Featured
Trump Is a Combination of Every Threat We Have Ever Faced in Our History. By
If we wake up to awful news on November 6, we’ll be asking ourselves one question: Did we do enough?
For the past nearly 250 years, when the United States faced a grave threat, our people rose up and sacrificed whatever it took to defeat it. From the American Revolution to the Civil War to the menace of the Nazis or Soviet communism, we were willing to do what we had to do to defend what we valued most about this country.
Today, as it did once before, in 1861, the greatest peril confronting the country comes from within. Then as now, it was a threat that sought to divide America, and it was a threat founded in racism, contempt for our Constitution, and a twisted sense of what was worth preserving from our past.
The new threat, of course, is led by Donald Trump. Must read
Related: Trump Forces Terrified Republicans to Bend the Knee Yet Again. By Greg Sargent / The New Republic
Related: The Looming Contest Between Two Presidents and Two Americas. By Peter Baker / NYT
Donald Trump ordered to pay E Jean Carroll $83.3m in defamation trial. By Victoria Bekiempis / The Guardian
A New York City jury awarded $83.3m to E Jean Carroll in her defamation trial against Donald Trump on Friday.
Carroll will receive $18.3m in compensatory damages and $65m in punitive retribution. The former president is paying Carroll compensatory damages of $18.3m – $11m to fund a reputational repair campaign. The $7.3m is for the emotional harm caused by Trump’s 2019 public statements. Carroll and her legal team were beaming as they left court in a black SUV. They did not answer questions immediately after court let out. Read more
Don’t let Trump’s primary dominance deceive you. By Amanda Marcotte / Salon
Behind the curtain, the GOP is tearing itself apart
Despite the headlines about Republicans lining up behind Trump, there’s significant evidence that, in fact, his leadership is causing the party to fracture and go to war with itself. Which is not where Republicans want to be going into a presidential election. NBC exit polls showed only 50% of voters in the New Hampshire GOP race self-identified as Republicans and 44% were independents. While proud Republicans broke heavily for Trump, Haley got 58% of independents, most of whom said they were “moderate” or “conservative.” These numbers suggest a large number of people who would have called themselves Republicans in the past have left the party and turned out to vote against Trump. Read more
Political / Social
In South Carolina, Biden Tries to Persuade Black Voters to Reject Trump.
President Biden sought to energize his base in the state that propelled him to the White House, but some local leaders said he needed to do more to highlight his achievements.
Hoping to revitalize the momentum that propelled him to the White House, President Biden told a largely Black audience on Saturday night that “you’re the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former president,” in what was effectively his first appearance related to the Democratic primaries. Read more
Related: Biden Dismissed Arab Voters Threatening Not To Vote For Him. They Say He Shouldn’t. By
Trump seeks to have GA election fraud case tossed over DA alleged affair. By Josh Meyer / USA Today
DA Fani Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday joined the legal effort to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, her office and her top prosecutor tossed from the election fraud case against him, alleging that Willis had engaged in misconduct by hiring an unqualified friend and alleged romantic partner to lead the sprawling prosecution. Read more
Conservatives are blaming DEI for broken planes. By Fabiola Cineas / Vox
Republicans have launched an ill-informed campaign to blame diversity policies for aircraft safety issues.
According to these commentators, airlines hired certain workers solely to meet diversity goals and sacrificed their commitments to safety and quality in the process, despite the global conversation about airline safety that’s been underway for years following high-profile accidents.Among them was Elon Musk, who took to his platform X after the Alaska Airlines incident to ask, “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening.” He added, “People will die due to DEI.” Read more
Related: Cornell donor demands president step down, citing ‘toxic’ diversity policies. By Matt Egan / CNN
What Removing Sociology as a Core-Course Option Means for Florida’s Students. By Beckie Supiano / The Chronicle of Higher Ed.
Ask a sociology professor what students get out of the discipline’s introductory course, and you’re likely to hear that they gain an understanding of the way social dynamics shape behavior and learn how scholars use data and evidence.
One syllabus from a recent iteration of the course at the University of Florida at Gainesville sums its purpose up by saying that, by allowing students to critically examine their connections to others, “sociology helps us in becoming informed and responsible global citizens.” Read more
GOP Invokes Nullification In Border Standoff Between The U.S. And Texas. By
The party of Lincoln sides with John C. Calhoun in its constitutional showdown over immigration.
Abbott’s declaration that that the Biden administration had “broken the compact between the United States and the States” by failing to “fulfill the duties” of protecting Texas from an “invasion” is an eerie echo of the political thought that gave rise to nullification and secession in the 19th century and resistance to desegregation in the 20th. Read more
Related; GOP governors back Abbott in border standoff. By Nick Robertson / The Hill
New Study Shows The U.S. Black Population Growth In 20 Years. By Sharelle Burt / Black Enterprise
A new study shows that the Black population is growing, and fast.
According to The Philadelphia Tribune, researchers from the Pew Research Center found the Black population in the United States has grown by 11 million people in the last two decades. That’s a 32% increase, bringing the number to 47.9 million from a little over 36 million between 2000 and 2022. “The African American population is not the fastest growing, but they are growing at least as fast as the rest of the nation,” Mark Lopez, director of Race and Ethnicity Work at the Pew Center, said. “The nation’s Asian population, for example, has grown more quickly.” Read more
Related: Report finds that Black people are the biggest new group of stock investors. The Grio
One in six Black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Early detection is key to saving lives. By
Nate Battle said he had avoided doctor’s visits for most of his life until 2014, when his insurance company began incentivizing preventive health screenings.
Battle, who is Black and was 49 at the time, said he made an appointment, thinking it would be routine and harmless. But the results from a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test led to a series of other procedures that ultimately revealed Battle had aggressive prostate cancer. Battle told CNN that he was able to have his prostate removed and that he’s thankful the cancer was caught early. One in six Black men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the advocacy organization ZERO Prostate Cancer. Research from the American Cancer Society shows Black men are more than twice as likely to die from the disease than their White counterparts. Read more
Julius Becton, Army general who led FEMA and D.C. schools, dies at 97. By Harrison Smith / Wash Post
He became one of the military’s highest-ranking Black officers before launching a second career as a public administrator
Julius W. Becton Jr., a three-star Army general who retired as one of the military’s highest-ranking Black officers, then led the nation’s disaster-relief agency and D.C. public schools, died Nov. 28 at a retirement home in Fairfax County. He was 97. Raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, Gen. Becton was 17 when he volunteered for service in the still-segregated Army, viewing the military as a way out of poverty. He went on to become a decorated veteran of three wars, receiving the Silver Star in Korea and Vietnam and serving as the first Black officer to lead what was then the Army’s largest basic-training program, at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Read more
Ethics / Morality / Religion
In ‘Preaching Racial Justice,’ Black Catholics shed ecumenical light on growing need. By Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenburg / NCR
Preaching Racial Justice is a collection from a group of diverse writers who speak to the urgency, context, necessity and consequentiality of preaching to the congregation about the trauma of racism.
Acknowledging the number of parishioners in the U.S. church who identify as white, this text offers some methods for delivering the message about racism while also providing some strategies for “unlearning and relearning,” as described by A. Anita Vincent, one of the book’s contributing authors. Read more
Black Pastors Pressure Biden to Call for a Cease-Fire in Gaza. By Maya King / NYT
Black congregants’ dismay at President Biden’s posture on the war could imperil his re-election bid.
As the Israel-Hamas war enters its fourth month, a coalition of Black faith leaders is pressuring the Biden administration to push for a cease-fire — a campaign spurred in part by their parishioners, who are increasingly distressed by the suffering of Palestinians and critical of the president’s response to it. Read more
Leonard Leo, architect of conservative Supreme Court, takes on wider culture. By Heidi Schlumpf / NCR
In October 2022, the Opus Dei-affiliated Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., bestowed its highest honor, the John Paul II New Evangelization Award, on the conservative legal activist Leonard Leo. Six months later, he received an honorary doctorate from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Both events provided an opportunity for the self-described introvert to give a public speech.
In the two presentations, Leo used the same language to describe a trio of frightening forces — “barbarians, secularists and bigots” — that he said represent nothing less than a war with the devil. “The barbarians are determined to threaten and delegitimize individuals and institutions who refuse to pledge fealty to the woke idols of our age,” Leo told graduates of Benedictine, a conservative school where he likely expected a friendly reception to his strong words. Read more
Historical / Cultural
91 Years in a Segregated Mental Institution. By Linda Villarosa / NYT
At its height, writes Antonia Hylton, Crownsville Hospital housed some 2,700 people — and exploited many of them for free labor. Credit…Maryland State Archives
The United States has a long and troubled history of manipulating psychology to control Black Americans, quell resistance, rationalize unpaid labor and justify cruelty. At the depths of chattel slavery, white physicians argued that Black people were immune to mental illness, kept emotionally healthy by the kindness of their enslavers and the fresh air and exercise provided by working in the fields. As growing numbers of enslaved people attempted to escape, this itself was classified as a mental illness, “drapetomania.” Dr. Samuel Cartwright, a Southern “expert” in Negro medicine, prescribed one of the cures as “whipping the devil out of them.” Read more
Black Mothers and the Birth Control Movement. By Destiny Crockett / AAIHS
The forced sterilization of Black women attempted to limit the black population. Law enforcement officials and medical practitioners completely disregarded the reproductive rights of black women and in many cases, specifically targeted poor black women.
Many other Black women, such as notable activist Fannie Lou Hamer, were forcibly sterilized throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the state of North Carolina, the government run Eugenics board was not dissolved until 1973 and the law allowing involuntary sterilization was not repealed until 2003. Read more
The Senate’s only Black Republican now loves Trump. It’s not a good look. By Lz Granderson / LA Times
The first Black Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate was a preacher by the name of Hiram Revels. He was born free, to free parents, in 1827. Mississippi state legislators sent Revels to Washington in 1870 to fill one of two vacancies. When the state seceded in 1861, both its senators went with it. One was Jefferson Davis.
Now, there’s also one Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, and this week he said he loves Donald Trump — a man who became the face of the birther movement that shadowed the nation’s first Black president. The only Black Republican in the Senate wants you to believe Trump will unite the country. Read more
Notoriously Conservative 5th Circuit Court Of Appeals Was Once A Leader In Expanding Civil Rights. By Jonathan Entin / TPM
James Meredith, center, and attorney Constance Motley, right, on Sept. 28, 1962, outside the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which that day ordered Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett to facilitate Meredith’s admission to the University of Mississippi or face arrest and fine. Bettman/Getty Images LESS
The 5th Circuit today looks very different than it did half a century ago, when it was on the front lines of enforcing civil rights. The 5th Circuit currently handles cases in three states: Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Until 1982, it also covered Alabama, Georgia and Florida — the entire Deep South during the civil rights era. Read more
Tips for White Liberals Who Want to Be Anti-Racist During Black History Month. By Skyler Higley / The New Yorker
If you are a well-meaning white liberal, you understand that the most vile ailment currently afflicting society is the scourge of anti-Black racism that is foundational to the history of America.
As this racism is perpetuated through institutional and systemic structures, you know that it is your responsibility to wield your privilege to help cure our nation of this disease (because, ultimately, it’s all about you). Read more
Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” synthesizes a massive human injustice in something personal. By Melanie McFarland / Salon
The director of “13th” connects Isabel Wilkerson’s story to the vast thesis of her acclaimed 2020 non-fiction book. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in “Origin” (Courtesy of NEON/Atsushi Nishijima)
Wilkerson’s book argues that the human tendency to create social hierarchies relegating certain types of people as lesser than others is not always about race. She bolsters her theory by building links between American slavery and Jim Crow, the class system in India deeming the Dalit people to be “untouchable” and the Nazi regime’s codifying of laws leading up to the Holocaust. Read more
The American Society of Magical Negroes has been seen as a controversial movie since its trailer was released, but star David Alan Grier is wholeheartedly defending the project. It is certainly an ambitious concept, especially considering that it serves as writer-director Kobi Libii’s feature film directorial debut. The movie imagines a Hogwarts-esque institution where Black people with magic powers are trained to use their gifts to defuse tension with white people and thus safeguard their communities. Read more
Colman Domingo, Ayo Edebiri, Victoria Monét and Usher Lead NAACP Image Award nominations. By Variety
The winners will be revealed during the two–hour TV special, airing March 16 on BET and CBS. Ayo Edebiri in “The Bear” on Hulu and Colman Domingo in “Rustin” on Netflix. Hulu; Netflix
It’s been a big start to 2024 for Colman Domingo and Ayo Edebiri who — after earning their first Oscar nomination and Emmy win, respectively — lead the pack of film and TV nominees for the 55th NAACP Image Awards. Domingo is nominated for three awards: outstanding actor in a motion picture for “Rustin,” outstanding supporting actor for “The Color Purple” and entertainer of the year, the ceremony’s top prize. Read more
Kwame Onwuachi to honor Benjamin Banneker in his new D.C. restaurant. By Zoe Glasser / Wash Post
Chef Kwame Onwuachi. (Chris Sorensen for The Washington Post)
Chef Kwame Onwuachi is looking to the stars as he plans to return to Washington this spring. The James Beard Award-winning chef’s new Afro-Caribbean restaurant, Dogon, will live inside the Salamander D.C. hotel near the Wharf and is inspired by Benjamin Banneker, the Black cartographer, almanac writer and mathematician who helped survey the city of D.C. in the late 18th century. Read more
Sports
Jayson Tatum reflects on the fourth anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s death. By Marc J. Spears / Andscape
All-Star forward talks about the Los Angeles Lakers legend, the most talented Boston Celtics team he’s played for, the Olympics and more
There are so many questions that Jayson Tatum wishes he could have asked Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant before he, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter accident four years ago Friday. And since Bryant’s death, the Boston Celtics star forward hasn’t been shy about reaching out to a mentor like NBA star LeBron James to acquire as much knowledge as possible. Read more
Related: The power of Kobe. By Alex Prewitt / Wash Post
NFL reaches ‘major milestone’ with record 9 minority head coaches in place for the 2024 season. By Steve Reed / USA Today
The National Football League has urged teams for years to hire more minority head coaches. That mission finally seems to be paying off. New England’s Jerod Mayo
Four minority head coaches have been hired this year — Atlanta’s Raheem Morris, New England’s Jerod Mayo, Las Vegas’ Antonio Pierce and Carolina’s Dave Canales — bringing the number of coaches of color entering the 2024 season to nine, the most in league history. Seattle and Washington have yet to fill their vacancies. Richard Lapchick, founder of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics In Sport, called it a “major milestone” for the NFL. Read more
Related: Atlanta Falcons hire Raheem Morris as coach, passing over Bill Belichick. By Mark Maske / Wash Post
Related: Have NFL Owners Started Trusting Black Coaches? By Jemele Hill / The Atlantic
It’s past time for a Rooney Rule in college football. By Kevin B. Blackstone / Wash Post
Maryland’s Michael Locksley founded the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches four years ago. (Julia Nikhinson/For The Washington Post)
When I caught up Thursday with Maryland football coach Michael Locksley, he was on the recruiting trail. And his phone had yet to ring or his email to register an inquiry from any athletic director at any big-time college with a head football coaching vacancy. “The Coalition wasn’t contacted,” he texted of the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, the organization he founded four years ago to promote coaches of color for higher opportunities, “and we send emails to every opening.” Read more
Doc Rivers’ ESPN Exit Left $174 Billion Worth Company’s Management “Disappointed”, Per Sources. By Dushyant Singh / Essentially Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks have endured a strange season so far. Despite having the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks have shown an uncharacteristic defensive vulnerability. Due to their sub-par defensive performances, the Bucks’ hierarchy decided to fire rookie HC, Adrian Griffin. The Bucks have chosen veteran head coach Doc Rivers as Adrian Griffin’s successor.
Site Information
Articles appearing in the Digest are archived on our home page. 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. The site is searchable by name or topic. See “search” at the top of this page.
About Race Inquiry and Race Inquiry Digest. The Digest is published on Mondays and Thursdays.
Use the customized buttons below to share the Digest in an email, or post to your Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter accounts.
Related: Review: Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ is a powerful interpretation of ‘Caste.’ By Lindsey Bahr / Seattle Times
The American Society Of Magical Negroes star David Alan Grier explains why he admires the movie’s screenplay while at Sundance Film Festival.