Anyway, reiterating that point that it is impossible for the US to "win" this situation or do anything to bring it to a resolution one way or another because this country can no longer make *credible* commitments of any kind, full stop.

Am I wrong though?

Frederick Douglass in 1883, after the Civil Rights Cases were handed down, cut to the chase: "O for a Supreme Court of the United States which shall be as true to the claims of humanity as the Supreme Court formerly was to the demands of slavery! omeka.coloredconventions.org/files/origin...

Watching all these GOP-controlled states race each other to gerrymander their districts before the 2026 midterms, it is hard for me to look at the timing of Callais and not conclude that the conservative justices decided the case on the earlier side to do their fellow Republicans a favor

clear goal of republicans in these states is to, in the words of carter glass, “eliminate every Negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally, without materially impairing the numerical strength of the white electorate.”

The "reactionary colorblindess" of the right-wing justices has reached its logical conclusion in finding that it is racist NOT to let Louisiana—and any other state for that matter—discriminate on the basis of race in voting. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The court has simply recreated the pre-Brown world in allowing racial discrimination across a broad number fields as long as it is “facially neutral,” gutting the Reconstruction Amendments in the process.

8. So while I don't think Callais is *apocalyptic* for Democrats, it's still a hideous perversion of the Constitution that will undermine democracy and racial equality for years. The Voting Rights Act is essentially dead. The 15th Amendment has been repurposed to greenlight racism. It's a dark day.

Can’t wait to read Salt Lakes by @cetracey.bsky.social! Listen to this interview and go order a copy. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

With very ominous language, Justice Elena Kagan says that today’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais ends the Supreme Court’s “now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act.” 6-to-3 vote in favor of white voters who challenged a Black-majority district in La. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

NEW: Now that the Supreme Court has rendered the last remaining pillar of the VRA toothless, Republicans in eight states are free to gerrymander more than a dozen congressional districts that had been designed to remedy discrimination against Black and Latino voters. We catalog them all here -->

Justice Kagan: "I dissent. The Voting Rights Act is—or, now more accurately, was—'one of the most consequential, efficacious, and amply justified exercises of federal legislative power in our Nation's history.'

It is worth, I think, emphasizing that in trampling congressional attempts to protect the rights of Black people, the Court is basically doing what it has always done, with the exception of a couple decades in the mid-20th century when it often worked with Congress to protect the rights of Black ppl

Need this think piece fully written out.

ICE's detention capability in four slides. 1. All existing immigration detention centers in operation today 2. Plus all purchased warehouses (minus paused/halted ones) 3. Plus all facilities proposed to be reopened or acquired 4. Plus all hold rooms and check-in sites used for detainee 'staging'

I’ve shared elsewhere and am super grateful for everyone that has already pre-ordered. Nevertheless, my book is coming out in September 2026 and ready to be purchased! uncpress.org/978146969385...

i also remain amazed at how, all these years later, conservatives are still angry and aggrieved that barack obama extended empathy to a black teenager who was killed for no reason. shows you what is in their hearts.

Alexa: Make the Arc de Triumph “naco”

A new art exhibit in Phoenix features some of the world's prickliest plants. It could also help save them. n.pr/486lQLi

Crazy how these very smart business people seem to think there isn’t a link between mass consumption and profit anymore. You think a corporate pattern-finder (AI) is going to help you weather a loss of a 1/3 of your customers??

The other shoe dropped, but whether it fell from the wet foot or the dry foot, who knows??

'Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson is leaving the university after administrators told him in January that he couldn’t teach Plato’s Symposium in his philosophy class; they said the ancient Greek philosopher’s work violated the system’s restrictions on gender and sexuality content.' 1/3

The blockade of a blockade.

If you need help with your drink order perhaps caffeine or personal autonomy aren’t for you

There's still time to pre-order my forthcoming book, Dangerous Migration: Mexican Labor and the Fight for Immigrant Rights, with promo code S26UIP to get 30% off: www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...

Timeline Cleanse: Rio de Janeiro's stunning giant doctor statue

Can’t say we failed to open it when we say we’re blocking and closing it.

This weekend I’ll be at the San Antonio Book Festival talking El Paso, American myth, and identity with Texas Monthly writer John Phillip Santos. If you’re around, come find me. And thank you to @sabookfestival for the invitation. sabookfestival.org/schedule-eve...

Every time I read peer reviews

An example of the perils of presidential control over science agencies. This Budget Request is dictated by the White House, Vought, and the P2025 OMB, not NSF. We have an imperial presidency, the dream of John Roberts and Charles Koch since the 80s. And it is incompatible with successful science.

Also true of research in general, where serendipity is often the source of discovery

this is the chaplain btw. wonder why he was fired.

I hope this is driving home to folks that anti-DEI/anti-woke are functioning mostly as a way to make racism more palatable by framing it as a kind of defensive reaction to an imagined unfairness.

The distinctively American language of politicized white evangelicalism this woman speaks is only about 50 years old. It was still considered a fairly embarrassing element of the GOP coalition in 2012 when it manifested in the form of Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann. Now it's the only note.

back on the godbeat www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

I can’t believe I wrote this 8 years ago and it’s only worse now. I still think this is one of the most important things I ever reported and I’m thankful @juliorvarela.com let me publish it. www.latinorebels.com/2018/05/03/h...

There’s no need to mask abusers as heroes. There’s no use for monsters in the movement. Listen to this convo with with @rod.pocho.online and I on @elpochcast.pocho.online

ALSO thanks to @1stworldchicano.bsky.social for joining me on this one

NEW: Like many of you, I found the revelations about César Chávez’s sexual abuse of Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguia, and Debra Rojas absolutely devastating. For @prismreports.org, I wrote about the importance of grappling with Chávez’s true legacy—both as as a civil rights leader and a rapist.

On this episode we talk about Cesar Chavez in a brief historical context since it was clear to me so many people talking about him don't have any and then we discuss his indefensible actions and how disappointing some Chicano's reactions have been podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Ese Rudy, at te watcho. ¡Rodolfo Acuña Presente! www.latimes.com/obituaries/s...

The US government collected over $1 billion in immigration fees then refused to process the applications. No denials. No refunds. Just silence. This is the largest fee fraud in the history of the American immigration system. Here's what's happening. 🧵

“Originalist” Justices: The VRA is federal overreach and has no constitutional grounding. Also:

New piece from @laloalcaraz.bsky.social

Perfectly said.

Cesar Chavez was an abuser, rapist, pedophile, monster of a man. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...

As a historian, we have read the 2010s books by Matt García and Miriam Pawel. they detailed a rage-prone, paranoid, & morally lacking Chávez. So we knew he was a "complicated man." The allegations in this article are way worse than I expected. We need to reckon with his abuse. support the victims.

Tear down the statues, rip his name off the walls, take down the streets signs.

Some of us have been saying the same thing for years as researchers yet, journos have not moved from the same narrative. Wanna bet nothing changes religionnews.com/2026/03/11/l...