this is 1967 and 2014 there's no difference #ferguson pic.twitter.com/RuzuviGpXt — chris (@VoidRauhl) August 14, 2014 I remember those summers of 1966, 1967 and 1968. They weren’t joyful. They were dark and dismaying. And now, 47 years later, it appears they’re repeating themselves in one black suburb of St. Louis. The town is 67% black, while …
Pro Publica has partnered with The Atlantic to do a series on the resegregation of public schools in America. It’s heartbreaking to read how all the difficult, dangerous work of school integration done by so many people in the 1960s and 1970s has essentially been undone by an unwillingness on the part of the politicians, …
The woman who led the charge to get that anti-gay law passed in Arizona had this to say after Governor Brewer vetoed it: “Opponents were desperate to distort this bill rather than debate the merits. Essentially, they succeeded in getting a veto of a bill that does not even exist” Er, madam, I don’t want …
Back in 1987 then-Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona unilaterally canceled the state holiday meant to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Three years later the state’s citizens voted down a referendum establishing an MLK Jr. holiday. As a result, the state faced an economic boycott, culminating in the National Football League removing its previously-scheduled Super Bowl …
The number of states in the United States which have made same-sex marriage legal, that is. At 10:00AM today Governor Neil Abercrombie signed SB1, House Draft 1 into law. Any state legislators looking for the text of this historical law can find it here.
And away it goes to the Governor for signature. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the amended version of SB 1, the “Hawaii Marriage Equality Act of 2013” by a vote of 19 to 4. “Today’s passage of Senate Bill 1 marks a pivotal moment in our State’s history, a moment enshrined in equality and justice,” said …
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Watch it live here. This is the debate before third reading, I think. After that I believe there’s a final vote. If it passes it has to go back to the Senate for reconciliation with the bill the Senate passed earlier. The House added some religious amendments which broadened the ones the Senate had put …
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Reuters has a nice straightforward account of how the city is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which killed four children and injured more. Over at Lawyers Guns and Money there’s a guest post by Robert Widell, who has just written a book titled “Birmingham and the Long …
The Pentagon issued a directive this week which required the military to treat all its married members equally, whether gay or straight. That ought to do it, right? Everyone should be happy. Everyone but National Guard members in Texas and Mississippi, that is. Each of those states says “Oh, no, Pentagon. State law supersedes your …
If you watched the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington commemoration ceremonies today you might have asked yourself “Self, where are the Republicans? I see a current Democratic President, two former Democratic Presidents, but no former Republican Presidents. Why is that?” Well, in the case of the Bushes, both pleaded ill health; W just …