This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed majority is anticipated to end affirmative action, which for decades has sought to remedy a bruising legacy of discrimination against marginalized groups, including Black Americans. Nearly 10 years ago, Students for Fair Admissions, an organization headed by Edward Blum, a stockbroker turned conservative legal strategist, filed lawsuits against […]
Brandon Tensley
Brandon Tensley is Capital B's national politics reporter.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘America Can Go Only as Far as the South Goes’
Residents can’t afford to look away from the issues afflicting Tennessee, even though national media coverage has dwindled since April, when state Reps. Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones, both Democrats, returned to the General Assembly’s lower house. Too much is at stake, especially for those in Pearson’s city of Memphis, in Shelby County, which […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
North Carolina Judges’ Rulings Are a ‘Gut Punch’ to Black Residents
Voting rights advocates are undaunted by the blows that the Republican-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court has struck against access to the ballot box and fair representation — and that will disproportionately disadvantage Black people in the state. “This is where SNCC [the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] was founded. This is where Ella Baker grew up,” […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
How Chicago’s Mayor-Elect Won Without a ‘Tough-on-Crime’ Message
Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s political rise comes at a time when the national conversation on how to deal with crime is chock-full of tropes and misconceptions about Black communities. The 47-year-old Democrat and former social studies teacher provides not only hope, some residents say, but a rigorous, multipronged strategy for grappling with the issue. Even […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Jackson Residents Join Fight to Stop Law That Strips Away Voting Power
Mere days after the NAACP sued Mississippi state officials over two new laws the civil rights organization says are discriminatory, three Jackson residents are following a similar course, arguing in a lawsuit filed on Monday that one of the laws is a violation of the Mississippi Constitution. “State lawmakers have said that this takeover of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
How This Democrat Wants to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley wants to end the school-to-prison pipeline by passing legislation that would establish new federal grants to support schools and states committed to change. Schools across the country continue to implement unfair and discriminatory school disciplinary practices, such as suspension and expulsion, that affect Black children as early as preschool at disproportionate […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
An ‘Explosive Growth’ of Racial Violence and Extremism Is Endangering Black Americans
Antidemocratic behavior is permeating U.S. society at an alarming speed and scale, from restrictions on classroom instruction to bills limiting voting rights to systems of surveillance built to ban abortions — and Black Americans must remain vigilant, a new report suggests. The National Urban League’s “Democracy in Peril: Confronting the Threat Within” arrives at a […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Ousted Tennessee Democrats Are Returning to the House, but the State’s Problems Run Deeper
Even with the successful votes to reinstate Tennessee Democrats Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, the predominantly white Republican-led House of Representatives’ act of retaliation raises concerns about the state of democracy in Tennessee. “The expulsions don’t make the Top 10 list of the most antidemocratic or unfair things affecting Black people here,” explained Sekou […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘This Is Not Democracy’: Read Justin J. Pearson’s Comments on His Expulsion in Tennessee
Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson — one of two Black Tennessee lawmakers who were expelled on Thursday — fit himself into a long history of civil rights activism when he told reporters that he’ll “never shirk back from civil disobedience” because that kind of defiance is “what built this country.” Like his fellow Democrat […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘The World Is Watching’: Read Justin Jones’ Comments on His Expulsion in Tennessee
Justin Jones made it clear that “there comes a time when people get sick and tired of being sick and tired.” During an emotional seven-hour session on Thursday, Jones didn’t mince words. He was the first of two Black Tennessee lawmakers, both Democrats, to be expelled from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Hours later, his […]