A shorter and different version of this essay appeared shortly after Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995, in the political newsletter, Counterpunch (September 25, 1995). Some of the quotes for the article appeared in the New Orleans Times Picayune, in a feature story on Gingrich in 1995, while others [...]
Everywhere you turn, conservatives are bemoaning the so-called “mentality of entitlement.” To hear such folks tell it, the problem with America is that people think they’re owed something. Of course, income support programs, nutritional assistance, or housing subsidies have long been pilloried by the right for this reason — because they ostensibly encourage people to [...]
I knew it was a conversation that at some point I would have to indulge; and last night, amid commemorative news coverage of the events of September 11, 2001, it became apparent that the time had come. Although I had previously discussed the events of that day and the aftermath of those events with our [...]
When it comes to rationalizing the mistreatment of people of color, there are few who manage to do it better, or more consistently, than syndicated columnist Mona Charen. So, for instance, when officers from the NYPD’s Street Crimes Unit were acquitted of any wrongdoing after killing Amadou Diallo — whose wallet they mistook for a [...]
Some things are so predictable that you can very nearly set your clock by them. High on the list of predictable happenings in my own life is the regular and repeated receipt of e-mails or Facebook messages whose authors insist that in my passion for the elimination of racial inequities, I am wasting my time, [...]
Sometimes you just know it’s going to be a long day. Especially when the subject line of the first e-mail of the morning reads like this: “HEY NIGGER LOVING KIKE…” There are lots of things one can think upon reading such a well-crafted piece of prose. Among them: 1) Ya’ know, there really should be [...]
There is a particularly trenchant scene in the documentary film, Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead, in which Blecker — who teaches at New York Law School and is the nation’s most prominent pro-death penalty scholar — travels to Tennessee’s Riverbend Prison for the execution of convicted murderer, Daryl Holton. Blecker is adamant that Holton, who [...]
There is no one in the world more creative than a white person trying to deny their racism, after having said or done something incredibly racist. Whether it’s the Orange County California Republican activist who recently sent around the e-mail with the picture of the Obamas portrayed as chimpanzees, or the folks who show up [...]
Texas State University student Colby Bohnannon would like you to know, it’s hard out there for a white guy. When looking for money for college, the Iraq War veteran claims he had a hard time finding any, at least of the scholarship variety. And this, he wants you to believe, is due to the lack [...]
This essay appeared on Colorlines, under a different title. _________ It’s been a rough year for Martin Luther King Jr., and for his legacy. First, as has become an annual ritual, politicians went to church or some other civic gathering for last year’s King Day celebration, even as they continued to support public policies that [...]
