In November of 2007, the Connecticut Law Review had a symposium commemorating the 20th anniversary of Professor Charles Lawrence’s trailblazing work “The Id, the Ego, and the Equal Protection Clause: Reckoning with Unconscious Racism.” This article was a brilliant mashup of jurisprudence and psychology. The Equal Justice Society has used its analysis in our efforts to dismantle the intent standard employed by federal courts. Having to show that racial discrimination was intentional blunts the protections of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The symposium “Unconscious Discrimination 20 Years Later: Application and Evolution” included constitutional luminaries such as Mari Matsuda, Devon Carbado, James Forman, and Sam Bagentos who is currently running for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. Charles Lawrence was one of the keynote speakers along with Professor Amy Wax of Penn Law. My jaw dropped as I listened to her racist screed. As her racist comments went on and on, I found myself crying. Those who know me know that I cry a lot, but these were tears that came from the deep hurt one feels upon hearing one’s people attacked as being inferior beings. When my friend and former EJS Board member Tobias Wolf moved to Penn to teach, I remember telling him that one of his colleagues was filled with hatred towards Black folks.
My friend Colette Holt sent me the following article that I file under the “God doesn’t like ugly” heading:
Penn Law Dean Relieves Controversial Professor of Some Teaching Duties
Imagine my delight to read that Tobias was front and center in this struggle-this seemingly eternal struggle. In a time when white supremacy is ascendant, it is reassuring to know that first year Black students-all first year students for that matter-will not be indoctrinated with Professor Wax’s hateful ideology. Score one for the good guys (and gals.)
“Wakanda Forever!!!”
-Eva
- In 2018, it is heartening to look back across the decades and read what this brother wrote to the man who had stolen the fruit of his labor. After you read that keep in mind this finding from the United Nations. Open Culture
- The Trump administration is studying new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers. Washington Post
- President Donald Trump mocked California Rep. Maxine Waters during a freewheeling speech Saturday night, saying she had a “very low IQ.” CNN
- As the Trump administration begins to gut federal enforcement of civil rights laws, minority communities that were targets for predatory home loans before the recession have become vulnerable yet again to mortgage discrimination. This time, many banks are simply writing off communities of color and denying them loans at all. New York Times
- A provision hidden in the banking bill could hurt Black homeowners. The Atlantic
- Tweet by Cecillia Wang. @WangCecillia
- At the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, where Mississippi sends some of the most seriously mentally ill people in the state prison system, even the most troubled patients are routinely ignored and the worst cases of self-harm are treated with certain neglect. The conditions have cost some prisoners their limbs, their eyesight, and even their lives. ACLU
- Bannon to French far-right party: ‘Let them call you racists’. The Hill
- Novels that address the experience of Japanese American incarceration from the adolescent perspective. International Examiner
- A white former North Carolina police officer, who was captured on body camera video in 2017 beating and using a stun gun on an African-American man stopped for jaywalking, charged for assault and communicating threats. Yahoo News
- A quiet exodus: why Black worshipers are leaving white Evangelical churches. New York Times
- A Black middle school student was kicked out of class because his teacher determined that the lines shaved into his hair were a distraction to other students. ACLU
- President Trump would be able to dispatch Secret Service agents to polling places nationwide during a federal election if a provision in a Homeland Security reauthorization bill remains intact. Boston Globe
- People of color face more air pollution than white people, and black people bear the biggest environmental burden of any group, according to a new study by EPA scientists. BuzzFeed
- ABC has indefinitely shelved a politically and socially themed episode of “Black-ish” as a result of “creative differences.” Variety
- Tweet by NowThis. @nowthisnews
- A Republican bill has advanced to the Georgia House that would shorten voting hours in Atlanta, making it harder for working class democrats to vote. @EdKrassen
- Putin: maybe Jews are behind U.S. election meddling. Daily Beast
- Trump’s budget leaves out funding for Japanese American incarceration history. International Examiner
- The whitewashing of Dr. King’s assassination. The Atlantic
- Jeff Sessions’ draft master plan for the Justice Department sidelines civil rights while emphasizing a crackdown on leaks and the MS-13 gang. Huffington Post
- Evidence of racial disparities found in above knee amputation rates after total knee replacement. Consult QD
- What does it do to Black girls and women to have their intelligence and abilities routinely questioned? Acclaimed writer Morgan Jerkins gives her humble opinion on overcoming imposter syndrome, the inability to absorb one’s accomplishments. PBS News
- White men stockpile guns because they’re afraid of Black people. The Root
- The younger sister of convicted mass murderer Dylann Roof — who gunned down nine parishioners at a Charleston, S.C., church in 2015 — was arrested on drug and weapons charges after she posted a message to Snapchat saying that she hoped students participating in Wednesday’s walkout of classes to protest gun violence would “get shot” and suggested that only “black people” would be participating in the nationwide protests. NPR
- Philly teens to Florida teens: Would you have stood in solidarity with us? Philly.com
- They have driven the state’s population growth for decades, helping form the backbone of a booming economy, but Latinos in Massachusetts fare worse than Latinos in any other state. Boston Globe
- 3 rural Illinois men charged with Minnesota mosque bombing. AP News
MORE GOOD NEWS, VICTORIES & HEROES
- A Florida gun-reform bill is headed to the governor’s desk — the bill would raise the minimum buying age for all guns to 21 and create a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases. New York Magazine
- Gina Ortiz Jones won her primary! If Gina wins her runoff, she will become the first Iraq War veteran and first Filipina-American to hold a U.S. House seat in Texas. HuffPost
- Democrats Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia both won their primaries — sending them on their way to become Texas’ first Latina members of Congress. The Texas Tribune
- Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was not intimidated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ “How dare you?” remark, instead she responded — “How dare you vilify members of our community by trying to frighten the American public into thinking all undocumented residents are dangerous criminals…How dare you distort the reality about declining violent crime in a diverse sanctuary city like Oakland, California, to advance your racist agenda.” SFGate
- The New York Times is writing obituaries for the women that left indelible marks but were overlooked by the newspaper. New York Times
- Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman is suing the United States Olympic Committee for failing to protect young athletes from child molester Larry Nasser. The Nation
- After 130 Years, Harvard Law Review elects a black woman president. New York Times
- Stanford neurosurgeon Dr. Odette Harris just became the first African-American female Professor of Neurosurgery in the United States. @TopNeuroDocs
- Following her viral photo showing her in awe of Michelle Obama’s portrait, 2-year-old Parker Curry got to meet the former First Lady in person. The Cut
- A San Francisco street named after the anti-immigrant, racist former San Francisco Mayor James Phelan will be renamed “Frida Kahlo Way.” Latina
- Barbie launched their “Shero” collection which features dolls modeled from real-life female role models. CNN
- Philando Castile was a popular school nutrition supervisor in Minnesota and used to personally pay for meals when students couldn’t afford them. In July 2016, he was tragically shot and killed by police. A charity started in honor of Philando recently raised enough money to wipe out school lunch debt for students in St. Paul. Mother Jones
- Hundreds of doctors in Canada have signed a petition in protest of their own pay raises and instead are asking for the money to be redistributed to nurses and patients. Newsweek
- A small Canadian town, with a population 157, went up against a multimillion dollar oil company — and won. ThinkProgress
- Here is a cathartic video of trump’s name being chiseled off the now-defunct Trump International Hotel in Panama. ABC News
- Jordan Peele became the first black winner of the best original screenplay Oscar. Vulture
- #InclusionRider
To read more from Susie Tompkins Buell’s The Rising, click here.
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