Race

The Revolution at the Gate

The McCloskeys are also only a symptom of how racism is served by private property.

Getting Judges on the Side of Abolition

Success in transforming the criminal justice system will depend on convincing judges to shift how they relate to—and rely upon—police in their criminal courtrooms.

How Police Abuse the Charge of Resisting Arrest

The moment Floyd’s resistance would become lawful is precisely the moment it is too late.

Confederates in the Capitol

The National Statuary Collection announced the unification of the former slave economy’s emotional heartland with the heart of national government.

Accept Nothing Less Than Police Abolition

Reform efforts drain public money that could instead have been invested in caring for communities.

Hold Prosecutors Accountable, Too

In order to achieve lasting change, we must remedy systemic problems across the criminal justice system—not just among police.

Black Bereavement, White Condolences

“This sudden attention to the ongoing grief of black life can also feel like a slap in the face. Didn’t you notice we were dying?”

How a Conservative Legal Perspective Just Saved LGBT Rights

Gorsuch’s majority opinion tossed out the old common sense about sex, even as its logic buttressed other kinds of state control.

In the Fight for Policing Reform, LGBT Is a Threadbare Alliance

White gay men and trans women of color often have little in common.

The Politics of the Mask

Today we face the paradox of states simultaneously criminalizing masks—because of protests—and mandating them because of COVID-19. In this interview, social theorist AK Thompson explores the history of masks in protests and why rioting is politically effective.

Terror and Abolition

Counterterrorism largely ensnares people of color.

Why Has COVID-19 Not Led to More Humanitarian Releases?

Jalil Muntaqim, a Black Panther imprisoned since 1971, is one of thousands of elderly prisoners the United States has refused to free during the pandemic.

The Fire This Time

These protests are too widespread to go away. There will be no peace without justice on multiple fronts.

Power over Policing

Reform efforts will fail. Only a power shift to communities can improve public safety.

The Privilege of the Ally

Allies can be powerful aides to social justice movements—but it is their responsibility to make sure they don’t become a distraction from the cause.

Black History in Three Acts

The story of how black people confront systems of racial capitalism and plot world liberation. A reading list from Robin D. G. Kelley.

Decolonizing the University

An interview with Lorgia García-Peña on ethnic studies and protest.

And Blue

We Should Be Afraid, But Not of Protesters

The rage on display in Minneapolis is not only about police violence. It is also about the country’s utter disregard for the pain of black Americans.

What 30 Percent Unemployment Looks Like

As we know from South Africa's crisis, political and social fault lines will shape the contours of joblessness.

Deaths of Despair

Boston Review talks with Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton about COVID-19, the relationship between culture, financial hardship, and health, and why capitalism’s flaws are proving fatal for America’s working class. 

COVID-19 and the Color Line

St. Louis is a microcosm of American structural racism.

Reclaiming Populism

A political appeal to “the people” is a central element of democratic societies. Can we imagine a revitalized, multiracial populist politics today?

COVID-19 and the Revival of the “Welfare Queen” Myth

Conservatives have long been sounding the alarm about “undeserving” people receiving public assistance.

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