A white gunman on Saturday killed three Black people at a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida — after he’d been chased from the campus of nearby Edward Waters University. But the historically Black school is much more than a stop on the way to the site of a murderous rampage: Edward Waters looms large in […]
Brandon Tensley
Brandon Tensley is Capital B's national politics reporter.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gun Violence
The Racist Attack That Roiled Black Jacksonville Decades Before the Dollar General Shooting
The city of Jacksonville, Florida, is reeling from the racist killing of three Black people at a Dollar General on Saturday, after a white gunman targeted a historically Black neighborhood with weapons emblazoned with swastikas, authorities said. This weekend was already a notorious one for Black Jacksonville, falling on the 63rd anniversary of one of […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
How to Combat the Whitewashing of Black Studies
The backlash to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ assault on Black history and the release of the Florida Board of Education’s new teaching standards has been swift — but with the new school year starting this month, enraged parents and educators may not have much of a choice in the classroom. The requirement that middle school […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones Won, but the Assault on Democracy Continues
Tennessee state Reps. Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones — the two young Black Democrats who were expelled in April after they joined gun reform protests on the chamber floor — handily reclaimed their seats in special general elections on Thursday, per unofficial results. Even so, civil rights advocates say that this moment ought to serve […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A Roundup of Cases Against Trump
Former President Donald Trump faces a slew of state and federal charges, including most recently charges brought against him by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., relating to the 2020 election. In the run-up to the contest and in its aftermath, when it was clear that Joe Biden would win the White House, Trump’s […]
Posted inRural Issues
How Alabama and the Politics of Retribution Limit Black Representation
Alabama is becoming fertile ground for the dilution of Black voters’ political power, experts say. Last week, the state’s Republican leaders refused to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s order to redraw a congressional map to include two majority-Black districts. Gov. Kay Ivey approved a map with just one majority-Black district. While Black Alabamians make […]
Posted inCulture, History
The Next Phase of the Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors’ Legal Battle
The three known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre refuse to stop fighting for restitution, even after a Tulsa County District Court judge tossed out their lawsuit seeking reparations. “The dismissal of this case is just one more example of how America’s — and specifically Tulsa’s — legacy of racial harm, racial distress, is […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
When White Nationalism and Patriotism Collide
White nationalism often leverages the language of patriotism and love — “protecting” the U.S., “reclaiming” the U.S. — as a vehicle for racial bigotry. And the dangers of the ideology show no signs of shrinking this year: the throngs of “patriots” marching through cities, the gunman who turned a mall into a slaughterhouse, the plots […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
Tips From a College Admissions Dean on Applying in a Post-Affirmative Action World
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Thursday to gut affirmative action in college admissions has left many Black applicants and their families wondering how to navigate new higher-education terrain. In his opinion for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s race-conscious admissions policies “cannot be […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
Supreme Court Strikes Down Affirmative Action
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down affirmative action, a practice that’s opened up higher-education opportunities for Black students for nearly half a century. The decision, which severely limits colleges and universities’ ability to consider race as a factor in admissions, has unsettled civil rights advocates, who now fear for the future of campus […]
