Race Inquiry Digest (March 25) – Important Current Stories On Race In America

Featured – The entrenched segregation of New York City’s public high schools. By Rachel Leah / Salon

Admissions were extended earlier this week to the upcoming freshman class at Stuyvesant High School, a specialized prestigious public high school in New York City, where a single entrance exam determines acceptance. Out of 895 slots, only seven were offered to black students — down from ten last year, and from 13 the year before that. The question of who gets in and who is excluded from Stuyvesant and the other seven specialized selective high schools in New York City has been the center of a recent raging debate that has highlighted a decades-long struggle in New York City: in one of the most diverse cities in the country and world, the public schools continue to be wildly segregated. Read more

The tough choices black parents face when choosing a school for their children. By Kimberly Seals Allers / Wash Post

After a racist incident at my son’s predominantly white school, I was forced to think long and hard about the trade-offs many black parents and other parents of color have to make when it comes to their educational options. My dear friend calls it the “head versus heart” dilemma. Read more

Being Black in a White Academic World. By Jemelle Bouie, Rachelle Hampton, Aisha Harris and Carvell Wallace / Slate

Here is an edited and condensed conversation between Slate editorial assistant Rachelle Hampton (Northwestern Class of 2017), New York Times writers Aisha Harris (Northwestern, 2009) and Jamelle Bouie (University of Virginia, 2009), and Slate parenting columnist and podcaster Carvell Wallace (NYU, 1997) on what it’s like to navigate these primarily white academic spaces when your presence there is assumed to be unearned. Read more

Discovered After 70, Black Artists Find Success, Too, Has Its Price. By Hilarie M. Sheets / NYC

McArthur Binion, the abstract painter, at Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York. Underappreciated for decades, his work now sells briskly for up to $450,00. ” I’m totally ready for it,” the 72 year old artist said of his new acclaim. Read more

Human Genomics Research Has A Diversity Problem. By Jonathan Lambert / NPR

The studies that link genetic markers with disease focus largely on white European populations and neglect other races and ethnicities, according to an analysis published in the journal Cell on Thursday. The researchers argue this lack of diversity in genomic studies harms our scientific understanding of the genetic underpinnings of disease in all populations and exacerbates health care inequities. Read more

Florida Republicans vote to strip most felons of voting rights unless they pay “poll tax.” By Igor Derysh / Salon

On Tuesday, Republicans on the Florida House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted to approve a bill requiring felons to pay any outstanding fines or fees before they can have their voting rights restored. It was a move critics like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., quickly labeled a “poll tax.” Read more

America Through Nazi Eyes. By Omer Aziz / Dissent

The most radical Nazis were the most aggressive champions of U.S. law. Where they found the U.S. example lacking, it was because they thought it was too harsh. Read more

Fox viewers think Trump’s the best president, and that’s far from their worst misconception. By Sam Fullwood III / ThinkProgress

If there was any doubt about the dangerously divisive impact of Fox News on U.S. democracy, a new poll by a team of progressive researchers underscores the delusional effects the cable network’s pseudo information has on Republican-leaning supporters. Read more

The White-Extinction Conspiracy Theory Is Bonkers. By Farhad Manjoo / NYC

“The Great Replacement” is a racist and misogynistic conspiracy theory that holds that white people face existential decline, even extinction, because of rising immigration in the West and falling birthrates among white women (caused, of course, by feminism). Read more

The Roots of Police Violence in Chicago: How Cops Have Targeted Communities of Color for Decades. Amy Goodman / Democracy Now

We look at the long history of police brutality against Latinos in Chicago. Latinos, especially immigrants, have faced police violence and killings for decades, and have a long history of fighting back against brutality through community organizing and activism. Read more

Facebook Won’t Let Employers, Landlords or Lenders Discriminate in Ads Anymore. By Jack Gillum and Ariana Tobin / ProPublica

Facebook advertisers can no longer target users by age, gender and ZIP code for housing, employment and credit offers, the company announced Tuesday as part of a major settlement with civil rights organizations. Read more

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