Feature – Stone Mountain: The Largest Confederate Monument Problem in the World. The idea to carve the side of the mountain was hatched in 1914. The next year, the Klan, which had faded after first emerging during Reconstruction, was revived atop the mountain with a cross burning. The controversy over the carving has become an issue in the Georgia governor’s race.  Richard Fausset / NYT Read more

Historian Christopher Browning on the Trump regime: We’re “close to the point of no return.” Trump has repeatedly shown contempt for America’s cosmopolitan, pluralistic multiracial democracy. He and his supporters would smash that order and a create a new one based upon white racial authoritarianism (as well as naked plutocracy) if, and when, they have the opportunity to do so. Chauncey DeVega / Salon Read more  

Fear of a Black Continent. In the late 1990s Europe and Africa had about the same population; a hundred years later there could be seven Africans for every European. And the experience of recent refugee crises has demonstrated to European leaders both how easily populations can move northward, and how much harder assimilation may be than they once hoped. Ross Douthat / NYT Read more

Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test raises fraught questions of Native American identity, tribes say. When Sen. Elizabeth Warren released DNA test results asserting her Native American ancestry last week, she was blasted by tribes including the Cherokee Nation, whose leader called genetic tests “useless” for determining tribal citizenship. Erik Ortiz and Angel Torres / NBC News Read more

Louisiana voters will have a chance to strike down a Jim Crow law this November. As part of a constitutional convention in 1898 meant to “perpetuate the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race in Louisiana,” it enacted a slew of Jim Crow measures. One of them allowed split juries for felony trials, so the few black jurors could be easily overruled by a white majority. German Lopez / Vox Read more

Voter-Suppression Tactics in the Age of Trump. The suppression of minority votes is the homegrown corollary of the Administration’s xenophobic rhetoric—an attempt to place a white thumb on the demographic scale. Jelani Cobb / The New Yorker Read more

Analysis: Brian Kemp has purged over 300,000 voters from Georgia rolls. Georgia has removed over 300,000 voters from the state’s voter rolls over the past two years, a team of database experts, statisticians, lawyers and investigators working with the Palast Investigative Fund told reports on a call Friday morning. Shira Tarlo / Salon Read more

Andrew Gillum, Florida’s possible next governor, has the winning message for Democrats. What Gillum is showing us is that Democrats can still support progressive causes but would benefit from starting with family, faith, and a strong work ethic, so that we can build a broader coalition of citizens than we may have ever imagined and without whom we can’t generate the political will to make the sweeping changes our country needs. Simon Greer / Salon Read more

The Uncertain Fate of Affirmative Action. If the lawsuit brought by Asian students or another one like it gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to strike down race-conscious admissions programs, colleges and universities may have to turn to alternative measures to ensure a diverse student body. Matt Ford / The New Republic Read more

The Harvard admissions plaintiffs are being used. The lawsuit was organized, and Students for Fair Admissions founded, by Edward Blum, a conservative legal activist who has spent most of two decades on a quest to end affirmative action in all arenas. In their alliance with Edward Blum, the Harvard plaintiffs are being used. Tools may be successful, but they’re still working toward someone else’s goals. Christine Emba / Wash Post 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.