Featured
The Supreme Court didn’t end affirmative action for white people. By
Legacy admits, athletic recruits, and the children of donors, faculty members, and VIPs still have a leg up under the Supreme Court’s new ruling.
Race is now unconstitutional to consider, but other preferences remain. One study found that these preferences give an edge to white applicants. Among white students admitted to Harvard, 43 percent received a preference for athletics, legacy status, being on the dean’s interest list, or for being the child of a faculty or staff member, and without those advantages, three-quarters would have been rejected. Protests and lawsuits against “affirmative action for white people” have already ensued. Read more
Related: The one group with a huge advantage in college admissions. By John MacIntosh / CNN
Political / Social
How the myth of a ‘model minority’ works to divide Americans. By Theodore R. Johnson / Wash Post
The model minority myth is the idea that Asian Americans, relative to other people of color in the United States, have a stronger commitment to hard work and determination that has resulted in economic and academic success. It says they acculturate better and with more intention.
Perceptions of Asian Americans changed just as the concept of colorblindness was redefined in American discourse. When Asian people were “definitively not-White,” the idea of a colorblind society was the antithesis of the hierarchical society structured with White people at the top. As the civil rights movement began racking up policy wins, Asian Americans were redefined as model minorities and “colorblind” came to mean race is no longer a factor; as such, race-conscious remedies are the new racism. Read more
The Next Battle Over Colorblindness Has Begun. By Sonya B. Starr / NYT
Is it ever permissible for policymakers to pursue goals like racial diversity, even when they use laws and policies that don’t treat individuals differently based on race?
That might sound like an outlandish question even to ask, let alone to answer in the negative. But the first wave of legal cases posing this challenge has already arrived. They concern the admissions policies of highly selective public high schools that sought greater racial diversity through race-neutral means, like showing a preference for poor applicants. The plaintiffs argue that these policies are unconstitutional because, they contend, the goal remains racially discriminatory. Read more
Related: The John Roberts Two-Step. By Jamelle Bouie / NYT
Related: How the shooting of Ralph Yarl demonstrates the fiction of a colorblind society in America. By Barbara Harris Combs / The Conversation
This Is One Republican Strategy That Isn’t Paying Off. By Thomas B. Edsall / NYT
In 2011, determined to push back the ascendant Democratic coalition that elected America’s first Black president, Republicans capitalized on their control of legislatures and governor’s mansions in 20 states to enact measures designed to suppress minority Democratic voters.
This data and analysis suggests that the American electorate is determined to exercise the franchise and is resistant to legislated hindrances — more so than many would expect. This does not bode well for a Republican Party that for the moment has applied its money, energy and strategic skill to reducing Democratic turnout and suppressing Democratic votes. Read more
From John Birch to Donald Trump: How the GOP got “devoured by their own Frankenstein monster.” By Chauncey Devega / Salon
Experts on right-wing extremism have grim predictions for the future of the Republican Party
In an attempt to work through and make sense of these anxieties about Trump’s enduring popularity and power as the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, the consensus narrative that he is in great peril and his defeat appears to be inevitable, and more general concerns about what comes next for the Trumpocene and America’s democracy crisis, I recently asked a range of experts for their thoughts and insights. Read more
Top donors, souring on DeSantis, start looking at Tim Scott. By Sally Goldenberg and Natalie Allison / Politico
With Ron DeSantis stalling in the Republican presidential primary, some wealthy donors who’d hoped he could beat Donald Trump are now giving Tim Scott a serious look.
Billionaire businessman Ronald Lauder, the Estée Lauder makeup heir who supported Trump in 2020, recently flew to South Carolina to meet with Scott, the state’s junior senator and longshot presidential candidate, according to three people aware of the late June meeting. Read more
Tommy Tuberville, a US Senator in 2023, Has Only Just Come Around to the Idea That White Supremacists Are Racist. By Caleb Ecarma / Vanity Fair
Yes, the Republican, who spent Monday saying that white nationalists are just plain old Americans, has finally backtracked.
Senator Tommy Tuberville has unexpectedly backtracked on his defense of white nationalists after claiming that not all Americans who identify that way are racist. The sudden about-face came after a Monday interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who asked the Alabama senator to address comments he made in May, when he suggested that white nationalists should simply be regarded as “Americans.” Read more
Setting aside Tuberville’s commentary on white nationalism, he has also made headlines for protesting a Pentagon policy that offers paid leave and travel reimbursement to service members who have to cross state lines to obtain an abortion. In an attempt to have that policy revoked, Tuberville is blocking key military appointments that must be approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee he serves on. This running protest has now resulted in the Marine Corps not having a confirmed leader for the first time since 1859.
Biden’s pick to lead Joint Chiefs tangles with GOP at Senate hearing. By Dan Lamothe / Wash Post
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. faced questions about the military’s recruiting crisis, the war in Ukraine and Pentagon social policies
Democratic jitters grow over Cornel West’s third-party bid. By Hanna Trudo / The Hill
Cornel West’s third-party presidential campaign is stirring up unpleasant flashbacks to 2016 for members of the Democratic Party, some of whom are starting to grow anxious about the effect it could have on President Biden’s reelection.
Seven years ago, when Hillary Clinton lost to former President Donald Trump, many in her orbit blamed Green Party nominee Jill Stein as a factor that contributed to her defeat. Heading into 2024, Democrats worry West could emerge as a similar spoiler by earning just enough votes to fracture the coalition Biden needs to win. Read more
3 ways Black people say their white co-workers and managers can support them and be an antidote to systemic racism. By Jennifer R. Joe and Wendy K. Smith / The Conversation
“How can I be an ally?” It’s a question a lot of white people have been asking in recent years, especially since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020.
As business scholars – one white, one Black – with a keen awareness of the value and impact of diversity, we are interested in trying to answer that question: that is, how can white people support their Black colleagues? To find out, we interviewed 18 successful Black professionals and the mostly white “allies” they said were helpful in their careers to see if we could identify some common strategies that are effective in the workplace. Read more
Black men are at an increased risk for melanoma, study finds. By Claretta Bellamy / NBC News
The five-year survival rate of melanoma is the lowest for Black men, at 51.7%, according to a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
White men are more likely to get melanoma, according to the CDC, the study found that Black people have a 26% higher risk of death from melanoma than the white population. Cutaneous melanoma — a form of cancer that begins in pigment-producing cells — is the most aggressive and fatal form of skin cancer, according to the National Library of Medicine. While gender and race are both predictors of survival in people diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma, less is known about the role race plays specifically among men; that is what the study explored. Read more
Related: UN Black maternal health in crisis across hemisphere, not just in U.S. By Akilah Johnson / Wash Post
Ethics / Morality / Religion
For too many Christians, the lines between dominionism, nationalism and fascism are blurred. By
An old social experiment sheds light on how easy it is to manipulate people’s moral compasses.
Everything I needed to learn about fascism, I learned from an ABC Afterschool Special called “The Wave.” Before I ever knew what fascism or totalitarianism or demagoguery were, I learned from this kids’ show that vulnerabilities inherent to the human condition can draw people into such systems unaware. Read more
Black Churches Concerned About Expulsion from SBC. By Bob Smietana / Christianity Today
Letter from the denomination’s National African American Fellowship says vote on Saddleback and Fern Creek could “disproportionately impact” minority congregations.
Earlier this year, Southern Baptists expelled five churches from the nation’s largest Protestant denomination for having women as pastors. Now, the leader of a fellowship of African American Southern Baptist pastors wonders if their churches will be next. Read more
Mormon leaders – whose church is often associated with the GOP – push back against one-party politics. By David Campbell / The Convesation
Top leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dropped a bombshell in June 2023 by telling their flock to vote for Democrats – well, almost.
In a letter that local leaders read during worship meetings nationwide, the church’s president and his two counselors instructed church members not to vote solely for one political party. Latter-day Saints, often known as Mormons, have overwhelmingly supported Republicans in recent decades. Read more
Why We Shouldn’t Lose Faith in Organized Religion. By Tish Harrison Warren / NYT
Eboo Patel wants to tell a better story about religion in America.
Patel, an American Muslim and founder and president of Interfaith America, a Chicago-based nonprofit that aims to promote cooperation across religious differences, served on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships and has written five books, including his latest, “We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy.” Read more
Historical / Cultural
America’s back-and-forth struggle toward equality continues. By Jim Jones / The Hill
Now that the Fourth of July mattress sales have closed down and the last flames caused by errant fireworks have been snuffed, Americans should reflect on whether the self-evident truths in the Declaration of Independence — that all men are created equal and endowed with certain “unalienable rights” — have actually been realized.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminating affirmative action in college admissions is just the latest example of the backsliding that has been inherent in the system since the Civil War dust settled. The back-and-forth equality struggle began in earnest in the wake of the Civil War. The freed slaves enjoyed their on-paper rights to equality for a number of years, but slowly and relentlessly those rights were taken away by white supremacists. Laws were enacted at the state and local level to establish racial segregation and keep Blacks from voting, receiving a decent education and exercising other basic rights. These laws remained in effect throughout the first half of the 20th century. Read more
Larry Wilmore: A Candid Conversation on Television, Culture, and Creativity – The Assignment with Audie Cornish – Podcast on CNN Audio
Larry Wilmore’s influence as a writer and producer spans shows from “In Living Color” to “The Bernie Mac Show” to “The Daily Show.” He’s acutely aware of the role that television plays in our lives and in shaping our understanding of American identity. Today’s Assignment: Larry Wilmore on his prolific career in television, mentoring younger writers, dapping up President Obama, and what he’s working on next. Larry is also the host of his own podcast “Black on The Air.” We highly recommend it.
Many of the shows Larry wrote for are part of the new five-part CNN Original Series, “See It Loud: The History of Black Television.” It airs Sundays at 9p ET/PT starting July 9. “See It Loud” will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com and CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels” or CNNgo where available. The series will also be available On Demand the day after the broadcast premiere to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. Read more and listen here
The West’s water system is grappling with a racist past and hotter future. By Lauren Sommer / NPR
A two decade-long drought on the Colorado River is drying up reservoirs. Droughts there and in California are bringing new scrutiny to the way Western states decide whose water allotment gets cut back.
Rights to water have long been seen as sacrosanct by many. But after decades of exclusion, Native American tribes are helping lead the charge both in California and on the Colorado River, arguing for overhauling an arcane system they say is inherently racist. Read more
I love hip-hop. But I’m so over the ‘ride-or-die’ chick. By Shanita Hubbard / Wash Post
Sports
The NFL says it wants diversity in coaching; the XFL is actually doing it. By Jim Trotter / The Athletic
With training camp roughly a month away, Anthony Blevins was getting things in order this summer for his sixth consecutive season with the New York Giants.
He had just purchased a one-way ticket to New Jersey from his offseason home in the Dallas area and was reviewing the schedule and his responsibilities as the assistant special teams coach. Then, out of the blue, he received an email from Marc Ross, executive vice president of football operations for the XFL. Read more
ESPN’s ‘First Take’: Skip and Stephen A. embraced debate, played the hits and changed TV. By By Rustin Dodd, Jayson Jenks and Stephen J. Nesbitt / The Athletic
In June 2012, in the middle of the NBA Finals, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless locked into another disagreement. This one sounded nothing like their battles on ESPN’s “First Take,” the controversial morning debate show that was changing sports television. It was much quieter and more aimless than a back-and-forth about LeBron James or Tim Tebow.
The duo of Bayless and Smith — the television equivalent of baking soda and vinegar — lasted fewer than four years. Yet it changed the face of ESPN, the most powerful entity in sports media; led to a host of imitators; and inspired countless arguments about the role of television and cable news itself. Read more
‘Your life can get back to normal’: How Brittney Griner’s return to WNBA inspires former detainees. By Ben Pickman / The Athletic
On July 4, 2022, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner sent a letter to President Joe Biden. Writing from a Russian prison, she told him how she feared being indefinitely detained. She pleaded with Biden to not forget about her, or the dozens of other Americans the U.S. government considers as being wrongfully held overseas. “It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year,” Griner wrote.
More than a year later, Jorge Toledo, who was released with other Americans in a prisoner swap in October 2022, recalls his intuition from back then, and the letter that unknowingly bonded them. “When she was detained, it was a point of inflection on our situation, and also the general situation of U.S. hostages around the world,” he says. Read more
Tennis Champ Naomi Osaka Welcomes Baby Girl! By Amira Castilla / The Root
Professional tennis player Naomi Osaka is officially a mother! Osaka welcomed a baby girl into the world with her boyfriend Cordae, who is a Grammy-nominated rapper.
Osaka took to social media to announce her pregnancy in January after she confirmed that she would not be participating in the Australian Open. She captioned a photo of a sonogram with the message, “Can’t wait to get back on the court but here’s a little life update for 2023.” Read more
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