In this moment in American history, two dominant myths must be discarded. This is especially true in light of the shocking revelations about leadership of some Young Republican groups and their “private” text messages. First, the myth that private speech…
Why don’t white evangelicals listen to Black Christians?
As a Black Christian man, I have engaged white evangelicals in numerous discussions about the existence of racism within America and Christianity. These conversations have continued throughout my entire adult life. I have observed that many white evangelicals only listen…
Trump plans to slash refugee admissions and only let in whites
President Donald Trump is expected to cut refugee admissions into the United States to 7,500 next year — a new low for the U.S. and half the previous record-setting low cap set during his first presidency. The administration also is…
Why I’m glad DEI is being dismantled
I am glad DEI is being dismantled. I hope all the attempts to soft-pedal systemic racism in this country without calling its name will be dismantled. Many people have found ways to water down this work, which is a part…
Trump Admin Orders Removal Of Notable Photo Of Formerly Enslaved Man From National Park
President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered the National Park Service to remove multiple exhibits, signs and materials linked to slavery from its sites, including a photograph of a formerly enslaved man with scars on his back that became a defining image of the Civil…
Despite Trump’s words, most Americans believe racism is widespread
Despite the MAGA campaign to rewrite American history to deemphasize racism, a supermajority of Americans still believes racism against Black people is widespread in the United States. The latest Gallup poll finds 64% of Americans saying racism against Black people…
In conversation with Reggie Williams
Reggie Williams is a writer, teacher and activist who teaches at St. Louis University. His book Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus is an exceptional examination of how Dietrich Bonhoeffer was shaped and changed by his experience in the Black church in Harlem….
United Methodists’ commitment to overcoming racism still rising
Five years ago, on the historic holiday known as Juneteenth, the United Methodist Council of Bishops unveiled a churchwide initiative called “Dismantling Racism.” The bishops were responding to the series of high-profile killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George…
Swamp bait: The forgotten horror of feeding Black babies to alligators
In the depths of the Florida Everglades, a place teeming with mosquitoes, swamps and predatory reptiles, the U.S. government has endorsed what many human rights activists now call Alligator Alcatraz — a sprawling 39-square-mile detention facility for immigrants surrounded not…
The Trump administration is using the arts to rewrite history
I’ve written elsewhere about the role the arts have played in both creating and confronting shared identity and ethics across time. Art is a powerful medium. It has the potential to both reflect and to shape collective memory — which…
Patriot Mobile’s Leigh Wambsganss and the duplicity of Christian nationalist women
Anyone who has been tracking the rise of Christian nationalism should know of Patriot Mobile and its chief communications officer, Leigh Wambsganss. She, the company she represents and that company’s political action committee each had starring roles in investigative journalist…
The lies my country taught me
When I was 12 years old, growing up in the 1950s, I gathered every Saturday with hundreds of kids my age at the downtown theater in my West Texas town where the silver screen fed us lies that passed for…