The recent upheavals around the killing of George Floyd and police violence more broadly has been surprising in its breadth and scope. In the midst of this, new discussion of reparations has surfaced. I have not actively thought about this topic since the widely read and cited article The Case --->> read more -->>
If you are struggling to get your head around how racism works you will probably find it helpful to have a general framework as a guide. This one hour lecture from 2017 features an overview by Brown University Professor Tricia Rose of the structure of racism and how it works --->> read more -->>
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been famous and more than a bit of an outlier in American life from the moment he came on the public stage over the summer of 1991. Today I noted an interesting book review by Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson in the October 4, 2019 --->> read more -->>
The recent controversies surrounding Joe Biden’s anti- school busing collaborations with racist politicians from the south has for the moment aroused new comment on segregated America. The New York Times published an excellent review of the history of school desegregation by Nikole Hannah-Jones, “It Was Never About Busing: Court-ordered desegregation worked. --->> read more -->>
Countering White Male Top 10% Affirmative Action The continuing advances of elite white males requires action. They live and procreate in a closed loop of social, educational, and political advantages and protections. Wealth flows to them behind the uniformed doormen of the Upper East Side and the hedges of the --->> read more -->>
White Affirmative Action – Martin Luther King in 1968 In recent years scholars and activists have begun to point out how white privilege is supported by many decades of government action that affirmatively transfers money and resources to whites while explicitly denying the same support to African-Americans. To my knowledge --->> read more -->>
Corrective History The NYTimes posted a bit of Turkey Day corrective history: “Most Everything You Learned About Thanksgiving Is Wrong” By MAYA SALAM Adaptive Turkeys The Trump pardoned two turkeys yesterday at the White House. But, no surprise for us here in Columbia County, wild turkeys are doing just fine. Once again --->> read more -->>
This website casts new light on the delusions of American life. It provides facts and analysis to critique thinking that serves to shield activities of those seeking to gain advantage over others. To get started read Delusions of American Life first. Then, see the keystone essay, “What Is Capitalism and --->> read more -->>
Segregation Didn’t Just Happen More evidence that today’s segregated America didn’t just happen out of individual choices and preferences. The 8/24/2017 NYTimes article, “How Redlining’s Racist Effects Lasted for Decades” by Emily Badger reviewed research by economists from the Chicago Federal Reserve that demonstrate the impact of the 1930s redlining --->> read more -->>
Ira Katznelson (see my earlier post “Affirmative Action for Whites – began in the 1930s“) wrote a brief opinion piece in the 8/13/2017 NYTimes, “Making Affirmative Action White Again” (“Who Really Got Hand Outs” in the paper edition) that encapsulates the real history of affirmative action for whites. It reminds --->> read more -->>
The New York Times reported today (8/2/2017) that the Trump regime has decided to “redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants,….” (see link below for the full article) NPR and others are --->> read more -->>
Affirmative Action For Whites – began in the 1930s As noted here in “Creating Segregated America in the 20th Century – government in action” segregated America didn’t happen by chance nor by choice of the victims. Consistent white supremacist government action supported by private institutions created the segregation that persists --->> read more -->>
In recent months there has been news of conflict over the removal of three statues of leaders of the Confederacy from public spaces in New Orleans. On Friday 5/19/17 Mayor Mitch Landrieu gave a powerful speech about the need to deny the falsifications of history that are those statues and --->> read more -->>
It is doubtless a fact that most Northerners, including the writer, think that slavery in America was a Southern problem. In the North slavery was an occasional institution, or so we think. A week ago on Thursday 6/8/17 I attended a program at the library, “Abolition and Women’s Rights in --->> read more -->>
from the New York Times: How Homeownership Became the Engine of American Inequality An enormous entitlement in the tax code props up home prices — and overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy and the upper middle class. By MATTHEW DESMOND MAY 9, 2017 Read the article >>>>>>
James Baldwin pointed out repeatedly that racism is a white issue. In the US, only white people can end the 400 years of racism against black people. To that end there has been talk of coming to grips with white privilege. This would be an important first step for white --->> read more -->>
Yesterday’s defacto legalization of gay marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court is a wonderful development. It appears certain that this non action by the court will cascade to all fifty states fairly quickly. This raises the question of why American public opinion has changed so radically in the last 15 --->> read more -->>