Last Tuesday, a narrow Supreme Court majority struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. … Most observers are skeptical that Congress has the will to craft a new formula, despite the apparent support of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). … Any revisiting of this formula has to take […] Read more »
Why did court treat two minorities so differently?
Gays win, blacks lose. That’s the upshot of this week’s landmark Supreme Court decisions. … Why did the Supreme Court treat the two minorities so differently? Because the two minorities face significantly different problems. Since the civil rights laws were passed in the 1960s, inequality has become a bigger problem […] Read more »
Seriously, Is There More Racism in the South?
… Political scientists and pollsters used to have an easier time identifying bigots in surveys; Americans were once very upfront about their discomfort, distrust, and even hatred toward people of other races. Over the past half century or so, though, a social desirability effect has become apparent. Even if a […] Read more »
A Snapshot Of The View From Black America
… A new poll released Tuesday by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health found that the overwhelming majority of black people (86 percent) said they were satisfied with their lives. Nearly 60 percent said they would eventually achieve the American dream of financial […] Read more »
Blacks Are Singled Out for Marijuana Arrests, Federal Data Suggests
Black Americans were nearly four times as likely than whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates, according to new federal data. … During the same period, public attitudes toward marijuana softened and a number of […] Read more »
The Good News About Race and Voting
In the next several weeks the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the requirement that several states, mostly in the South, get “pre-clearance” from the Justice Department before they make any changes to their election laws. … The justices won’t necessarily find a rationale for their […] Read more »