Is the country more or less racist? How can the percentage of people holding anti-black attitudes have increased from 2006 to 2008 at a time when Obama performed better among…
By Miles Kampf-Lassin, In These Times — “We are far from done. This is the beginning and we should use this momentum to keep going forward.” Chicago has long been a city on the brink. Decades of racial stratification, disinvestment, segregation and endemic poverty have left large swaths of the population struggling to survive, while new development has disproportionately favored wealthier residents. The communities left behind by this process are…
Russia’s troll army was not interested in stirring up generic ‘chaos’ in America. The Kremlin is strategically tapping into the inexhaustible fuel source of white grievance. By Spencer Ackerman, Daily Beast — Not many Russians are likely to understand a shotgun formation or the strategy behind not punting on fourth down. But between September and December 2017, social-media accounts now associated with the Kremlin-backed troll farm known as the Internet…
By Kia Lilly Caldwell, The Conversation — Motivated in part by President Donald Trump’s disparaging remarks about women and the numerous claims that he committed sexual assault, American women are running for state and national office in historic numbers. At least 255 women are on the ballot as major party congressional candidates in the November general election. The surge includes a record number of women of color, many of whom say their candidacies reflect a personal…
Do we have any reason to believe that each new generation of white people will be more open-minded and tolerant than previous ones? Elvira Koneva By Margaret Hagerman, The Conversation…
Why white Americans have such a hard time picturing a middle-class black neighborhood. By Henry Grabar, Slate — In John Sayles’ 1984 movie The Brother From Another Planet, a card shark is riding a northbound A train that is about to make the 66-block jump from Midtown to Harlem. “I have another magic trick for you,” he says. “Wanna see me make all the white people disappear?” The conductor announces the train…
By Chris Hedges, Truthdig — The only way to end slavery is to stop being a slave. Hundreds of men and women in prisons in some 17 states are refusing to carry out prison labor, conducting hunger strikes or boycotting for-profit commissaries in an effort to abolish the last redoubt of legalized slavery in America. The strikers are demanding to be paid the minimum wage, the right to vote, decent…
By Sir Ronald Sanders, Caribbean News Now! — Racism was the bedrock of European colonialism in the Caribbean. The subjugation, oppression and exploitation of African people as ‘sub-human’ was justified by colonial powers based on race and colour. A crucial fixture of the architecture of racism and oppression in British colonies in the Caribbean was a judicial system that assigned black people to the status of ‘property’. They belonged to…
Exclusive: As the world ignores the ignominious 500th anniversary of the buying and selling of slaves between Africa and the Americas, historians uncover its first horrific voyages By David Keys, The…
The League of the South hates black people, Jews, and lots of other people. But there’s one country, and one man, it really, really likes. By Mark Potok, Daily Beast…
Recalling a time when the empowerment of the most oppressed in our society paved the way for other social struggles also gives weight to today’s slogan that all lives will…
By Brian J Purnell, The Conversation — A southern city has now become synonymous with the ongoing scourge of racism in the United States. A year ago, white supremacists rallied to…