Roundup

The Pandemic and Protests Have Exposed the Truth About California

by Miriam Pawel

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the notion of American exceptionalism. The same is true for the golden myth of California, where American inequalities are perhaps most starkly displayed.

The Risky Journey That Saved One of China’s Greatest Literary Treasures

by Janie Chang

The story of the Siku Quanshu Wenlan Ge is inseparable from the story of people who risked all to protect a cultural legacy, from the librarian who sold off his house to the students who would not abandon the heavy boxes that slowed their travel.

Black Studies For Everyone

by Armond R. Towns

Ongoing protest movements demonstrate that Black Studies is for everybody. The question is: how long will it take for higher education to catch up to such a realization?

Why Monuments Matter

by Ariela J. Gross

Part of the history being made today is  a rejection – sometimes forceful and sometimes fanciful – of the shoddy myths that have substituted for a true reckoning with the history of slavery.  

Appalachian Hillsides as Black Ecologies: Housing, Memory, and The Sanctified Hill Disaster of 1972

by Jillean McCommons

The Sanctified Hill disaster exposed the vulnerability of Black people to climate events due to a combination of placement and neglect.

Black Americans, Crucial Workers in Crises, Emerge Worse Off – Not Better

by Calvin Schermerhorn

In past national crises, Black Americans have performed crucial labor but been excluded from the rewards of recovery.

Why Israelis Backed the Civil Rights Movement but Fear Black Lives Matter

by Chemi Shalev

After more than 40 years of right-wing rule, Israelis identify and are identified more with ruling whites than with oppressed Blacks.

Racist Statues Belong in Museums, not Storage, to Force Us to Face History

by Jonathan Zimmerman

The City of Philadelphia shouldn't miss an opportunity to truly make the recently-removed statue of former mayor Frank Rizzo an educational tool. Hiding it in storage won't help Philadelphians learn or heal. 

A Silver Lining for the Golden Arches in Black America

by Marcia Chatelain

McDonald’s has profited handily from its Black customers, while its presence in Black communities has led to a vexing set of circumstances for Black wealth and health.

Bail Funds are Having a Moment in 2020

by Melanie Newport

Activists have supported protestors by contributing to bail funds, but it's time to follow through on the longstanding call of social movement leaders to abolish cash bail as a symbol and symptom of unequal justice.

A Statue Was Toppled. Can We Finally Talk About the British Empire?

by Gurminder K. Bhambra

Protesters who dumped Edward Colston's statue into Bristol harbor have forced a long-overdue discussion of how the British Empire conquered and governed in the past and set the stage for racial divisions in contemporary Britain. 

Make Juneteenth a National Holiday Now

by Peniel Joseph

Making a national holiday to honor the emancipation of enslaved people would help fulfill a "generational opportunity" to finally build the Beloved Community Martin Luther King Jr.  sought in his own lifetime.

US Congress could Use Reconstruction-Era Civil Rights Powers to Protect Black Lives Today

by Richard Johnson

The U.S. House of Representatives could use a provision of the 14th Amendment to strip congressional representation from states that suppress the voting rights of black residents. 

Local View: Confederate Flag Never About Upholding States' Rights

by Scott Laderman

The states that joined the Confederacy absolutely did not believe in a principled right to resist federal power. They in fact opposed it.

Police Reform Won’t Fix a System That Was Built to Abuse Power

by Stuart Schrader

Police have held municipal budgets hostage for decades now, under the premise that without their professional expertise there would be anarchy. 

Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police

by Mariame Kaba

A police abolition activist argues that the long history of commissions set up to investigate police violence against civilans shows that the institution can't be reformed or regulated. 

Call Off the Dogs, Mr. Trump

by Clive D.L. Wynne

Domestic dogs have genetically determined capacities to bond with humans; this has historically made them frighteningly effective conduits for human hatreds and aggression.   

Defund the Police

by Austin McCoy

The emergence of a protest slogan is usually followed by struggles over its meaning; calls for defunding the police echo the contested slogan of "Black Power" in the 1960s.

MLK’s Prescription For Protests: Nonviolent, But Also Unceasing And Disruptive

by Jason Sokol

By recalling King’s words, we might articulate a position that builds on his own — a position that, most importantly, demands structural changes in our society to end police violence, yet readily recognizes the self-defeating nature of looting and destruction.

‘Gone With the Wind’ is also a Confederate Monument, but on Film instead of Stone

by Nina Silber

Criticism of the film isn't a case of applying present values to the past. Critics in the 1930s recognized that the film and its source novel glorified white supremacy and denied black claims to citizenship rights.