culture
-
Holder: 'Deeply Disappointed' by Voting Rights Decision
U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder said he was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday in Shelby County v. Holder that essentially guts the Voting Rights Act, saying that it has the potential to negatively affect millions of Americans across the country. Speaking at a news conference after the decision, he vowed to…
-
Court Guts Voting Rights Act
Updated Tuesday, June 25, 12 p.m. EDT: Various civil rights groups and organizations vociferously condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to limit use of a key provision in the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which defended the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court, called it “an act…
-
Why Do We Keep Executing People?
Thomas Cahill, the author of A Saint on Death Row, denounces capital punishment in a piece at CNN and encourages state governments to address the effects of poverty as a way to reduce crime. Kimberly McCarthy is a black woman. Black people are disproportionately represented on death row, as are blacks imprisoned throughout this country. Many would…
-
Clarence Thomas Compares Affirmative Action to Slavery
David Corn, Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones, tackles U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ comments following the court’s ruling in the Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas case, particularly Thomas’ comparisons of the arguments for slavery to those for affirmative action. In the moments after the decision was released, legal experts disagreed on how much impact it could…
-
Black Moors: A Complicated Portrayal
(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. The history of black people in Spain forms a unique part of the diasporic…
-
Are Unpaid Internships Worth It?
(The Root) — A debate is raging right now about internships, the lifeblood of many small businesses, and also a lifeline for many young people trying to break into difficult-to-access industries. A big question being contemplated in courtrooms as well as in the court of public opinion concerns the legality and fairness of countless unpaid…
-
Liberian President: Give Money to Global Health Fund
Writing at the Huffington Post, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urges donors to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, saying that it has helped her nation care for its sick and strengthen preventive health care measures. It would have been impossible to make these strides towards defeating these diseases without the international…
-
Do Black Dolls Matter?
(The Root) — Last week the girlfriend of rapper Ludacris, Eudoxie Agnan, posted what I’m sure she believed was a harmless picture on Instagram. She was prepping for a trip to her native country of Gabon, and she and her sister decided to do a good deed during their visit: distribute dolls to impoverished African…
-
So What Just Happened to Affirmative Action?
(The Root) — By now everyone has heard that the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas, the long-awaited case challenging the university’s consideration of race as one admissions factor to create a diverse student body. In a 7-1 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, SCOTUS sent the case back…
-
Texas GOP Approves Tough New Abortion Restrictions
The Associated Press is reporting that the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature on Monday pushed to enact wide-ranging restrictions that would effectively shutter all abortion clinics in the nation’s second most-populous state. Democrats are planning to launch a filibuster to halt the final vote. After the House easily approved it Monday morning, the wide-ranging package of anti-abortion…