as well be prepared for the unpredictable.

In fact, I find it hilarious that so many folks in the chattering class say it’s all about Iowa, and Mitt Romney turns into The Dominator if he wins. Yet if Ron Paul wins, the results don’t matter. Really?

So excuse me if I sound like a contrarian by refusing to buy the media hype of putting so much on Iowa. It’s one of 50 states. It’s the first, sure. But it sure as hell shouldn’t be the last, or even next to last, for all of the candidates.

Roland Martin and his panel of guess talk about examples of how people come to the aid of fatherless children. Nyesha Jones believes that God blessed her with the presence of her stepfather. Antonio Griffin has become a father to three children who are not his own — three. And Shaneé Moore, who grew up without her father, hoped all her life that the man she would marry would be in the image of her uncle.

In this segment Roland and his panel discuss what it’s like to grow up without a father. Roland’s guests: Perri’ Camper, whose parents divorced when she was just a year old; Jo Patterson, whose father was never a part of her life; Cassandra Malone, whose parents divorced when she was five years old; and Michael Moore, who didn’t even meet his father until he was 17 years old.

In this segment of the show Roland and his panel of guest talk about the effects of growing up without a father and if the women on the panel had problems in their relationships with men as a result of not growing up with a father.