Friday, September 30, 2011

"Black Nationalism For White People"

Check out Ta-Nehisi Coates' piece in the Atlantic.

"Anita Hill's Long Memory"

Click here for Andrew Goldman's Q&A with Anita Hill.

More Than Half

More than half (52.2%) of black children in Nebraska live in poverty. The numbers for other groups living in that state: 49.7% of Native American children, 33.8% of Latino children, and 14/5% of white children.

More Pat Buchanan

From the mouth of Pat Buchanan (still a commentator for MSNBC!): "I think what he is saying is they bought a lot of liberal propaganda on the liberal plantation and I think he's right!" (Buchanan was referring to Herman Cain's statement that black voters "have been brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view.")

By the way, Buchanan's forthcoming book gives "special thanks to Marcus Epstein for the invaluable assistance and untold hours he devoted to researching ideas, issues, and anecdotes." It has been reported that Epstein "was previously arrested for attacking a woman with a 'karate chop' and calling her the n-word." I'm just saying . . .

Racial Bias In Lead Study

From the NYT: A class action lawsuit filed against the Kennedy Krieger Institute (affilaited iwth Johns Hopkins University) alleges that over 100 black children were knowingly exposed to lead poisoning in the 1990s as part of a study of the hazards of lead paint.

Friday, September 16, 2011

The Barbara Jordan Stamp

Click here.

Dahlia Lithwick's "A Killer Issue"

Dahlia Lithwick's Slate article argues that the "same Republicans who are dubious of government's ability to do anything right have an apparently bottomless faith in the capital-justice system. Everything is broken in America, they claim--except the machinery of death."

"The GOP War on Voting"

Check out Ari Berman's article in the Rolling Stone. From the article: "Just as Dixiecrats once used poll taxes and literacy tests to bar black Southerners from voting, a new crop of GOP governors and state legislators has passed a series of seemingly disconnected measures that could prevent millions of students, minorities, immigrants, ex-convicts and the elderly from casting ballots."

David Remnick On The Making And Remaking Of Malcolm X

In The New Yorker.

Driving While Dreadlocked

John McWhorter's New Republic piece addresses the question why the police are so bad at racial profiling.

Recommended

David R. Dow, The Autobiography of an Execution (Twelve 2011).

Recommended

Randall Kennedy, The Persistance of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency (Pantheon 2011).

Kennedy recently discussed his work with Tavis Smiley.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Uh Oh

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that, according to the National Enquirer, Joe McGinnis' new book on Sarah Palin "alleges that, in her twenties, Sarah Palin had hush-hush sex with then-University of Michigan star basketball player Glen Rice. Sort of redefines her stance on 'Drill, Baby Drill,' doesn't it?" According to the Enquirer story, "McGinnis claims Sarah had a 'fetish' for black men at the time . . ." (I know, consider the source, etc., but the story is now out there.)

"Is The South Still Prejudiced?"

James Swift considers this question.

1 In 4

That's the number of African-American families suffering from hunger.

Do White Americans Have Better Health Care Than African Americans?

From the Baltimore Sun.

Eighty Six Percent

That's the percentage of Americans who approve of interracial marriages.

"Rick Perry's Lethal Overconfidence"

Check out this terrific Daily Beast piece by my friend and colleague David Dow.

Duane Edward Buck

From the Texas Tribune:

"The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles today voted against recommending clemency for Duane Edward Buck, rejecting the pleas of his lawyers, a victim he shot and a prosecutor who was on the team that sentenced him to death.

"During Buck's 1997 capital murder trial in Houston, Dr. Walter Quijano told jurors that the fact that he was black meant Buck was more likely to be violent in the future."

A colorblind world?

Time Magazine's 9/11 Commemorative: No African Americans

The Root reports.

Jacqueline Kennedy On MLK: "That Man's Terrible"

Read this.

"What If Michael Vick Were White?"

Sean Gregory discusses ESPN's story asking and answering this question.

The Death Penalty And The Military

From the NYT: "Racism in the application of capital punishment has been well documented in the civilian justice system since the Supreme Court reinstated the penalty in 1976. Now comes evidence that racial disparity is even greater in death penalty cases in the military system."

"A Poll Tax By Another Name"

Click here.