racism

Patrick B. Reyes reflects on the soils that have sustained him—and those that have poisoned him.

Simone Drake’s book helps readers grow in understanding of a deeply marginalized group: black men.

Who I'd invite to my writers' dinner party

An annotated list of the best new titles

Dyson’s sermon on racism is inspiring, but will it speak to those who need to hear it most?

In C.E. Morgan’s world, anything goes as long as it’s couched in the language of the equine.

“At any given moment, I may need to be a psychologist, centurion, street lawyer, or soothsayer.”

John Edgar Wideman counters the official record of Emmett Till’s father with a more empathetic version.

I am a black man, and will always be so. Therefore, when I move about in the United States people first see my blackness and not my education. This means ongoing vulnerability because my blackness still is interpreted as criminal through a racialized lens. 

There is a danger in responding to a film like Hidden Figures by congratulating ourselves on how far we’ve come.

Leonard Pitts's story is so compelling that you barely notice how much you're learning.

White Christians have an obligation to face white nationalism head-on.

I was able to sit and have a brief conversation with him about racism, a whitened Jesus, and the reign of God. I thought you might appreciate the conversation as well. Let me know what you think.

Some riots protest injustice. Others perpetuate it.

As we make laws and try to adjudicate justice, we often lose sight of the human faces affected.

Ideas about the ghetto matter. They always have.

We can no longer pretend that the scales of justice in America are fair and balanced.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University stated earlier this month that “14 states will have new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election.” Enacted by Republican legislatures, “the new laws range from strict photo ID requirements to early voting cutbacks to registration restrictions.” (The states are Alabama, Arizona, Indians, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.) As for what the Brennan Center calls the “myth of voter fraud,” their ongoing examination found that such fraud is “very rare.”

One of the central stories in the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant involved his fight against voter suppression. 

In 1900, W.E.B. Du Bois named the color line as the problem of the 20^th century. The color line, which still persists, is on trial this presidential election.

While Donald Trump polls low among black voters, these numbers have improved slightly.