Featured – Yes, your ancestors probably did come here legally – because ‘illegal’ immigration is less than a century old. For the first century of the country’s existence, anyone could land here and walk right off the boat with no papers of any kind. The first federal general immigration law was enacted in 1882 to prevent the immigration of Chinese workers. Trump’s grandfather immigrated to the US in 1885, when “legally” meant next to nothing. Read more
Why Trump voters need the immigrants they want to turn away. The equation is unmistakable: as America ages, the older and blue-collar whites at the core of Trump’s electoral coalition in 2016 need more working-age immigrants to pay the taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare. Read more
Will America Choose King’s Dream or Trump’s Nightmare? We must face the fact that we are at a moral crossroad. Will America courageously live out Dr. King’s dream or will it go down the road of bigotry and racist vitriol, preferring to live out Mr. Trump’s nightmare instead? Read more
Is All This Talk of Racism Bad for Democrats? “I want them to talk about racism every day,” Steve Bannon said last summer. “If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.” Read more
Meet the theologian who helped MLK see the value of nonviolence. Born in 1899, Thurman was 30 years older than King. Through his sermons and teaching at Howard University and Boston University, he influenced intellectually and spiritually an entire generation that became the leadership of the civil rights movement. Read more
Walmart, Black America’s Biggest Boss, Is Also Its Cheap Uncle. This is the same Walmart that funds anti-worker think tanks, keeps wages low, routinely shaves hours, break unions and minimizes workers’ rights. All subsidized by the tax breaks that Republicans snatched out of our pockets. Read more
How Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination changed America 50 years ago and still affects us today. In many ways our nation is still trying to recover from King’s death and the opportunities for racial equality, economic justice and peace. Read more
If Martin Luther King Jr were alive today, politicians would denounce him. The truth is, many of these American politicians who hated King when he was alive hypocritically dishonor his radical legacy today. Read more
Trump Thinks Only Black People Are on Welfare, but, Really, White Americans Receive Most Benefits. President Donald Trump was apparently unaware that not all—in fact, the vast majority—of welfare beneficiaries are not black. Read more
White racial resentment has been gaining political power for decades. White racial resentment has remained remarkably stable over time. But that racial resentment has become much more highly correlated with particular political attitudes, behaviors and orientations. Read more
Visit our home page for more articles and register your email to receive notification of Race Inquiry Digest updates. Click here for earlier Digests.