A lesson in what money can’t buy — Harvard University President Lawrence S. Bacow along with Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Chair of the Presidential Initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery, recently announced Harvard has ignored the painful truth their university was shaped by slavery. According to Harvard’s President, slavery was fundamental to New England’s economy during the 17th…

Empowering the marginalized? — Last week, I mentioned a press conference in 1988 when Rev. Jesse Jackson stated “black” no longer describes “our” situation in America. What did he mean? I explained the historical identity — Negro — was imposed by white supremacy. The term was synonymous with second-class citizenship and inferiority. This led…

A defense of the term — In 1988 Rev. Jesse Jackson urged black Americans to drop the adjective “black” and replace it with “African”. Jackson argued that “black” no longer described “our” situation in America. The term African-American was used for decades. Then Jesse Jackson fell from grace and his “invented term” fell out of favor. …

Not theory — Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been debated over the past few years, but defining the theory is a slippery task, and CRT often gets mischaracterized. However, there’s an offshoot of CRT that can’t be mischaracterized. It’s called “critical race thinking”. Professor John L. Jackson Jr. …

Liberal paternalism gave rise to a new kind of white supremacy — A minor controversy ensued after the 2022 Critics Choice Awards over remarks directed at superstar tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. The Williams sisters were in attendance because their biopic King Richard was nominated for best picture. New Zealand film director Jane Campion won for best director. During Campion’s acceptance…

The red flags waved for a decade — In 2012 a black teen was fatally shot by a Florida community watch volunteer. The volunteer claimed self-defense. He wasn’t arrested or charged with a crime. Civil Rights organizations rushed to Florida to demand the arrest of the volunteer. This started the Black Lives Matter movement. The BLM slogan was…

From what? — 21st-century black spokespersons speak in their own social justice jargon. They often describe black communities as marginalized and black people as vulnerable. For them, “the marginalized” are people with limited access to privileges enjoyed by the wider society, and “the vulnerable” are people exposed to decreasing living standards. Since most…

Safety, Fairness, and Inclusion — Recently, varsity swimmer Lia Thomas became the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship. This reignited the debate over whether it’s unfair for a male that transitioned into a female to compete against cisgender females. I said reignited because there was a controversy concerning unfairness when…

A glance at a theory in the mind of Putin — The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Instead of sighing in relief, the West beat its chest. The following year political scientist Francis Fukuyama published The End of History. Fukuyama didn’t mean history stopped being recorded. It was a reference to Marx’s theory of history. Marx…