Tag: racism

My origin story—as a son, and later a father and a husband; as a citizen, a racist— has always begun in a crumpled car at the side of the highway. May 30, 1982.

Aram Mrjoian reflects on his experiences of being part Armenian in America.

Eloghosa Osunde contemplates the role of marginalized artists in online activism.

How a terrified mother tried — and failed — to be a walking-talking public service announcement.

Under the Trump administration, African immigrants are experiencing increasing deportations, though these deportees receive less media attention than deportees from Mexico and Central America.

Homicide rates in Chicago’s black communities receive a disproportionate amount of media attention in an ongoing tendency to sensationalize and pathologize their residents.

As a mixed-race kid with free-form hair, Lisa Rosenberg believed learning to blow bubblegum bubbles would be her ticket to an idealized (white) American girlhood.

The co-authors of ‘Country Music USA’ – a revised edition of the genre’s definitive history – talk about the music’s African-American tributaries, its unpredictable politics, country radio’s woman problem, and working on Ken Burns’ forthcoming doc.

Why would a successful black woman move from the Bay Area back to Mississippi?

A white woman came up to my mother, leaned in close and said, “We whites have to stick together against the Asian invasion.” My mother was ecstatic. “She liked me! They like me here!”

After a trip to Durban, Chibundu Onuzo discovers that Nigerians are not always popular with South Africans, and that where some black South Africans see a history of oppression, Nigerians see opportunity.

Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department rescinded Obama-era policy documents that provided guidelines on affirmative action.

A poet reflects on finding her words in the face of injustice.

Starting in the mid-19th century, and extending through the mid-20th century, Oregon was arguably the most racist place outside the southern states, possibly even of all the states.

An invitation to appear in a PSA prompts Minda Honey to reflect on the responsibilities of safe sex, and her imperfect past.

United in a common struggle, the drought has leveled the racially divided city’s physical and social barriers in profound ways.

How an otherwise high-minded social reformer preserved and perpetuated her white supremacist worldview.

Formerly controversial comic Sarah Silverman is “on a campaign to neutralize her haters with a weapon more powerful than a million burns: empathy.”

Terese Marie Mailhot knows from experience that speaking out against racism can come with a cost. But it’s a cost she’s ready and willing to pay.

Did Dana Schutz’s painting engage with her subject, Emmett Till, ethically and responsibly?

Marie Myung-Ok Lee finds herself conflicted about attending a controversial author’s reading and wonders: what does “speaking up” actually mean?

A bygone spring: notes from an adopted hometown.

A new study shows that knowledge about the Holocaust is dangerously at an all-time low.

Minister Clarence Jordan founded Koinonia Farm in 1942 to be, in his words, a “demonstration plot for the kingdom of God.” Can it endure in our racially charged modern climate?

Nicole Chung contemplates loss, adoption, and working on a book her late father won’t get to see.

How lead contaminated the soil under East Chicago’s black and Latino communities.

Vegas Tenhold spent six years covering the disorganized chaos of hate groups, and watched as they began to gather around a few media savvy voices.

America’s first black millionaires were born into slavery — and built wealth alongside political power.

Minda Honey assesses the deliberate choices and external factors affecting her dating life.

Joseph Williams reports on the increasing vulnerability of renters like himself.