Racism
Women Lead March to Health Coverage
Significant historic change it seems is often led by women. The movement for universal health care is not exception. Women telling their stories, leading from where they are is the key ingredient. In her new book Marching Toward Coverage, author
Racism in the Women’s Suffrage Movement
There’s a brand new Central Park monument of feminist leaders Stanton, Anthony, and Sojourner Truth. It was a hundred years ago that the 19th Amendment became law: women won the right to vote. But what kind of compromises did the
Armed Poll Watchers: To Protect or Intimidate?
Blurring the lines between law enforcement and vigilantism, why are off duty police at the polling stations mainly in black and brown neighborhoods? New Jersey in 1981 is a case study in what has happened and most likely will happen
Black and Indian, Kamala Harris: A New Mandate?
She is exactly what Trumpists hate: a strong woman who is both black and Indian. Both groups were the subjects of white male dominance and control. American slavery and British rule over India both had their peak at the same
We’re all Historians Now!
With the killing of George Floyd and the resulting rage in the streets, this is a year like none other. Old reassuring myths are falling away. Statues are being ripped down. What is still worth preserving? Can we use today’s
Supreme Court Brings Back Legal Discrimination
By intentionally eroding the traditional wall of separation between church and state, the current Supreme Court is essentially overturning anti-discrimination laws. Under new rulings in the name of “religious liberty,” the right wing dominated court allows institutions receiving public money
Deeper Than You Thought: White Christian Privilege
It goes back to the 1300s actually and not just non-Christian people are affected; we all are. Often in subtle but meaningful ways. The understanding of the meaning of “patriotism” is involved. When one has this privilege, less exertion is
Reagan’s Dog Whistles Worked; Trump Missed That Lesson
In 1980, candidate Ronald Reagan had the advisors and discipline to be subtle enough about racist messages. Southern white fundamentalists and the NAACP’s Ralph Abernathy all endorsed him for president. As our guest author Rick Perlstein says, Trump turned a
When There is No Option But North
What would make you leave your home and family and friends? And head to a country whose president hates you? Especially in a time of Covid 19, what would possibly motivate you to take this extreme step? In her new
Covid 19 Fuels Far Right Rage
You’ve seen the pictures: heavily armed angry protesters at state houses demanding an end to stay at home orders. They call such safety measures “medical martial law,” and see it as the start of government tyranny, providing them with a
Recognizing Damaged Heritage Brings Real Racial Healing
You never heard of the Elaine Race Massacre, right? In Arkansas, in the times after World War One, black people wanted to form a union. That did not sit well with the racist culture. In 1919, a massacre of over
The System is Sick, More than the Coronavirus
The novel coronavirus is forcing us to see that the very economic structure of America itself is in ill health. We know more poor Americans are dying, they can’t work from home and stay safe. All of us depend on
Why Have We Not Gotten Smart About Race?
When some say African Americans can also be racist, that is not accurate. So says noted sociologist and author Margaret L. Andersen. Individuals can be prejudiced, sure, but racism is linked to a system of power. Since there is no
Two Early 19th C. Fugitive Black Boys Change a Nation
It’s an amazing story that started well before the Civil War. Conventional wisdom was that African Americans could only progress so far. Their race was believed to hold limits. But through education and some incredible bravery, the two boys James
Trump-Netanyahu Deal: Disappearing a People
Trump calls it the “Deal of the Century.” Just announced with much fanfare, a new peace plan for Israel and Palestine. Only with no Palestinian participation. The ceremony was with Trump, Netanyahu, Jared Kushner, and Sheldon Adelson, and some may
Borders: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed?
Did you know the United States had open borders for 100 years? Building walls and caging children as families are separated certainly won’t stop the flow of refugees. People only flee their homes from truly extreme threats and can not
From The Bottom Up: Real Change, Right and Left
Populism is defined as “a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.” We never hear of the grassroots Tea Party any more because they won. The took
Brit Election Was Actually a Win for Anti-Globalist Left–Really!
Hard to imagine but the mainstream media has it wrong. What has been pictured as a crushing blow was actually a victory for progressive politics in the UK. Across Europe and Britain, working people are standing up against what our
The Crucial December 12th British Election Explained
Consumed with Brexit, the old upper and lower class divisions are themselves divided. According to professor Kenneth Surin, a Brit teaching at Duke, the decision made by voters in the upcoming general election will be of major importance. On one
The Truth On Bolivia//Believing Trumps Lies
Bolivia’s first indigenous president Evo Morales brought better lives to many of the dispossessed, yet he was recently overthrown. What of the role of the US and Brazil’s right wing leader Bolsonaro? On part one Bolivia scholar Nicole Fabricant explains
Deport the Immigrants and Radicals: Trump’s Precedent 100 Years ago
We were all startled by Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant frenzy launched in 2015. But there is solid precedent. In an article in The New Yorker, acclaimed author of many history books, Adam Hochschild tells the tale: When America Tried to Deport
The Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls
All too often, schools function as a pipeline to prison for troubled kids. Kicking out troublemakers, punishing for bad attitudes leaves kids feeling they are disposable. Authoritarian models too often make schools feel like locations for punishment, when they can
Cruelty Steers the New Supreme Court Docket
It’s not only Trump who is pushing cruelty. Since right wing Republicans have very successfully gained control over the third branch of government, the judicial branch, we should expect to see many examples of cruelty dictating decisions by the Supreme
A Real Solution To Refugee Crisis
Across Europe tens of millions of refugees are living in horrible conditions, as countries erect razor wire to keep them out. Our guest today Tim Horgan of the World Affairs Council argues it is best to keep people where they
Concentration Camps-Never Again!//Red Summer 100 Years Ago
Did you ever imagine we would have actual concentration camps in America? What would you have done in Germany in the 1930s? Never Again means never again. On the first half, Sara Caplan talks about the new grassroots movement called
“Go Home” Rhetoric is as American as Immigration Itself
It’s a long and oscillating history: America welcoming immigrants and telling them to go home. As Washington Post senior editor Marc Fisher explains, it didn’t start with Trump: “there’s a long history of rejecting “different” Americans:” Eastern European, Irish, German,
Are Most Americans Unpatriotic?
If we criticize Trump, we don’t love America. If we learn history, we are disloyal. You know that’s what a lot of people on the right (in larger numbers than we’d imagined) are claiming. But what is Patriotism? Does the
Erasing Unsettling Truth: The San Francisco Mural Controversy
Safe comfortable myth is so soothing, but art, by its nature, is often about challenging the viewer. You may have heard of the controversy about large Depression-era murals on the walls of San Francisco’s George Washington High School. After 80
Supreme Court Whittles Away Democracy
President Reagan’s former solicitor general and Harvard law professor Charles Fried calls it a “Day of Sorrow for American Democracy:” the day the US Supreme Court issued its 5 to 4 decision abandoning protection of one person one vote. In
New Anti-Abortion and Old Fugitive Slave Laws
What do the new anti-choice laws and the old Fugitive Slave Laws have in common? They both strengthen the power of the state and white male rule over people deemed less-than. In the 1850s, northerners who thought slavery was not