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From Emmett Till to Amy Cooper, Racism Eats Away at America

Jun 5, 2020
3 min

From Emmett Till to Amy Cooper, Racism Eats Away at America

America remains a nation sick from fear of black skin, and sick with the entitlement that goes with having white skin. By Sophia Nelson | The Daily Beast | May 28, 2020 America has a long history of white women’s accusations costing innocent black men their lives. The story of Emmett Till is etched in our national consciousness because in 1955 the 14-year-old was kidnapped, tortured and shot in the head, his body tied with barbed war to a cotton gin fan and thrown in the Tal

The American civil war didn’t end. And Trump is a Confederate president

Nov 6, 2018
9 min

The American civil war didn’t end. And Trump is a Confederate president

His supporters hark back to an 1860s fantasy of white male dominance. But the Confederacy won’t win in the long run By Rebecca Solnit | The Guardian | November 4, 2018 In the 158th year of the American civil war, also known as 2018, the Confederacy continues its recent resurgence. Its victims include black people, of course, but also immigrants, Jews, Muslims, Latinos, trans people, gay people and women who want to exercise jurisdiction over their bodies. The Confederacy batt

A House Still Divided

Sep 19, 2018
8 min

A House Still Divided

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln warned that America could not remain “half slave and half free.” Today, the country remains divided by racism—and the threat is as existential as it was before the Civil War. By Ibram X. Kendi | The Atlantic |October Issue He stood on the outer edge of the sidewalk, hands clasped behind him—handcuffed, perhaps, by the immensity of the moment. He knew the city of Springfield, Illinois, well. But on June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln was learning his new pl

Emmett Till Was Killed 63 Years Ago. These Black Boys Feel His Legacy Every Day.

Aug 28, 2018
6 min

Emmett Till Was Killed 63 Years Ago. These Black Boys Feel His Legacy Every Day.

For the anniversary of Till’s murder, HuffPost talked to six young black men from around the country By Ja’han Jones | HuffPost | 08/28/2018 Aug. 28 marks 63 years since the brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till. In 1955, Carolyn Bryant, a 21-year-old white woman, falsely claimed the black boy had touched her while making sexual advances. Afterward, Bryant’s husband and his half-brother savagely beat Till and then shot him to death and cast him into Mississippi’s Tallahatc

Hugh Masekela: 10 key performances, from afrobeat to apartheid anthems

Jan 24, 2018
4 min

Hugh Masekela: 10 key performances, from afrobeat to apartheid anthems

The South African trumpeter, who has died aged 78, spanned a huge variety of styles – from disco-pop to fiercely political jazz By Robin Densilow | The Guardian | January 24. 2018 Grazing in the Grass FacebookTwitterPinterest The lilting, easygoing instrumental that became an unexpected, massive hit in America in 1968. After completing The Promise of a Future album, Hugh Masekela decided to add an extra track in the South African mbaqanga township style. It topped the US pop

Jaylen Brown: ‘Sport is a mechanism of control in America’

Jan 9, 2018
10 min

Jaylen Brown: ‘Sport is a mechanism of control in America’

As the Boston Celtics star prepares to play in London, he talks to Donald McRae about race, the NBA and the death of his best friend By Donald McRae | The Guardian | January 9, 2018 Jaylen Brown is one the most intelligent and interesting young athletes I’ve met in years and it seems fitting that, midway through our interview in Boston, he should retell a parable that brings together Martin Luther King and the great American writer David Foster Wallace. “We’ve got two young f

How millions of white Americans bought into a racist myth

Nov 1, 2017
16 min

How millions of white Americans bought into a racist myth

“Black-on-black crime” is an invention that was decades in the making EBONY SLAUGHTER-JOHNSON | ALTERNET | October 31, 2017 Days after President Donald Trump mocked professional athletes taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality inflicted upon communities of color, namely former San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick who first kneeled in 2016, others followed suit. As national media coverage of the athletes’ protests intensified and the president dou

Hanged, Burned, Shot, Drowned, Beaten

Oct 17, 2017
3 min

Hanged, Burned, Shot, Drowned, Beaten

I think we do need truth and reconciliation in America. But truth and reconciliation are sequential. You can’t get to reconciliation until you first tell the truth. By Kriston Capps | The Atlantic | November 2017 Issue On the corner of Washington and Decatur streets in Montgomery, Alabama, a visitor can feel history pressing in from every side. Just down the street is the church where Martin Luther King Jr. and others planned the Montgomery bus boycott. Two blocks away sits

How the GOP Gutted Voting Rights

Apr 11, 2017
4 min

How the GOP Gutted Voting Rights

In the wake of Barack Obama’s election to the presidency in 2008, a panicked GOP, citing illusory ‘voter fraud,’ did what it could wherever it could to restrict voting rights for minorities. CAROL ANDERSON / 06.24.16 1:00 AM ET / Cross post from the Daily Beast President Obama’s 2008 election, with an unprecedented turnout and 69 percent of the 15 million new voters casting their ballot for him, rattled the Republicans. Even more unsettling was the demographic make-up of thes

How the alt-right became racist, Part 1: A short history of hate

Dec 22, 2016
7 min

How the alt-right became racist, Part 1: A short history of hate

What’s now called the alt-right actually began as a conservative resistance — against George W. Bush MATTHEW SHEFFIELD – Salon, December 8, 2016 (Credit: AP/Reuters/Shutterstock/Salon) Throughout his just-concluded campaign, Donald Trump was frequently analogized to the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein. The future president — as everyone from his former ghostwriter to critics on both the left and right asserted — was the inevitable byproduct of the political culture of bra

A pollster on the racial panic Obama’s presidency triggered — and what Democrats must do now

Dec 14, 2016
13 min

A pollster on the racial panic Obama’s presidency triggered — and what Democrats must do now

His research details the crisis of racial antagonism that helped Trump win. Updated by Jenée Desmond-Harrisjenee.desmondharris@voxmedia.com Dec 12, 2016, 5:00pm EST Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images A CNN special that aired December 8 included rare, candid moments in which Barack Obama and his former adviser David Axelrod each acknowledged that racism contributed to negative attitudes toward the first black president. “I think there’s a reason why attitudes about my presiden

Republican Racism and the Columnists Who Are in Denial

Sep 23, 2012
5 min

Republican Racism and the Columnists Who Are in Denial

Geoffrey Dunn; Author, “The Lies of Sarah Palin’ Posted: 09/23/2012 Two weeks ago, conservative columnist Mark Steyn linked me to the likes of MSNBC’s Chris Mathews and Lawrence O’Donnell for comments the three of us made about the demographics — and the racial messaging — at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. After strangely starting out with a rant about “American alcoholism” — his is one of the most poorly written and circuitous arguments I have ever encountered

Pragmatic Racism

Sep 10, 2012
4 min

Pragmatic Racism

No, it’s not the brutal, hate-twisted racism of the old days. Today’s Republicans are capable of adoring select right-wing African-Americans. The Jim Crow revival they’re pushing — the large-scale disenfranchisement of primarily minority voters — is pragmatic. They’re outnumbered. They couldn’t win a fair national election. What a dilemma for such a righteous political organization. Winning — securing power, implementing their agenda — is the whole point, and that means they

The Death of Trayvon Martin: Confronting the Problem of Enduring Racism

Mar 30, 2012
6 min

The Death of Trayvon Martin: Confronting the Problem of Enduring Racism

America is a land of liberty and opportunity, and has admirably served as “a city upon a hill” in the words of Puritan John Winthrop, who led the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the New World. The U.S. continues to attract freedom-seekers from around the world. Yet America’s greatness has come at a cost. Indeed, the nation founded on the principle of individual liberty enshrined slavery in its founding document. Although the U.S. has come far in the 150 years since the great civi

Gordon Warren Epperly, Alaska Man, Says Obama Is Ineligible To Be President Because Of His Race

Mar 1, 2012
2 min

Gordon Warren Epperly, Alaska Man, Says Obama Is Ineligible To Be President Because Of His Race

The Huffington Post | By Mollie Reilly Posted: 02/28/12 06:14 PM ET A new lawsuit filed by an Alaska man aims to remove President Barack Obama from the state’s ballot, arguing that Obama is not a “natural born citizen” because he is African-American. The complaint, filed last week by Juneau resident Gordon Warren Epperly, reads: As stated above, for an Individual to be a candidate for the office of president of the United States, the candidate must meet the qualifications s

Paul’s Fetish on Civil Rights

Jan 9, 2012
4 min

Paul’s Fetish on Civil Rights

Earl Ofari Hutchinson Author and political analyst posted 1/2/2012 GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul just can’t seem to help himself when it comes to his fetish on a law which has been on the books for nearly five decades and which has long since been rendered a moot point by even avowed white supremacists. That’s the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Paul caught much flack when he flatly said he’d have opposed it if he had been in Congress in 1964. He dredged it up again as an issue

How Herman Cain Peddles the Delusion that Racism is Dead

Oct 12, 2011
4 min

How Herman Cain Peddles the Delusion that Racism is Dead

Earl Ofari Hutchinson Author and Political Analyst posted 10/11/11 Herman Cain knew two things were certain to happen when he blathered that racism doesn’t hold anybody back (though he added a tiny caveat “in a big way.”) One, it would get the media tongues wagging furiously. Two, it would increase the rapture of ultra conservatives for him. He was right. But Herm also knows that a black president reinforces the delusion that racism is still just a minor blip on the nation’s

Alabama’s HB56 Shows Racism Still Part of State Culture

Oct 5, 2011
4 min

Alabama’s HB56 Shows Racism Still Part of State Culture

Keith Rushing – Communications Manager, Rights Working Group Posted: 10/4/11 01:16 PM ET Last week, a federal court’s decision allowed parts of a law to go into effect that essentially requires police to racially profile people while criminalizing undocumented migrants for being without immigration documents. The law and the decision upholding it shows that Alabama — in passing the harshest anti-immigration law in the nation — is still mired in its racist, segregationist past

Tea Party America

Sep 15, 2011
4 min

Tea Party America

Paul Stoller, Professor of Anthropology, West Chester University; Author, ‘The Power of the Between’ :Posted: 9/14/11 02:22 PM ET By now there has been much discussion about the crowd reaction at the two most recent Republican presidential candidate debates. In the GOP debate at the Reagan Presidential Library, the crowd enthusiastically applauded the fact that Rick Perry has overseen 234 executions during his tenure as governor of Texas. To the crowd’s delight, Governor P