Race
When the Klan Came to Town
History reminds us that firm and sometimes violent opposition to racists is a time-honored American tradition.
Managing Innocence
The Innocence Movement faces a perverse rhetorical puzzle: righting the isolated wrongful conviction only reinforces public faith in the system as a whole.
In the Name of Public Safety
The Mass Bail Out at Rikers Island shows that freedom is a critical part of public safety.
White Supremacy Has Always Been Mainstream
“Very fine people”—fathers, husbands, and sons, as well as mothers, wives, and daughters—have always been central to the work of white supremacy.
Is Germany’s New Anti-Semitism Really New?
The focus on Muslim anti-Semitism obscures the real quandary of multiculturalism in Angela Merkel’s Germany.
Free the Beach
American beaches used to be common property. Now access to many of them is controlled by wealthy whites.
The Forgotten Baldwin
His book about the Atlanta child murders speaks best to the era of Black Lives Matter.
The Border Is Not a Wall
It is an ever-widening surveillance zone that turns borderland citizens into guardians of the state.
The “Active Shooter” Is the State
We must resist the militarization of our state, our communities, and our psyches and act as allies to those most harmed by violence.
Baldwin’s Lonely Country
When Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, James Baldwin made a final attempt to reconcile the generational divide between the civil rights movement and Black Power.
Guns in the Family
A childhood steeped in guns shows that toxic masculinity and racism are at the heart of U.S. gun culture.
Brother Martin Was a Blues Man
Cornel West on Martin Luther King, Jr., hope, and the future of activism, in conversation with Brandon M. Terry, Elizabeth Hinton, and Tommie Shelby.
Mark Lilla and the Crisis of Liberalism
The critique of identity politics ignores the role that neoliberalism and neoconservatism have played in creating our present situation.
The Almost Inevitable Failure of Justice
The persistence of black poverty has become a permanent feature of U.S. democracy. We need an expanded political imagination to dismantle it.
Black Panther Is Not the Movie We Deserve
The movie, unique for its Black star power, depends on a shocking devaluation of Black American men.
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