Featured
20 years ago Rep. Barbara Lee told America what would happen if we went into Afghanistan. By Lauren Floyd / Daily Kos
Viral video of Afghans clinging to a U.S. military plane departing Afghanistan circulated online Monday in the aftermath of the Taliban occupying the presidential palace in Kabul and taking control. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday, The New York Times reported. For many, the takeover U.S. intelligence officials seemed to be ignorant of signaled a two-decade-long, $2 trillion failure of the United States government to train Afghan military forces to defend its nation.
And while social media users spent much of Sunday assigning blame, many seemed to have forgotten it was a Black Democrat who had the courage to stand alone and vote against the war in Afghanistan to start with following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Rep. Barbara Lee’s words opposing military force in Afghanistan on Sept. 14, 2001, were both moving and telling. Read more
Political / Social
Where Did All the White People Go? A Look at the Changing Demographics of America. By Michael Harriott / The Root
Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its first trove of demographic data from the 2020 census, leading many to divest in cryptocurrency and put all of their money in the rapidly emerging washcloth market. But where are the white people going? What will the rising majority look like? And who will make all the soap if America is getting less white? While many outlets focused on the news that, for the first time in a half-century, the country’s white population declined, we decided to take a look at some of the other facts that show the country evolving into the multiracial nation feared by Republicans. Read more
Related: Georgia gets more urban and diverse as white residents dip. By AP and WTOC
Related: It Was a Terrifying Census for White Nationalists. By Charles M. Blow / NYT
White Americans Receive Greater Share Of U.S. Healthcare Dollars, Study Finds. By Katie Jennings / Forbes
Joseph Dieleman researches where the $3 trillion the U.S. spends on healthcare goes each year. His team’s analysis of more than a decade worth of data demonstrates that a disproportionate share of the money is spent on white Americans. What’s more, the research determined that white Americans tend to get more outpatient care, compared to other groups who tend to receive more care in emergency settings. Read more
‘I didn’t even like voting for you’: Black West Virginia voters vow to hold Manchin accountable. By Lauren Floyd / Daily Kos
With a state population that is only 3.6% Black and has a Republican senator and a watered-down Democratic senator in Joe Manchin, it’s no wonder Black voters in West Virginia feel overlooked. They are, The Washington Post reported. “Black West Virginians feel dismissed and written off,” Post writer Clyde McGrady penned. “They are well aware of how their fellow Americans view them: unsophisticated, uneducated residents of a (Donald) Trump-country backwater. “They believe they’ve been forgotten by Democrats in their state, forgotten by the national party and ignored by the political media, which typically sees West Virginia as a bunch of white conservatives.” So marching hand-in-hand with white West Virginians, they took their concerns to Manchin directly, or at least they tried to. Read more
Republican rivals attack recall frontrunner Larry Elder in California debate. By Jermy B. White
Republicans running to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom attacked absent frontrunner Larry Elder in a Tuesday night debate that exposed cracks in a crowded GOP field. Two Republican rivals in particular, businessman John Cox and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, aimed some of their most pointed shots yet at Elder since the Sept. 14 recall election was certified last month. Cox repeatedly criticized the longtime talk show host, saying “we don’t need more media personalities who don’t show up to meet the press.” Read more
What Kamala Harris’ Law School Years Reveal About Her Politics. By Jesus A. Rodriguez / Politico
Students discovered that a bulletin board decorated by the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) to commemorate Black History Month had been vandalized with a racist marking: a grotesque caricature of a Black man with a “forbidden” sign slashing his face. A third-year law student named Kamala Harris rose to address the crowd of roughly 300 students, faculty and local reporters gathered at “the Beach,” a concrete patio in front of the main classroom building, to make clear that racism wasn’t just one isolated incident. For Black students, she said, according to archives of the Hastings Law News, the cartoon was an example of “what we deal with all the time.” Read more
The Radicalization of Clarence Thomas. By Scott W. Stern / TNR
Ever since his controversial 1991 confirmation hearings, Thomas has been the subject of ravenous popular and scholarly interest. Today, there is a veritable shelf of books and studies analyzing his biography, his ideology, and his jurisprudence. Yet none of them linger on the almost three years he worked for Monsanto (it was his only private-sector experience) or the two subsequent years he spent advising Senator John Danforth—a Republican from Missouri—on environmental and energy issues. Read more
U.S. neighborhoods are more segregated than a generation ago, perpetuating racial inequity. By Stephen Menendian / NBC News
There’s an adage among housing justice advocates: “Tell me your zip code and I’ll tell you how long you’ll live.” In fact, we can also estimate how much money you earn, the quality of your education and even the likelihood you’ll go to jail. As a society, there’s a growing awareness of the role that race plays in shaping life outcomes, from maternal mortality rates to the chance of incarceration. Yet we often overlook one of the root causes in staggering disparities in health, income and incarceration — where we live. Read more
Regulators move to study racism in insurance industries. Experts say it’s not enough.By Adam Edelman / NBC News
A prominent group of insurance regulators on Tuesday agreed to examine more closely the use of credit scores by companies in pricing auto insurance, an incremental step toward reining in a practice many experts say amounts to a form of economic racism. Yet, a larger number of activists at the state and federal levels pushing to ban the practice outright say the move falls far short of the progress on racial issues promised by the insurance industry in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd last summer. Read more
How to Fight the Poison of Environmental Racism. By Margaret Renkl / NYT
Something wonderful happened in Memphis last month: Community organizers in the city managed to stop a crude-oil pipeline from running beneath the historic neighborhood of Boxtown as well as several other predominantly Black communities along its projected 45-mile route. Read more
Gun violence and police reform: How the Birmingham mayoral race became a referendum on crime. By Chip Brownlee / Slate
Birmingham, like many other cities, has seen calls for police reform and skyrocketing gun violence over the past year. Many of its staunchest progressive activists have effectively abandoned the young mayor over what they call his pro-police attitudes. Meanwhile, he faces a reelection challenge on Aug. 24 from candidates who have positioned themselves as more supportive of police. Shown a group of pastors meets with Mayor Randall Woodfin. Read more
17 Black-Owned Food And Drink Brands You Can Shop Online. By Shontel Horne / HuffPost
More than 124,000 businesses identify as Black-owned, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Every day is a good day to support Black-owned businesses, but with National Black Business Month taking place in August, now is an especially great time to get familiar with and continue to support Black-owned brands — particularly in food and drink. The 17 food and beverage brands below are sure to become staples in your kitchen for years to come. Add them to your shopping list and stock up on everything from olive oil to vegan cheese. Read more
Historical / Culture
What Should We Be Teaching When It Comes to Racism and America’s Past? The Argument / NYT Podcast
For many politicians and parents, there’s growing concern over critical race theory. It maintains that race and racism in America are about not individual actors and actions as much as bigger structures that lead to and maintain gaps between racial groups. The theory started in the legal academy, and some fear that it has begun to take over the American education system. How concerned should you be? Jane Coaston and her guests disagree. Chris Rufo is a senior fellow and the director of the initiative on critical race theory at the Manhattan Institute. Professor Ralph Richard Banks is a co-founder and the faculty director of the Stanford Center for Racial Justice. Listen here
Related: Tennessee Teacher Fired After Teaching on White Privilege. By Emma Green / The Atlantic
Aretha Franklin: The Little-Known Traumas That Fueled Her Music. By Julie Miller / Vanity Fair
Aretha Franklin’s voice may be deeply familiar to millions, but her origin story is lesser known—and that was by the Queen of Soul’s design. When the singer-songwriter commissioned a memoir, 1999’s From These Roots, it largely glossed over traumatic milestones in the performer’s life, including the death of Aretha’s mother, when the singer was only 10; Aretha’s pregnancy at 12 years old; her first marriage; and her alleged battles with alcohol. Read More
Black women are finally shattering the glass ceiling in dance. By Sarah L. Kaufman / Wash Post
Throughout the concert-dance world, dancers of color have often shared that sense of isolation and difference. But in recent months, some significant appointments offer hope of change. In March, Fisher-Harrell began leading the company where she once felt so alone. As the new artistic director of Hubbard Street, a widely respected contemporary troupe founded by Broadway dancer Lou Conte, she is one of very few Black women heading traditionally White-led dance organizations. Read more
R. Kelly Faces Reckoning After Years Of Suspicion. By Tom Hays / HuffPost
Most people know him for “I Believe I Can Fly,” the 1996 sing-along hit that became an inspirational anthem played at school graduations, weddings and in advertisements. Or possibly for a stinging parody by comedian Dave Chappelle. But starting this week, what prosecutors say was a not-so-secret dark side of R&B superstar R. Kelly will be presented in lurid detail for a jury in New York City. Read more
Sports
Here’s what to know about the 85th Morehouse-Tuskegee classic, presented by the city of Birmingham. By Shauna Stuart / AL
Birmingham is known for being the home of the Magic City Classic. But this year, Birmingham will add another HBCU classic football game to its roster: the Morehouse-Tuskegee classic. Since 1902, the Morehouse College Maroon Tigers and the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers have faced off in one of the longest-running NCAA Division II classics in the nation, which started as an entertainment event for the African-American civilian community and U.S. Army soldiers in the Columbus-Fort Benning, GA and Phenix City, AL area. For the first time in more than 100 years, the annual football game will take place in Birmingham. The Magic City will host the “Grand Daddy” of all HBCU classics on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the historic Legion Field. Read more
Jay-Z Partners With Fanatics In New York Sports Gambling Bid. By Jay Ginsbach / Forbes
Sports apparel giant Fanatics is growing rapidly, and its latest venture is to expand into gaming, tickets and media. That includes sports betting, and Fanatics has added a music media and entertainment giant to its roster. Sports betting is the latest new venture for rapper and entertainer, Jay-Z. The music mogul and founder of entertainment company Roc Nation has joined Fanatics to partner in its bid as a mobile sports betting operator in New York. Read more
Naomi Osaka Pledges To Donate Prize Money To Haiti Earthquake Relief. By Josephine Harvey / HuffPost
Tennis champion Naomi Osaka has vowed to donate her winnings from next week’s Western & Southern Open to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. “Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really can’t catch a break,” the world’s number two-ranking tennis player tweeted Saturday. Read more
Cleveland Browns G.M. Talks the ‘Thrill’ of Turning the Team Around. / NYT
For most of the last two decades, the Cleveland Browns exemplified what it meant to be an N.F.L. bottom feeder. Between 2001 and 2019, the Browns enjoyed only two winning seasons and one playoff berth behind a rotating cast of starting quarterbacks, coaches and front-office executives. Fans attended games wearing paper bags over their heads in disgrace. But that changed last season under the direction of Andrew Berry, who at 32 became the N.F.L.’s youngest-ever general manager in January 2020. Read more
How ‘race-norming’ was built into the NFL concussion settlement. By Will Hobson / Wash Post
Revelations about race-norming have drawn fierce blowback from players and advocates, some of whom have made comparisons to eugenics and other racist pseudoscience and social science leveraged against minority groups throughout history. The controversy comes at an uncomfortable time for the NFL, which has been working to rehabilitate its public image on race issues after its handling of activist quarterback Colin Kaepernick and amid struggles to improve diversity among its head coach hirings. Read more
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