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Of course Trump’s tweets were racist. But they’re a losing proposition in the long run
Posted on July 17, 2019 Leave a Comment
Donald Trump’s tweetstorm telling four Democratic congresswomen of color to go back to the “crime-infested and corrupt” countries they came from reflected the kind of racism he espoused during his campaign and throughout his presidency. He’s planning to double down on that racism to try to win reelection, and immediate polls showed that his standing […]
Chicago Race Riots of 1919: violence that cemented the city’s segregation
Posted on July 10, 2019 Leave a Comment
On July 27, 1919, a hot summer Sunday 100 years ago, Chicago’s beaches were packed with people trying to beat the heat. Some black youths were playing on a makeshift raft launched from the 29th Street Beach, popular with the African-American community. As the raft drifted over an imposed “invisible line” that separated black swimmers […]
Violent #WhiteSupremacy is nothing new, especially in America
Posted on March 26, 2019 Leave a Comment
Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” In a darker vein, the arc of bigotry and hatred is long, but it inevitably bends toward violence. And there’s no shortage of violence by right-wing terrorists these days. The terrorist attack by a white supremacist […]
Trump’s legacy: Hate groups are at an all-time high
Posted on February 26, 2019 Leave a Comment
A new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center tells us what we already suspected when we see and read news reports: There are a record number of hate groups in the United States, driven by both shifting demographics and Trumped-up fears of immigration. The SPLC gives us the discouraging numbers both on its website […]
The racist stain of Trump’s presidency
Posted on September 4, 2018 Leave a Comment
Whatever happens to Donald Trump, however long it takes before he’s out of office, there’s one area where it will be hard to stop the spread of his poisonous politics: his stoking of racial hatred. Trump and Republicans keep trying to turn the murder of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, allegedly done by an immigrant […]
The privilege of whining about white male privilege
Posted on April 24, 2018 1 Comment
You’d think we wouldn’t need to say this out loud in 2018, but obviously, we do: White men who are miffed that someone else besides them is in charge need to get over it. Because any slight that any of them has ever felt pales in comparison with what the rest of us have put […]
Not just Cleveland Indians: It’s time to retire ALL offensive Native American logos
Posted on February 5, 2018 Leave a Comment
The news that the Cleveland Indians are finally retiring Chief Wahoo, the offensive, grinning image that serves as the team’s logo, is long overdue. But actually, it’s long overdue to get rid of every offensive image of Native Americans on sports teams, advertising, products and even official government seals. The Indians won’t remove the image until […]
Documentary offers teen-level views on race issues in schools
Posted on January 29, 2018 Leave a Comment
Sometimes works of art reflect our own experiences; sometimes they reflect the country as a whole. The new documentary series America to Me seems to do both. America to Me is a 10-part documentary series by filmmaker Steve James whose first five parts are now being shown at the Sundance Film Festival. It tells the […]
Dear world: We apologize for this shithole of a president
Posted on January 12, 2018 3 Comments
Just when you think Donald Trump can’t go any lower, he always finds a way. There has been swift and worldwide condemnation of Trump’s remarks questioning why the U.S. should accept immigrants from Haiti and other “shithole” countries — you know, where black people come from — and why America doesn’t take more from countries […]
The right to #TakeAKnee is what makes America great
Posted on September 27, 2017 2 Comments
Too many words, presidential tweets, columns, and minutes of airtime are being wasted on the simple act of exercising a constitutional right. Donald Trump raised a ruckus when, in the middle of backing the losing Senate candidate in the Alabama Republican primary, he switched back to Celebrity Apprentice mode and demanded that any player in […]
