Featured
Florida Man Calls the Thought Police. By Victor Ray / The Nation
Governor Ron DeSantis’s attacks on race scholarship could have terrifying long-term impacts on policy, economics, and the law.
And as Don Moynihan, who holds the McCourt Chair at Georgetown’s School of Public Policy, notes, the impact of these attacks on higher education are already being felt. Uncertainty about the parameters of the funding requests and the hostile political environment is already depriving Florida’s college students of a factual education on racism. Professors are altering their teaching by canceling classes or avoiding controversial (but nonetheless accurate) information. And although it’s impossible to know exactly how many, some Florida faculty who teach about race and racism have left or are considering leaving the state. Read more
Related: A Florida College Goes to War With Ron DeSantis. By Jack McCordick / The New Republic
Related: DeSantis Allies Plot the Hostile Takeover of a Liberal College. By Michelle Goldberg / NYT
Political / Social
Republicans, spurred by an unlikely figure, see political promise in targeting critical race theory. By Laura Meckler and Josh Dawsey / Wash Post
“Critical race theory,” Rufo said, “has become, in essence, the default ideology of the federal bureaucracy and is now being weaponized against the American people.”
Critical race theory holds that racism is systemic in the United States, not just a collection of individual prejudices — an idea that feels obvious to some and offensive to others. Rufo alleged that efforts to inject awareness of systemic racism and White privilege, which grew more popular following the murder of George Floyd by police, posed a grave threat to the nation. It amounts, Rufo said, to a “cult indoctrination.” Read more
‘Woke racism’: Virginia’s attorney general tells Fox News he’s investigating high schools. By Rebekah Sager / Daily Kos
Virginia Republican Attorney General candidate Jason Miyares speaks during a campaign rally for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin at the Nansemond Brewing Station on October 25, 2021 in Suffolk, Virginia.
When Republican lawmakers want to blow that racist dog whistle, all they have to do is use the word “woke.” Their supporters know what they mean: It’s the wink-wink, nudge-nudge of the far-right for liberal ideas, laws, and policies, and it’s frankly downright infuriating. The latest case involves an investigation recently opened in Fairfax County, Virginia, by Attorney General Jason S. Miyares. The probe is investigating whether three high school principals intentionally failed to notify students of their National Merit Scholarship awards based on race or to promote “equity,” Miyares and other Republicans say. Read more
The American public no longer believes the Supreme Court is impartial. By Daniel De Vise / The Hill
Never in recent history, perhaps, have so many Americans viewed the Supreme Court as fundamentally partisan.
Public approval of the nine-justice panel stands near historic lows. Declining faith in the institution seems rooted in a growing concern that the high court is deciding cases on politics, rather than law. In one recent poll, a majority of Americans opined that Supreme Court justices let partisan views influence major rulings. Read more
Newsom opens second term with Jan. 6 rebuke of conservatives seeking to ‘take the nation backward.’ By Jermy B. White / Politico
“They’re promoting grievance and victimhood, in an attempt to erase so much of the progress you and I have witnessed in our lifetime,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
“They make it harder to vote and easier to buy illegal guns. They silence speech, fire teachers, kidnap migrants, subjugate women, attack the Special Olympics, and even demonize Mickey Mouse.” He compared a controversial Florida law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that bars teaching LGBTQ topics — the so-called Don’t Say Gay law — with a failed 1978 California ballot initiative that sought to prohibit gay teachers. Unlike other states, Newsom said, California safeguards freedoms like “the freedom for teachers to teach, freedom from litmus tests about their political party or the person they love.” Read more
Related: Republicans Filed A Record Number Of Anti-Voting Lawsuits In 2022. By Kailo Philo / TPM
The Biden Administration Aims to Finally End Racist Sentencing Over Crack Cocaine. By Samantha Michaels / Mother Jones
But the most definitive and far-reaching change can only come from Congress.
In 1986, Sen. Joe Biden drafted a crime bill that made punishments for possessing crack cocaine monumentally more severe than punishments for possessing powder cocaine, another form of the drug that was chemically the same but had been stereotypically associated with rich white people. On Friday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that federal prosecutors will start seeking the same charges and punishments for people caught with both forms of the drug. Read more
It’s Tempting to Laugh at McCarthy’s Struggles, but History Shows That This Type of Chaos Is Not a Joke. By Joanne B. Freeman / NYT
In recent days, we’ve watched congressional Republicans reap the whirlwind. In campaigning for the 2022 midterm elections, the G.O.P. rode a wave of extremism, saying little about the politics of hate and denial practiced by some of its candidates in an effort to capture votes.
The party is now paying a price for its silence. Its members are grappling with the reality of working with people who loudly and proudly challenge political institutions and the democratic process — in a democratic institution. During the speakership battle, that small group of extremists held the House of Representatives hostage. Read more
Related: The Less Talked About Part of Kevin McCarthy’s Deal With Republican Radicals. By Jamelle Bouie / NYT
Democrat Rouse holds narrow lead in Va. Senate seat race to replace Kiggans. By Karina Elwood / Wash Post
Democrat Aaron Rouse, a former National Football League player who runs a youth-focused nonprofit organization and served four years on the Virginia Beach City Council, held a narrow lead over Republican Kevin Adams, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who runs a home-improvement business, in Tuesday’s special election to fill a vacant state Senate seat in Virginia Beach. Read more
‘Air-Tight Alibi’: Lawyers for a Black Man Facing Execution Next Month Say He Was 1,800 Miles When the Victims Were Killed. By Nicole Duncan-Smith / Atlanta Black Star
A Missouri man is scheduled to be executed in less than a month for the murder of his girlfriend and her three children, but he and his attorneys claim he was not in the state when the victims were killed. Leonard “Raheem” Taylor is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday, Feb. 7, for the killing of Angela Rowe and her three children, Alexus Conley, 10, AcQreya Conley, 6, and Tyrese Conley, 5, in December 2004, murders he says he did not commit. Read more
Trial begins for Virginia police officers being sued by Army officer over traffic stop. By and Chavez / CNN
Caron Nazario is seen in this still image from body camera footage holding his hands up during the traffic stop in Windsor, Virginia.
A federal trial began Monday for a US Army officer suing two Virginia police officers after they pointed guns at him, pepper sprayed him and pushed him to the ground in 2020 during a traffic stop. In his suit, Nazario claims he was wrongfully stopped and his vehicle was illegally searched. He is seeking $1 million in compensatory damages, claiming the Windsor, Virginia, police officers violated his rights guaranteed under the First and Fourth Amendments. Read more
Mississippi agency denies NAACP’s water discrimination claim. By AP and NBC News
Volunteers and members of the fire department distribute water to local residents at Hawkins Field Airport in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 30, 2022.
A Mississippi environmental regulator has denied claims that the state agency he leads discriminated against the capital city of Jackson in its distribution of federal funds for wastewater treatment. In a recently unearthed letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Executive Director Christopher Wells wrote that the NAACP has “failed to allege a single fact to support” its argument that the agency discriminated against Jackson. He said he believed the ongoing civil rights investigation into the matter was politically motivated. Read more
What is racial battle fatigue? A school psychologist explains. By Geremy Grant / The Conversation
When William A. Smith, a scholar of education and culture, introduced the term “racial battle fatigue” in 2003, he used it to describe the cumulative effects of racial hostility that Black people – specifically faculty and graduate students – experience at predominantly white colleges and universities. In short, it takes a toll on their psychological, physical and emotional well-being. Read more
Lynette Hardaway, of pro-Trump duo Diamond and Silk, has died. By Jack Forrest / CNN
Diamond and Silk appear at a press conference at the Capitol on June 12, 2019.
Lynette Hardaway, a pro-Donald Trump social media personality and part of the duo most commonly known as “Diamond & Silk,” has died, according to the pair’s official social media accounts. The official Diamond and Silk Facebook account announced the death in a post on Monday, and similar announcements were posted to the pair’s official Instagram and Twitter accounts. No additional details on the cause of death were provided. Hardaway, known as “Diamond,” was 51 at the time of her death, according to The New York Times. Read more
Ethics / Morality / Religion
A Blueprint for Black Liberation. By Dara Mathis / The Atlantic
In the commune I once called home, I was too young to understand what it meant to be born into a Black-liberation movement. I knew only that I lived in an apartment building where everyone loved me, a place where everyone who loved me was Black.
The founder of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church was a straight-talking minister named Reverend Albert B. Cleage Jr. “We would rather eat dirt,” Cleage proclaimed in the late ’60s, “than go through the kind of oppression that we’ve gone through in America for 400 years.” Read more
The Image of God in ‘Invisible Man.’ By Claude Atcho / Christianity Today
Ralph Ellison’s novel depicts the quest for personal dignity in a society determined to deny it.
The image of God is like a doctrinal diamond, refracting multiple truths about humanity. Yet much standard Protestant theological reflection does not account for the doctrinal elephant in the room: What does it mean to live as an image bearer when other image bearers try to limit your existence? Read through a theological lens, the classics of Black literature, like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, can point us toward a rich and profound answer. Ellison’s attention to the embodied experience of invisibility pushes us into a deeper recognition that the imago Dei is a visceral doctrine concerned with blood and bones, dignity and freedom, bodies and sight. Read more
Rev. James Meeks delivers last sermon at Chicago’s largest African American church after 38 years. By Bob Smietana / RNS
After 38 years as a pastor, Meeks said he wanted to leave while his church was still doing well. The Rev. Charlie Dates, who grew up at Salem, will become pastor of one of Chicago’s largest congregations. The farewell service was attended by politicians and friends, including Jesse Jackson and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Known for his passion for teaching the Bible, his evangelistic fervor — the church claims to have baptized 20,000 people during his tenure — and his passion for education and economic justice, Meeks has wielded spiritual and public influence in the city, serving for a decade as a state senator and running twice (unsuccessfully) for mayor. Read more and listen here
To the Christian nationalists who attacked the Capitol in Jesus’ name. By Shane Claiborne / RNS
In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, a man holds a Bible as Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol in Washington. The Christian imagery and rhetoric on view during the Capitol insurrection are sparking renewed debate about the societal effects of melding Christian faith with an exclusionary breed of nationalism. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
In the New Testament’s Letter of Paul to the Galatians, the apostle Paul wrote, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different Gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” Read more
Related: How Montana Took a Hard Right Turn Toward Christian Nationalism. By Abe Streep / NYT
Historical / Cultural
A Fuller Black History of the Civil War. By Robert Greene II / AAIHS
Bermuda Hundred, Va. African-American teamsters near the signal tower. United States Virginia Bermuda Hundred, 1864. Photograph (LOC)
Holly Pinheiro’s The Families’ Civil War is a welcome addition to a growing and nuanced understanding of Black life in the middle of the 19th century. Focused on how Black families were influenced–and, in turn, influenced federal government policies before, during, and after the American Civil War, The Families’ Civil War stands as a reminder of how much war can influence what happens within individual families. This is a fresh perspective on the Civil War era. As Pinheiro points out, “The lived experiences of working-poor northern USCT soldiers’ families, however, have been largely overlooked” (2). Read more
Related: Military Service and Black Families During the Civil War. By Barbara A Gannon / AAIHS
Their families survived the Rosewood massacre 100 years ago. Here are their stories. By Ellis / CNN
The ruins of the two-story shanty are pictured near Rosewood, Florida, where twenty Black people barricaded themselves and fought off a mob of White people.
They were victims of a racist mob, their families torn apart and dispossessed. But as survivors of the Rosewood massacre, they were united in grief, silence, and resilience. Some of the survivors hid for days in swamps and nearby woods. Many families were separated, with historical records saying some women and children were placed on a rail owned by a White store owner and taken to Gainesville, Florida. Read more
“Never Forget Our People Were Always Free”: Civil Rights Leader Ben Jealous on His New Memoir. By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now
We speak with civil rights leader Ben Jealous about his new memoir, “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free,” which examines his long career as an activist and organizer, and growing up the son of a white father and a Black mother. He discusses the lessons he drew from his mother, Ann Todd Jealous, and his grandmother, Mamie Todd, about the racism they experienced in their lifetimes. Jealous has led the NAACP and the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way, and is set to be the next executive director of the Sierra Club. Read more and listen here
Black Golden Globes winners bring ‘Black Girl Magic’ and more to the awards show. By Nicole Acevedo / NBC News
Quinta Brunson, Angela Bassett, Zendaya and Tyler James Williams snagged awards, and “Abbott Elementary” won for best television series.
Actor and Golden Globes presenter Niecy Nash called out the “Black Girl Magic” during the awards ceremony Tuesday night. “We’re just going to keep the Black Girl Magic going,” Nash said as she gave Brunson her award for best actress in a TV comedy series for her performance in “Abbott Elementary.” In accepting the award for best television series, Brunson commended her cast and actors Henry Winkler and Seth Rogen for inspiring her. “I’m gonna pull it together to say we made this show because we love comedy, we love TV,” she said. “During a very tough time in this country, I’m so grateful ‘Abbott Elementary’ can make people laugh.” Read more
Sports
With the NFL’s Houston Texans, Black coaches have had no chance. By Jason Reid / Andscape
The franchise firing David Culley and Lovie Smith in consecutive seasons shows Black coaches should welcome its offers at their own peril. Houston Texans head coach Lovie Smith looks on during the second half of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Jan. 08, 2023, in Indianapolis. Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Black NFL coaches who aspire to reach the top of their field should beware of Houston Texans officials bearing gifts. Clearly, it could be a trap. Because if the Texans aren’t systematically attempting to set back the league’s Black coaches, they’re sure doing a great job of acting like it. One could deduce nothing less after the Texans on Sunday fired head coach Lovie Smith following his only season as the franchise’s top coach – the second Black head coach they’ve sacked in his first year in as many seasons. Read more
Draymond Green Sets Us Straight on the Real N.B.A. By David Marchese / NYT
The full story of the N.B.A. over the last decade could not be told without Draymond Green. The raw nerve of the Golden State Warriors dynasty, Green is also one of the league’s most accomplished players. He’s a four-time all-star, four-time N.B.A. All-Defensive First Team selection as well as a former defensive player of the year, and a two-time Olympic gold medal winner. “The average person thinks they understand what they’re watching,” Green says about N.B.A. observers. “They have no idea.” Read more
Women’s Gymnastics Team Makes History as First HBCU to Compete in NCAA. By Wendy Geller / People
The Bulldogs made their eagerly anticipated debut at Las Vegas’ Super 16 invitational on Jan. 6, showcasing their skills amongst a powerhouse roster of collegiate programs
Fisk University women’s gymnastics program may be less than a year old, but it’s already managed to make a stunning footprint. The team represents the first historically Black college and university to compete in the sport at the NCAA level, having made its debut on Jan. 6 at the inaugural Super 16 event in Las Vegas. The Nashville-based school held its own against more established programs, including the University of North Carolina, Southern Utah University, and the University of Washington — ultimately finishing in fourth place with an overall score of 186.700. Read more
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