Race Inquiry Digest (November 19) – Important Current Stories On Race In America

Featured – Slow motion civil war. Donald Trump isn’t our president; he is the Jefferson Davis of a new red state confederacy. It’s a slow motion civil war, and it’s being fought by Trump’s “very fine people.” The warriors in this civil war include a lot of people who are fighting against what might be called a pluralistic United States. Many of them have guns. Some of them have bombs. Some of them have killed the people they are at war with. Others have held repeated rallies and demonstrations to express their dissatisfaction with the United States as it is presently comprised. Many want a separate state of white people, ruled by white people. They want a new Confederate States of America. Lucian K. Truscott IV / Salon Read more

Stacey Abrams Effectively Ended Her Campaign But Refused to “Concede.” Watch Her Rousing Speech. On Friday afternoon, Stacey Abrams appeared to end her campaign to become Georgia’s next governor, but she refused to say that she conceded. “I will not concede because the erosion of our democracy is not right,” she said in an impassioned speech before supporters. Edwin Rios / Mother Jones Read more

In Mississippi, Republican concern rises over a U.S. Senate runoff that should have been a romp.
Democrat Mike Espy, who is seeking to unseat appointed U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., speaks about the upcoming Senate runoff Friday during a rally in Vicksburg, Miss. Matt Viser / Wash Post Read more

White Women Who Vote GOP Aren’t ‘Voting Against Their Own Interests.’ Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) speaks to supporters during election night on Nov. 6, 2018. Hyde-Smith, who was appointed to the seat, will compete in a Nov. 27 runoff against Mike Espy, a Democrat. Jessie Daniels / HuffPost Read more 

Trump Is Beginning to Lose His Grip. It isn’t just white suburban women who switched to Democrats. Parts of rural and white working class America peeled off too. Stanley B. Greenberg / NYT Read more 

Asian-Americans Favored Democrats By Far In Midterms: Exit Poll. “Attacks on immigrants and racist rhetoric, increasingly aimed at Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans, had some harmful consequences for the Republican Party.” Kimberly Yam / HuffPost Read more

Why are some Americans changing their names? Immigrants in an earlier era changed their names to assimilate, while in our contemporary era of ethnic pride, immigrants and their children are more likely to retain or reclaim ethnic names. Kirsten Fermaglich / The Conversation Read more  

How to Remember Reconstruction. The drama of the era happened all across the country. But Americans walk past momentous places and never recognize their role in our history during the period after the Civil War. Shown is Jubilee Hall, built in 1876 to serve the growing number of freed slaves on the campus of Fisk University in Nashville Tenn. Gregory P. Downs and kate Masur / NYT Read more
From slavery to possible sainthood: The story of America’s first black priest. The story of America’s first black priest begins with a miraculous escape from slavery in 1862. Augustus Tolton, who is now being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church, was born enslaved in Missouri in April 1854. His parents, Peter and Martha Tolton, had him baptized Catholic, the faith of the family that owned them. DeNeen L. Brown / NYT Read more

These are the 15 worst cities for black Americans. To determine the 15 worst cities for black Americans, 24/7 Wall St. created an index consisting of eight measures to assess race-based gaps in socioeconomic outcomes in each of the nation’s metropolitan areas. Shown is Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa ranked #1.  Samuel Stebbins and Evan Comen / USA Today Read more

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