Featured
The Great Resegregation. By Adam Serwer / The Atlantic
The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil-rights movement.
If the Great Resegregation proves successful, it will restore an America past where racial and ethnic minorities were the occasional token presence in an otherwise white-dominated landscape.
It would repeal the gains of the civil-rights era in their entirety. What its advocates want is not a restoration of explicit Jim Crow segregation—that would shatter the illusion that their own achievements are based in a color-blind meritocracy. They want an arrangement that perpetuates racial inequality indefinitely while retaining some plausible deniability, a rigged system that maintains a mirage of equal opportunity while maintaining an unofficial racial hierarchy. Like elections in authoritarian countries where the autocrat is always reelected in a landslide, they want a system in which they never risk losing but can still pretend they won fairly. Read more
Related: Trump’s America without DEI? A return to the racial caste system. By alvin B. Tillery / Salon
‘Arbitrary and discriminatory’: Judge blocks Trump’s effort to deter DEI programs. By Kyle Cheney / Politico
A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s bid to deprive federal funding from programs that incorporate “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives.
U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson ruled that Trump’s policy likely violates the First Amendment because it penalizes private organizations based on their viewpoints. And the judge said the policy is written so vaguely that it chills the free speech of federal contractors concerned they will be punished if they don’t eliminate programs meant to encourage a diverse workforce. Read more
Related: Civil rights groups sue Trump over anti-DEIA executive orders. By
Political / Social
Across the US, Protesters Rally Against Donald Trump and Elon Musk. By Arianna Coghill / Mother Jones
On Monday, thousands of protesters across the country hit the streets to tell Donald Trump and Elon Musk “No kings on Presidents’ Day” in response to the barrage of alarming actions—from legally questionable executive orders to mass firings—taken by the administration since the inauguration.
From California to Florida, demonstrators were seen armed with signs that read “Resist fascism” and “Fight for Democracy,” as they marched against Trump’s agenda. Some braved freezing temperatures. Read more
Joy Reid’s MSNBC Show Canceled in Major Shake-Up. By Benjamin Mullin / NYT
Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said.
The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, “The ReidOut,” is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. Read more
Trump Fires Joint Chiefs Chairman Amid Flurry of Dismissals at Pentagon. Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper and Jonathan Swan / NYT
The decision to fire Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot, broke a tradition in which the Joint Chiefs chairman remains in place with a new president.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot known as C.Q. who became only the second African American to hold the chairman’s job, is to be replaced by a little-known retired three-star Air Force general, Dan Caine, who endeared himself to the president when they met in Iraq six years ago. Read more
Related: George Floyd Killing Separated Trump From His Generals. Helene Cooper / NYT
Kash Patel confirmed to lead the FBI, an agency he has vowed to purge of Trump’s “deep state” foes. By Nicholas Liu / Salon
The Senate voted 51-49 Thursday to confirm Kash Patel, a former counterterrorism prosecutor and staunch defender of President Donald Trump, to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined all 47 Democrats in opposing his nomination.
After the 2020 election, Patel emerged as an aggressive backer of Trump who claimed that the FBI, along with the news media and other institutions, was teeming with conspirators plotting to destroy Trump. At the same time, records show that Patel made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year off the brand he built as a Trump loyalist, including from merchandise marketed to Trump supporters and emblazoned with his trademarked “K$H” heraldry. Read more
Education Dept. Lifts Pause on Some Civil Rights Probes, but not Cases of Race, Gender Discrimination. By Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen / ProPublica
A memo to the department’s Office for Civil Rights reveals that the agency will allow “only disability-based discrimination” cases to proceed. Thousands of outstanding complaints will continue to sit idle.
ProPublica reported last week that the Department of Education had halted ongoing civil rights investigations, an unusual move even during a presidential transition. Department employees said they had been told not to communicate with students, families and schools involved in cases that were launched in previous administrations, describing the edict as a “gag order” and saying they had “been essentially muzzled.” Read more
Trump backs Rep. Byron Donalds for likely run Florida governor run. By Matt Dixon / NBC News
President Donald Trump on Thursday publicly supported Republican Rep. Byron Donalds’ likely bid for Florida governor in 2026.
Donalds has not yet announced, but NBC News reported last month that he is telling donors that he will run for the seat, which is being vacated by Republican Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited. Read more
Related: Who is Byron Donald? Donald Trump just endorsed him for governor. By Krby Wilson / Tampa Bay Times
NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption trial indefinitely delayed, but judge won’t dismiss charges yet. By , and
The Justice Department ordered the charges be dismissed on Feb. 10, prompting resignations of prosecutors and allegations of “quid pro quo” with the Trump administration.
A federal judge indefinitely adjourned New York City Mayor Eric Adams‘ criminal trial on Friday, but did not yet dismiss the federal corruption charges. Judge Dale Ho adjourned the trial set to start in April, but is ordering both parties and an amicus curiae, or an impartial advisor, to consider whether the charges should be dismissed altogether. Read more
World News
‘The World Is There for the Carving’: Two Columnists on the Trump-Putin Alliance. M. Gessen and Bret Stephens / NYT
Patrick Healy, the deputy Opinion editor, hosted an online conversation with the Times Opinion columnists M. Gessen and Bret Stephens about Donald Trump’s first month in office and his use of power on the world stage.
Healy: What you’re describing, Bret, I’ve come to think of as a new Trump doctrine: coercive conquest. And what’s extraordinary is that we now have a president of the United States who subscribes to the same worldview of coercive conquest as the president of Russia. Are you surprised that Trump is going in this predatory direction?
Stephens: Surprised? The reason I voted for Kamala Harris, despite my millions of reservations about her competence and ideas, is that I feared something like this. Still, it is breathtaking to experience these policy shifts in real time. Also astonishing, in that some of these positions will be politically ruinous for Trump if he really follows through with them. Read more
Germany’s Anti-Extremist Firewall Is Collapsing. By Graeme Wood / The Atlantic
Last week in Munich, Vice President J. D. Vance scolded European dignitaries for their failure to address popular discontent.
They had ignored what Vance called the most “urgent” issue of our time: the relentless flow of non-Europeans into Europe. Without naming it, Vance was defending a far-right political party called Alternative for Germany (AfD), best-known for its commitment to deporting as many immigrants as the country’s airports can process. Read more
Arab leaders huddle in Saudi Arabia in pushback to Trump’s Gaza plans. By Aya Batrawy / NPR
This handout picture shows (from L) Bahrain’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein and UAE’s National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a picture in Riyadh on February 21, 2025.
There was no final communique, press conference or details of when the meeting started or ended, in contrast to standard protocol when Arab leaders meet. Instead, a single photo was released on Friday, showing Arab leaders standing shoulder-to-shoulder in Saudi Arabia for what the kingdom called an “informal brotherly gathering”, though with lofty discussion on Gaza’s future. Read more
Trump moves to end protections for 500K Haitian migrants — paving the way for deportations. By Myah Ward / Politico
The Trump administration on Thursday slashed temporary legal protections for Haitian migrants living in the United States, laying the groundwork for them to be targeted for deportation in less than six months.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (shown) rescinded a June 2024 Biden administration extension of temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians already in the United States. The Biden administration had cited dangerous conditions in Haiti that made it unsafe for them to return, granting them protections until February 2026. Read more
Ethics / Morality / Religion
The spiritual wisdom of Howard Thurman in the face of fear. By Daniel P. Horan / NCR
In the late 18th century, the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who is largely recognized as the founder of the modern utilitarianism school of philosophical thought, sketched out the design for a new kind of prison. He called it the “panopticon,” drawing on the Greek root word panoptes meaning “all seeing.”
I was reminded of the concept of the panopticon recently while reading some of the late Howard Thurman‘s writings as part of my ongoing exploration of resources for spiritual resistance. In his 1949 classic Jesus and the Disinherited, Thurman writes: “Always back of the threat is the rumor or the fact that somewhere, under some similar circumstances violence was used. That is all that is necessary. The threat becomes the effective instrument.” Read more
How Trump Twisted DEI to Only Benefit White Christians. By Jessica Washington / The Intercept
Trump’s bid to dismantle the legacy of the civil rights movement while using its own language is part and parcel of the Christian right’s playbook, according to Christine Reyna, a psychology professor at DePaul University who studies extremism.
“They’ve stumbled on a winning strategy, which is to portray white people as victims and portray their movement as a civil rights movement,” Reyna said. “And they’ve completely co-opted the strategies of the Black civil rights movement.” Read more
The Christian Nationalist Plot to Disenfranchise Women Voters. By Sarah Stankorb / The New Republic
The SAVE Act, which purports to fend off the phantasmal threat of voter fraud, would throw millions of women off the voting rolls.
The proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, now considered a priority for Republicans in the House, will make it harder, if not practically impossible, for millions of women to vote. The SAVE Act would require documentation, such as a passport or birth certificate matching your current legal name to allow a person to register to vote. These requirements would pose a challenge to broad swaths of the country, but would fall especially hard on women. Read more
Historical / Cultural
Ancient DNA Reveals Most Europeans Had Dark Skin Until Just 3,000 Years Ago. By Tibi Pulu / ZME Science
Pale skin didn’t dominate Europe until surprisingly recently.
For decades, scientists assumed that the first modern humans to arrive in Europe, around 45,000 years ago, quickly evolved pale skin to adapt to the region’s dim sunlight. The logic seemed straightforward: lighter skin allows more ultraviolet light to penetrate, helping the body produce vitamin D, a nutrient essential for human health. However, a new study of ancient DNA challenges this long-held assumption. By analyzing the genomes of 348 individuals who lived between 45,000 and 1,700 years ago, researchers have uncovered a surprising truth: for most of Europe’s history, the majority of its inhabitants had dark skin. Only around 3,000 years ago did lighter skin tones become dominant. Read more
Hitler’s Enemies List. By Timothy W. Ryback / The Atlantic
Anyone with an interest in the history of political vengeance should pay a visit to the rare-book room at the Library of Congress and request the bound volume with the call number DD244.R6.
Compiled by Hitler’s chief ideologue, Alfred Rosenberg, Dreissig Novemberköpfe, or Thirty November Heads, is the future chancellor’s political hit list as of 1927: The book profiles government officials, legislators, judges, lawyers, journalists, academics, and one popular satirist targeted by Rosenberg for “poisoning the life essence”of the German people with democratic processes and ideas. Read more
Broken Promises: Black Land and the New Fight For Reparations. By Mother Jones
Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, assistant professor of Africana studies at Morehouse College—and the institution’s Director of Public History and Historic Preservation—chairs a task force that’s the first of its kind in the country: one dedicated to the study of reparations.
A governmental advisory body in Fulton County, Georgia, the task force looks at the mass expropriation of Black land, in part through decades of records painstakingly worked through by Sims-Alvarado and a small team of researchers. They’ve amassed a paper trail of forced expulsions, mob violence, and the abuse of legal tools like eminent domain, all feeding into a wider national wave of efforts to discuss reparations—and assess exactly what’s owed. Read more
2025 Finalists for the Pauli Murray Book Prize in Black Intellectual History. By AAIHS Editors
The African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) is pleased to announce the finalists for the eighth annual Pauli Murray Book Prize for the best book in Black intellectual history. Named after lawyer, author, and women’s rights activist-intellectual Pauli Murray, this prize recognizes the best book concerning Black intellectual history (broadly conceived) published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 by a member of AAIHS.
Here are the five finalists selected by this year’s prize committee. Read more
60 years after Malcolm X’s killing, his message can’t be silenced or ignored. By Omar Suleiman / RNS
Sixty years ago today, Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz) was gunned down in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York, at the age of 39. He had long known death was coming.
He had seen the threats, the surveillance, the isolation and the betrayals. He knew that for speaking truth in America — real, unfiltered, unflinching truth — there was always a price to be paid. But Malcolm X was a man who could never be silenced. Not in life. Not in death. And not today, when his words ring truer than ever. Read more
Related: Malcolm X death 60 years ago still sparks questions. By N’dea Yancey-Bragg / USA Today
Kevin Young on James Baldwin’s “Letter from a Region in My Mind.” By Kevin Young / The New YorkerThe essay served as a definitive diagnosis of American race relations. Events soon gave it the force of prophecy.
“I love America more than any other country in the world,” he declared, “and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” Baldwin would exercise that right to sweeping effect, seven years later, with “Letter from a Region in My Mind,” which appeared in The New Yorker in the fall of 1962. Republished a few months later in “The Fire Next Time,” the essay served as a definitive diagnosis of American race relations. Read more
Sports
Trump celebrates Tiger Woods and others at Black History Month event, but doesn’t mention DEI
President Donald Trump welcomed hundreds at the White House on Thursday for a Black History Month reception, where he was joined by longtime friend Tiger Woods and a cadre of Black Republican leaders.
“We pay tribute to the generations of Black legends, champions, warriors and patriots who helped drive our country forward to greatness,” said Trump to a crowd of enthusiastic Black supporters inside the East Room. At one point during the event, the room chanted, “Four more years!” in reference to Trump serving a third term — something he repeatedly hints at despite being constitutionally limited to two terms. Read more
Remembering Black Athletes Who Took A Stand (And A Knee) Against Racism. By Ahsan Washington / Black Enterprise
Honoring those who have paved the way for future generations is essential in recognizing the progress made in the fight for equality. Throughout history, Black athletes have used their platforms to challenge racism and advocate for civil rights, often making great personal sacrifices.
BLACK ENTERPRISE remembers five trailblazing athletes who broke barriers and set the stage for future generations in both sports and activism. From historic protests to groundbreaking achievements, these pioneers have shaped not only athletic activism but stood on their principles for the greater good. Read more
Victor Wembanyama to miss rest of NBA season with blood clot in shoulder. By Ben Golliver / Wash Post
In a stunning setback for the NBA’s brightest young star, San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama will miss the remainder of the regular season because of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, the team said in a statement Thursday.
Wembanyama, the reigning NBA rookie of the year, averaged 24.3 points, 11 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 46 games this season, becoming the first player with those numbers since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1992-93. The 7-foot-3 Frenchman will not be eligible for end-of-season awards, such as defensive player of the year and the all-NBA and all-defensive teams, unless he plays in 65 games. Read more
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