Published as a ZNet Commentary, www.zmag.org, December 19, 2002 So the Supreme Court says it will hear the long-simmering affirmative action case from the University of Michigan law school, in which white plaintiffs claim to have been denied admission, even though they had grades and test scores comparable to students of color who were admitted. […]
Published as a ZNet Commentary, www.zmag.org, December 16, 2002 I’m not sure who said it first, but whatever the case, it bears repeating: there are plenty of assholes on both the right and left of the political spectrum, and David Horowitz has the distinction of having been both in the course of one lifetime. Pretty […]
Published as a ZNet Commentary, www.zmag.org, November 28, 2002 Cherished myths die hard, especially when those myths serve the interests of the more powerful members of a society at the expense of the less powerful. For generations, slave owners ignored their chattels’ humanity, to say nothing of their desire for freedom, even coming up with […]
A lot of folks are probably thanking Allah for a simple name change right about now. After all, if John Williams hadn’t decided to become John Muhammad, those right-wing pundits who have been proclaiming a likely Muslim terrorist link with the recent sniper shootings would have sure looked stupid. In truth of course they still […]
Published as a ZNet Commentary, October 17, 2002 When two Italian American organizations criticized New York’s Mayor for inviting Sopranos cast members to march in the city’s Columbus Day parade — an annual occasion for demonstrations of Italian pride since Columbus was Genoese — I found myself initially sympathizing with their cause. After all, as […]
Published as a ZNet Commentary, October 7, 2002 It happened again, for what seems like the millionth time. Once again, in response to something I said about ongoing racism in the United States, someone (a white male, naturally) pulled out the all-too-common conservative race card (oh yes, they have one), which they believe disproves the […]
Published in LIP Magazine, www.lipmagazine.org, 8/24/02. The war on drugs never came to my college dorm, and not for a lack of enemies in sight (trust me, there were plenty), but rather because the drug war rarely makes its way to the cloistered residences of mostly white, well-off private school co-eds. Too busy busting the […]
Published as a ZNet Commentary, August 15, 2002 Have you ever noticed how expensive restaurants go out of their way to fill the air of their bathrooms with the refreshing scent of a pine forest after a gentle rain? Hoping to cover up the smells that would otherwise predominate in such an environment, the keepers […]
Published as a ZNet Commentary, June 30, 2002 Recently, while I was speaking to a group of high school students, I was asked why I only seemed to be concerned about white racism towards people of color, and not racism from people of color towards whites. We had been discussing racial slurs, and several white […]
Published in Souls, 4:4, Fall, 2002 “…This learned, civilized, intellectual-liberal debate cheerfully raged in its vacuum, while every hour brought more distress and confusion — and dishonor — to the country they claimed to love.” (James Baldwin, No Name in the Street) Sometimes I wish I had gone to graduate school and received an advanced […]
