Melville and the Language of Denial Melville and the Language of Denial
The events behind his story Benito Cereno are more than two centuries old, but the deceptions of racial inferiority that Melville exposes resonate today.
Jan 7, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Toni Morrison
Three Ways to Fight Racism in 2014 Three Ways to Fight Racism in 2014
Key issues on my racial justice agenda for this year.
Jan 3, 2014 / Mychal Denzel Smith
America After 9/11 America After 9/11
A systematic look at the patterns of rights abuses in the United States’ domestic “war on terror” since September 11, 2001.
Jan 2, 2014 / The Nation
How Tarek Mehanna Went to Prison for a Thought Crime How Tarek Mehanna Went to Prison for a Thought Crime
As the government embraces a “counter-radicalization” approach to counterterrorism, prosecutors are turning radical beliefs into criminal acts.
Dec 31, 2013 / Amna Akbar
Sympathy for Justine Sacco Sympathy for Justine Sacco
Justine Sacco’s tweet was outrageous. So was the online mob campaign that turned her into the most vilified woman in the world.
Dec 23, 2013 / Michelle Goldberg
Scott Walker Goes All ‘Duck Dynasty’ on the First Amendment Scott Walker Goes All ‘Duck Dynasty’ on the First Amendment
The ACLU accuses Walker of “bogus appropriation” of free speech arguments to defend offensive acts by government.
Dec 23, 2013 / John Nichols
Santa Claus and White Racial Panic Santa Claus and White Racial Panic
The current debate around Santa’s racial identity is mostly silly—but it reveals some deep-seated fears around the loss of white identity.
Dec 18, 2013 / Mychal Denzel Smith
Nelson Mandela and His Cause Weren’t Always Revered in the US Nelson Mandela and His Cause Weren’t Always Revered in the US
Everyone’s lining up to pay tribute to Mandela; but in the Reagan era, many were close to the apartheid regime.
Dec 10, 2013 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Mandela’s Uses of Sports: Resistance, Reconciliation and Rebranding Mandela’s Uses of Sports: Resistance, Reconciliation and Rebranding
Nelson Mandela’s history with the sports world is both more complicated and more challenging than meets the eye.
Dec 9, 2013 / Dave Zirin
Dismantling the Myth of Bill Bratton’s LAPD Dismantling the Myth of Bill Bratton’s LAPD
Bill de Blasio touts his police commissioner pick as a “progressive visionary,” but Bill Bratton’s record tells a different story.
Dec 6, 2013 / Tom Hayden