This year has seen disturbing flare-ups around issues of race, immigration, and white nativism generally. … Does the rising tide of worry mean that the nation is descending into a maelstrom of racial conflict? More likely, we are seeing the kind of fearful and angry reaction that major social change […] Read more »
Why a Banking Heiress Spent Her Fortune on Keeping Immigrants Out
She was an heiress without a cause — an indifferent student, an unhappy young bride, a miscast socialite. Her most enduring passion was for birds. But Cordelia Scaife May eventually found her life’s purpose: curbing what she perceived as the lethal threat of overpopulation by trying to shut America’s doors […] Read more »
America holds onto an undemocratic assumption from its founding: that some people deserve more power than others.
… There is a homegrown ideology of reaction in the United States, inextricably tied to our system of slavery. And while the racial content of that ideology has attenuated over time, the basic framework remains: fear of rival political majorities; of demographic “replacement”; of a government that threatens privilege and […] Read more »
Texas’ biggest metro areas may tip America’s balance of power in the years ahead
The fast-growing metropolitan areas of Texas are moving to the front line of the battle between the two major political parties for control of the nation’s direction. Texas has been a linchpin of the Republican Party’s national strength for a generation. But in 2018, Democrats recorded their most significant gains […] Read more »
Is demography destiny in Texas?
President Trump’s less than enthusiastic reception in El Paso, Texas, along with the announcements by four Texas Republican congressmen that they will not be running for re-election, has drawn attention to the changing demography of that state. Back in the 19th century a French sociologist first said “Demography is destiny.” […] Read more »
From a former disbeliever: Why Texas could go blue in 2020
Texas politics are in the spotlight again this week. A number of House Republicans from the state have announced their retirements, and, after a mass shooting in El Paso this past weekend, Beto O’Rourke tussled with President Donald Trump over differing responses to the shootings. In the backdrop of these […] Read more »