The Bully Party

The Bully Party

If our government were a card game, the American people would surely have realized by now that they’re playing with a marked deck. The Republicans are cheating. In the 2012 elections, Democratic candidates for House seats collectively won about five percent more...
Swerving to the Right

Swerving to the Right

The Supreme Court rulings that made marriage equality a reality for many same-sex couples and struck down an Arizona law that made it harder to register to vote were important civil rights victories. But, they obscure our highest court’s rightward shift....
The Modern Movement for Civil Rights

The Modern Movement for Civil Rights

The racial picture in America has improved remarkably in my lifetime, so much so that a black man has been elected and re-elected President of the United States — an unthinkable development just a few years ago. But paradoxically, Barack Obama’s victory in 2008...
Fair Elections, RIP

Fair Elections, RIP

Voting rights are under attack again — this time it’s the Supreme Court’s turn. The majority’s ruling in the Shelby County vs. Holder case gutted key Voting Rights Act provisions at a time when minority access to the polls faces new obstacles. As...
A Global Spotlight on Voter Suppression

A Global Spotlight on Voter Suppression

Just before his death this past Thanksgiving, my friend Lawrence Guyot whispered one last assignment: We must “internationalize” the struggle over the right to vote. Decades ago, our movement to end segregation and extend the full rights of citizenship to...