What is euphemistically referred to as “modernity” is marked with the indelible stain of what might be termed the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism, with the bloody process of human bondage as the driving and animating force of this abject horror. By Gerald Horne — The years between 1603 and 1714 were perhaps the most decisive in English history. At the onset of the seventeenth…
By Barbara Ransby and Aislinn Pulley — April 4 marked the historic 50th anniversary since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. At this time, it is vital to highlight the fact that King understood the depth of state violence, noting the violent effects of government policy in many spheres. As King said a year before his death, “I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the…
In the age of Trump, believers of the once-popular tenets of scientific racism are feeling emboldened. By Edward Burmila — Judging by the headlines, pseudo-scientific racism is making a comeback. Nineties-relic Charles Murray (The Bell Curve) is popping up on campuses and in conservative media outlets, much to the delight of those who think his graphs confer legitimacy to their prejudices. Atheist philosopher and podcaster Sam Harris is extolling Murray’s…
By Marianne Williamson — Years ago, I went with a doctor friend to see a charismatic Catholic priest, Father Ralph DiOrio. I had read his books on miraculous healing, and…
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson — There is a huge literary growth industry in counter-factual history. Or, to put it more simply, “what if” history. Now the what if question fifty…
By Sonali Kolhatkar — Any discussions of gun violence and the regulations needed to curb it are incomplete unless they include an analysis of how racism plays a role. Government data show that “black Americans are, on average, eight times more likely to be killed by firearms than those who are white.” Gun violence by police against ordinary Americans also disproportionately affects people of color—a fact that the Black Lives Matter movement has…
Gun control becomes only one part of the larger solution to violence in our communities. By Lori Bezahler — The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have catalyzed a social movement demanding an end to gun violence. While their leadership and moral authority have undoubtedly taken the movement to another level, youth-led activism against gun violence is not, in fact, new. In Florida in 2013, for example…
By Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Maggie R. Jones and Sonya Porter — In our most recent study, we analyze racial differences in economic opportunity using data on 20 million children…
Black people are more likely than white people to be fired for failing a drug test. By Liz Posner, AlterNet — Mandatory drug testing is not only an annoying, expensive…
By Emily Badger, Claire Cain Miller, Adam Pearce and Kevin Quealy, New York Times — Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of…
By Della Hasselle — Alexander P. Tureaud Jr. couldn’t sleep, so he sat on a bench on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, where he had become the first black undergraduate student…
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson — The headline stories on the recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll on Trump and racism were disturbingly misleading on a couple of counts….