Featured – As a Black Mother, My Parenting Is Always Political. By Dani McClain / The Nation
Black mothers like me know that motherhood is deeply political. Black women are more likely to die during pregnancy or birth than women of any other race. My own mother, who has never married and who worked full-time throughout my childhood, is a model for my own parenting, but culture-war messages from the left and the right tell us she fell short of maternal ideals. Read more
Donald Trump and racist violence: Research points to a clear connection. By Chauncey DeVega / Salon
Racism is a poison that has flowed through the American body politic since before the founding of the republic. The United States was founded on two great sins: the enslavement of black people and the genocide of Native American people. Donald Trump, to say the least, has not tried to find a cure for this poison. Instead he has injected more of it into the country. Read more
How the Southern Poverty Law Center got Rich Fighting the Klan. By Editorial Staff / The Progressive
SPLC’s current meltdown was a long time coming. Our 1988 magazine story investigates the spectacular success of the center and the pivotal role of the fundraising gladiator, Morris Dees. Read more
Fighting Racial Bias in an Age of Mass Murder: Prejudice from the Coffee Shop to Charlottesville. By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now
Professor Jennifer Eberhardt is the author of “Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do,” about how implicit bias impacts everything from hate crimes to microaggressions in the workplace, school and community, and what we can do about it. Read more
50 Years of Affirmative Action: What Went Right, and What It Got Wrong. By Anemona Hartocollis / NYT
Those who were able, through luck or experience or hard work, to adapt to the culture of institutions that had long been pillars of the white establishment succeeded by most conventional measures. Others could not break through because of personal trauma, family troubles, financial issues, culture shock — the kind of problems felt by many white students as well, but compounded by being in such a tiny minority. And universities at the time, they said, did not have the will or the knowledge to help. Read more
An Invisible Crisis: Native American Tribes Ravaged by Opioids Take On Purdue Pharma & the Sacklers. By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now
A group of more than 500 cities, counties and Native American tribes have filed a lawsuit against members of the Sackler family for their role in creating “the worst drug crisis in American history” by lying about the dangers of the opioid painkiller OxyContin and deceitful marketing of the drug. Read more
Trump and Fox News’ Strategic Obsession With Jussie Smollett. By Adam Howard / The Daily Beast
Over 20 million people are poised to lose their health insurance in the next year, credible experts predict that we have less than 15 years to blunt global extinction due to the effects of climate change, and for the first time in about 100 years, American life expectancy has declined for three years in a row—but what motivates Donald Trump to act with a sense of urgency? Why, Jussie Smollett of course. Read more
NFL’s minority head coaches weigh in on state of diversity in their ranks. By Jason Reid / The Undefeated
Unfortunately for the NFL, a photograph reinforced that it lacks diversity in coaching. Although Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who is black, was among those absent as head coaches posed for a shot during the owners meetings, the fact is there are only three other minorities in those roles: Brian Flores, Miami Dolphins; Anthony Lynn, Los Angeles Chargers; and Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers. That’s a total of four head coaches in a league that has 32 teams. Read more
Marvin Gaye’s Lost Album Finds Him at the Peak of His Creativity. By Jack Hamilton / Slate
You’re the Man would have come out between What’s Going on and Let’s Get It On. 47 years later, Motown has finally released it. Read more
A very deep kind of patriotism’: Memorial to honor Native American veterans is coming to the Mall. By Dana Hedgpeth / Wash Post
A $15 million memorial will open next year in Washington to honor Native American military service members and veterans, more than two decades after planning began. Read more
Facebook Bans White Nationalism And Separatism Content From Its Platforms. By Sasha Ingber / NPR
Facebook had already banned white supremacy but it left a loophole which civil rights groups said promoted racism and hate. The company said it had allowed expressions of white nationalism and separatism “because we were thinking about broader concepts of nationalism and separatism – things like American pride.” But that thinking changed after discussions with civil society groups and race relations experts over the last three months, the company says. Read more
Visit our home page for more articles. And at the top of this page register your email to receive notification of new editions of Race Inquiry Digest. Click here for earlier Digests.