Opinion & Analysis | Department of African American Studies

We Can Make America Anew Only If We're Honest About the Depth of the Ugliness and Hate Today

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2021

Eddie S. Glaude Jr., TIME

Broken though it may be, America is ours, and together we can make this place anew, if we are finally honest with ourselves about the ugliness that has the country by the throat again.
The Bitter Fruits of Trump’s White-Power Presidency

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2021

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker

The events of January 6th make clear a growing unity between the Republican Party and white supremacists.
Black America Has Reason to Question Authorities

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2021

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker

It is not unreasonable for Black communities to have questions about the vaccine or about the safety of schools, Keeanga-Yamahttta Taylor writes: “it should be expected given the long history and contemporary expression of racism and inequality in this country.”
Sunday Reading: A Year of New Urgency for Black Lives Matter

Monday, Dec 21, 2020

The New Yorker

This week, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces about the evolution of Black Lives Matter and the racial-justice movement in America.
Defund the Police and Refund the Communities

Monday, Nov 23, 2020

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Public Books
Voting Trump Out Is Not Enough

Monday, Nov 9, 2020

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker

Like tens of millions of Americans, I voted to end the miserable reign of Donald J. Trump, but we cannot perpetuate the election-year fiction that the deep and bewildering problems facing millions of people in this country will simply end with the Trump Administration. They are embedded in “the system,” in systemic racism, and the other social inequities that are the focus of continued activism and budding social movements.
Joe Biden Must Help the Nation Truly Understand the Depth of Our Collective Loss

Monday, Nov 9, 2020

Eddie S. Glaude Jr., TIME
The Shiny, High-Tech Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Monday, Oct 26, 2020

Ruha Benjamin

Far from loosening incarceration’s grip, modern tools like predictive policing and tracking apps have instead deepened the carceral state’s influence over everyday life.
Police Reform Works — For the Police

Monday, Oct 26, 2020

Naomi Murakawa

Decades of reform have built an agile, deadly force that pushes millions of people into the largest carceral system in the world.
The Case For Ending the Supreme Court As We Know It

Friday, Sep 25, 2020

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker

Why should the Supreme Court, an unelected body that is richer, whiter, and more male than the United States is, continue to have such outsized power in the lives of ordinary people?