Race Inquiry Digest (January 11) – Important Current Stories On Race In America

Featured – Trump wants to remove these immigrants. An ugly bit of history tells us what it could do to the economy. Between 1929 and 1934, Americans were getting hammered by the Great Depression. As their anger and frustration grew, it was directed toward America’s Mexican population. An estimated 400,000 and 500,000 Mexicans and American citizens of Mexican descent were sent “home.” Read more 

Rev. William Barber: Trump is a Symptom of a Deeper Moral Malady Behind Racist, Xenophobic Policies. Rev. William Barber talks about the Poor People’s Campaign, the Republican Party’s embrace of President Trump’s racist policies, threats to voting rights and the GOP’s remaking of the federal courts. Watch here 

Recy Taylor’s Truth. A Q&A with historian Danielle McGuire about the life of the black woman whose campaign for justice after a rape by six white men was instrumental to the civil-rights movement—and to the #MeToo movement today. Read more 

Jaylen Brown: ‘Sport is a mechanism of control in America.’ As the Boston Celtics star prepares to play in London, he talks to Donald McRae about race, the NBA and the death of his best friend. Read more 

Under Trump, a Hard Test for Howard University. A historically black institution confronts a new era in politics. Wayne Frederick, the president of Howard University since 2014, might best be described as a pragmatic. Read more  

Our Fellow Americans. In Puerto Rico, half of households remain in the dark.  The darkness, however, has clarified: that living as non-voting American citizens on an unincorporated territory that “belongs to, but is not part of” the United States not only spells disaster. It can also spell death. Read more 

Oprah: Prophet, Priestess … Queen? She is a preacher, a spiritual guru, a religious teacher, an apostle and a prophetess. Indeed, to the extent that there is a specifically American religion, a faith tradition all our own, Oprah has made herself its pope. Read more 

Supreme Court clerks are overwhelmingly white and male. Just like 20 years ago. These powerful positions are tickets to top-tier legal careers. I didn’t find many minorities or women in my first analysis. They’re still rare today. Read more 

Monuments to White Supremacy. A monument of Forrest astride his horse towered over a public park in Memphis for more than a century until shortly before Christmas, when the city overcame state opposition to finally dismantle it. Read more 

Sessions’ DOJ Charged A White Supremacist With Terrorism. They Just Didn’t Tell Anyone. The Justice Department’s handling of the federal terrorism case against Taylor Michael Wilson is indicative of the government’s approach to domestic terrorism. Read more 

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