When Jeremiah Wright said that the U.S. has a history of violence against innocent people–the kind of thing that fits the textbook definition of the term, “terrorism”–and that this history can, at least in part, explain the attacks against us on September 11, 2001, he was excoriated in the press and by the public. How […]
To paraphrase and slightly change an old saying: “It’s better to be thought a liar than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” It’s a maxim that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia should probably have heeded, given his majority opinion in the court’s decision this week, tossing out Washington D.C.’s ban on handguns. For […]
Previously (and briefly) titled, “The Ugly Side of Disaster: Racism and the Calculus of Comparative Suffering” Disasters bring out the best and worst in people. On the one hand, millions of folks respond to the suffering of their fellow human beings with compassion, concern, and even significant financial assistance when needed. Be it a hurricane, […]
This is an open letter to those white women who, despite their proclamations of progressivism, and supposedly because of their commitment to feminism, are threatening to withhold support from Barack Obama in November. You know who you are. I know that it’s probably a bad time for this. Your disappointment at the electoral defeat of […]
