Race and Ethnicity Archives

Civil rights, union, and religious leaders from New York City rally approximately 1,200 demonstrators to board a dedicated Pennsylvania Railroad train from New York Penn Station to Washington Union Station in Washington, DC, and march in support of the civil rights bill that would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

We Forgot What It Took to Gain Freedom We Forgot What It Took to Gain Freedom

The assault on voting rights should remind us.

May 22, 2026 / Analilia Mejia

“An overseer framework can be helpful in understanding ongoing structures of power in the United States,” Thrasher explains in his new book The Overseer Class.

Steven Thrasher on Why We Must Think Past Skin-Deep Identity Politics Steven Thrasher on Why We Must Think Past Skin-Deep Identity Politics

The author of The Overseer Class discusses how people in marginalized groups can “mistake representation for liberation and confuse visibility with safety,” as Kwaneta Harris put ...

May 20, 2026 / Q&A / Victoria Law

Sheriff’s deputies investigate a shooting scene outside the Montgomery County Courthouse, May 13, 2026, in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Chud the Builder and America’s Tradition of White Racial Terror Chud the Builder and America’s Tradition of White Racial Terror

We are not in unprecedented territory. We are returning to form.

May 20, 2026 / Kali Holloway

Undoing the Voting Rights Act Undoing the Voting Rights Act

Racists undoing democracy.

May 18, 2026 / OppArt / Brian Stauffer

The Dismantling of Black Studies The Dismantling of Black Studies

Everyone committed to democracy, intellectual freedom, and the rule of law should be alarmed at what is happening—and prepared to act.

May 18, 2026 / Feature / Jafari Sinclaire Allen

There’s No Way to Compensate for the Loss of Black Voting Power There’s No Way to Compensate for the Loss of Black Voting Power

In this week’s Elie v. US, our justice correspondent examines Democrats’ strategy to combat GOP gerrymanders. Plus: a look at the next major anti-trans case.

May 15, 2026 / Elie Mystal

Save Tony Carruthers Save Tony Carruthers

Liberty and Justins.

May 15, 2026

People wait in line at a polling station in Queens. New York, November 2, 2025.

The Multipronged Red-State Attack on Voting Rights The Multipronged Red-State Attack on Voting Rights

Red states aren’t just gerrymandering away voting rights—they’re working overtime to suppress the vote in as many ways as possible.

May 14, 2026 / Column / Elie Mystal

Democratic South Carolina State Representatives Hamilton Grant and Annie McDaniel look over a proposed congressional map during a meeting in the Blatt Building at the South Carolina State Capitol in Columbia on Friday, May 8, 2026. Some observers worry that the recent wave of gerrymandering across the country will help deepen polarization among voters and entrench lawmakers in a way that makes them less accountable to constituents.

The Right Wants to Erase Minority Representation. We’ll Register Millions to Stop Them. The Right Wants to Erase Minority Representation. We’ll Register Millions to Stop Them.

Their insult will arouse us—and put Republican incumbents’ own seats at risk.

May 13, 2026 / Yusef D. Jackson

A boycott of Cleveland Public Schools found this group of students and teachers at a Freedom School at the Friendship Baptist Church, on April 20, 1964.

Democracy Is Not Self-Executing Democracy Is Not Self-Executing

Michelle Adams’s Hillman Prize remarks.

May 13, 2026 / Michelle Adams

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Race and Ethnicity

We Forgot What It Took to Gain Freedom We Forgot What It Took to Gain Freedom

Steven Thrasher on Why We Must Think Past Skin-Deep Identity Politics Steven Thrasher on Why We Must Think Past Skin-Deep Identity Politics

Chud the Builder and America’s Tradition of White Racial Terror Chud the Builder and America’s Tradition of White Racial Terror

Undoing the Voting Rights Act Undoing the Voting Rights Act

The Dismantling of Black Studies The Dismantling of Black Studies

There’s No Way to Compensate for the Loss of Black Voting Power There’s No Way to Compensate for the Loss of Black Voting Power

Save Tony Carruthers Save Tony Carruthers

The Multipronged Red-State Attack on Voting Rights The Multipronged Red-State Attack on Voting Rights

The Right Wants to Erase Minority Representation. We’ll Register Millions to Stop Them. The Right Wants to Erase Minority Representation. We’ll Register Millions to Stop Them.

Democracy Is Not Self-Executing Democracy Is Not Self-Executing

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Race and Ethnicity

We Forgot What It Took to Gain Freedom We Forgot What It Took to Gain Freedom

Steven Thrasher on Why We Must Think Past Skin-Deep Identity Politics Steven Thrasher on Why We Must Think Past Skin-Deep Identity Politics

Chud the Builder and America’s Tradition of White Racial Terror Chud the Builder and America’s Tradition of White Racial Terror

Undoing the Voting Rights Act Undoing the Voting Rights Act

The Dismantling of Black Studies The Dismantling of Black Studies

There’s No Way to Compensate for the Loss of Black Voting Power There’s No Way to Compensate for the Loss of Black Voting Power

Save Tony Carruthers Save Tony Carruthers

The Multipronged Red-State Attack on Voting Rights The Multipronged Red-State Attack on Voting Rights

The Right Wants to Erase Minority Representation. We’ll Register Millions to Stop Them. The Right Wants to Erase Minority Representation. We’ll Register Millions to Stop Them.

Democracy Is Not Self-Executing Democracy Is Not Self-Executing