A few weeks ago Vice-President Joe Biden decided not to enter the presidential nomination race. At his press conference, he threw a zinger–presumably at Hillary Clinton–about partisanship, as if the failure to collaborate across party lines is the fault of Hillary or other Democrats. That is strange considering how often Republican leaders in Congress expressed … [Read more…]
This is a message to non-sports fans as well as sports fans. On December 31, four college football teams from big-time football schools, the old Division I-A which is now called the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), will start a three-game playoff for the so-called national championship. These three teams are Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State, and … [Read more…]
“A little good news” in Kentucky last month: among all the recent bad news in criminal justice, the outgoing Democratic governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshar, created a positive situation with the restoration of voting rights for 140,000 felons. This is good news for those of us who contend that once a person serves his or … [Read more…]
We received our weekly reminder that black lives don’t matter last night. While it is not surprising the grand jury did not indict anyone for Sandra Bland’s death in the jail in Waller County, Texas, it is a glaring instance of one more black person, one more black woman, dying in the custody of the police. If … [Read more…]
Below is a letter that I sent to the Roanoke Times and the Washington Post newspapers yesterday. Dear Editor: The article on Virginia marijuana arrests by Tom Jackman of the Washington Post that appeared in the Roanoke Times a few days ago is misleading. Referencing a report by the Drug Policy Alliance, the article duly … [Read more…]
There are two things I would note about the protests at the University of Missouri which led to the resignation of the President and the Chancellor. The first issue is the power of racial protests and demonstrations. Many of the rights and privileges African Americans gained through the years were substantially the result of protests … [Read more…]
Yes, black lives matter; however, some folks take offense at that statement and readily proclaim that “all lives matter.” To those persons I suggest taking a closer look at the issues. First, data suggest that in the United States black lives do not matter, or at least they do not matter as much as white … [Read more…]
“The Civil War was about states’ rights and not about slavery,” is a perennial protest.Those making this argument contend that eleven southern states seceded from the union and went to war against the country–the United States of America–to assert their rights to operate as they pleased. Let’s look at the data. There is a document, … [Read more…]
Toward the end of the 1960’s, the law and social science were speaking the same language about racial discrimination on several issues. During this era, racism tended to be defined as behaviors that were discriminatory against a race, e.g., blacks, intentionally or otherwise, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act was considered violated if a policy … [Read more…]
As we debate the removal of Confederate symbols from official government properties it may be helpful to consider how some of the Southern states have used the Confederate flag. The so-called “Confederate flag” was actually the Confederate Battle Flag, so one way of looking at the history of the CBF is how the flag has … [Read more…]