VOTER POWER
Race
Myth: Since Ronald Reagan popularized the expression in 1976, the “welfare queen” has remained one of our most durable racist myths.
Fact: Most welfare recipients are white, and poor African-Americans are no more likely to draw welfare benefits than poor whites.
Many Americans would like to think that the Civil War and the Civil Rights Act effectively ended racism. They would also like to think that minority populations consume the great bulk of welfare, destroying their work ethic and creating a culture of dependency and violence. Government intervention only makes things worse with what some call “reverse” discrimination.
Despite great progress, racism remains a real problem in our country and a dispiriting force against the equality of opportunity we cherish. While we may have made some great strides, there’s still work to be done, especially in the criminal justice system.
President Trump Backpedals Promise After Warren Takes DNA Test
President Trump, who has repeatedly accused Warren of lying about her ancestry, once promised to give $1 million to a charity of her choice if she took a DNA test and proved her heritage. Now, he’s reneging that offer.
read more
How Peanuts’ Franklin Was Born—and Why
The next time you wonder what just one person can do to change the world, remember the lesson of one Los Angeles schoolteacher whose letters to “Peanuts” artist Charles M. Schulz resulted in the introduction of the first black character in an American comic.
read more
US Seeing Voter Suppression of ‘Epidemic’ Proportions
Restrictive voting laws, voting ID laws, anti-Hispanic sentiment, finding the right polling places, and even being incorrectly told you’re not on the voting rolls–these are all things that make voting more difficult, and in some cases even impossible, for minority Americans.
read more
Debunking the ‘Reverse Racism’ Myth
The economic, political, and social power that white people have historically wielded over people of color makes it impossible for them to experience the opposite. In order to do so, they would have to suffer hundreds of years of systemic oppression.
read more
Why White Women Vote Republican
To put it succinctly, white women who voted for Donald Trump on Election Day did so for a number of complicated reasons including “white fear,” lack of association with people who would be hurt by the president’s policies, and a sad history of being heavily involved in the white supremacist movement.
read more
Is ‘White Fear’ Part of What Got President Trump Elected?
Donald Trump wasn’t expected to win the election. During the campaign season, he was behind in the polls the entire time, he was plagued by scandals and, by the end of the race, he’d been abandoned by just about every respectable politician on both sides of the aisle.
read more
Trump Administration Reverses College Diversity Policy
The Trump administration announced that it is rescinding Obama-era guidelines that encouraged colleges to admit students from underrepresented racial backgrounds, replacing so-called “academic affirmative action” with more race-neutral admissions standards.
read more
What You Should Know About Race and Healthcare
Healthcare in the United States has been historically racist, and a new bill in the Michigan Legislature proves to be no different. The bill, had it passed, would have been racially lopsided, resulting in the loss of Medicaid primarily for people of color while exempting whites in similar situations.
read more
Sessions: No Asylum for Victims of Domestic Abuse and Gang Violence
In a move many are condemning for cruelly taking women’s rights back to the “Dark Ages,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions has reversed an Obama-era ruling that provided asylum to an El Salvadorian woman who said her husband had abused her physically, emotionally, and sexually.
read more
Why the Alt-Right Blames Obama for America’s ‘Rise in Racism’
Talk to any member of the alt-right, and they’ll probably tell you that racism got worse under Obama. In their eyes, Obama inspired several race-related incidents. After all, he was president during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the riots in Ferguson, the uprising in Baltimore, and Beyoncé’s Black Panther performance.
read more
