News & Commentary

This week and in recent years, a growing number of states and cities across the country celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It comes as an important corrective after decades of celebrating the “discovery” of the Americas by Christopher Columbus each year. We know, of course, that no such discovery happened — what did happen was colonization, and centuries of subjugation, murder, disenfranchisement, and displacement of Native Americans. As we reflect on our history and on the stories that have been too often excluded, we consider the importance of not just what stories get told, but of who gets to tell them.

The administration is barring federal agencies and contractors from providing employees with critical training on race and sex discrimination.

Ellis Cose, Author and Journalist

No o

What is your experience living in America right now? PBS American Portrait wants to hear from you.

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, people across the country face the economic devastation left in its wake. Along with staggering unemployment numbers, millions of renters now face eviction — a situation made even more dire by the global health crisis. Congress responded by instating an eviction moratorium for more than 12 million rental units across the country. But that moratorium expired on July 24th. This week, the Center for Disease Control introduced another moratorium, protecting certain renters in certain circumstances until the new year. But that still leaves many unprotected, and those who are protected remain burdened with a hefty bill due in 2021.

Sports have long been an arena where civil rights and civil liberties questions have taken center stage: Track and field star Tommie Smith raised his fist for racial justice on the 1968 Olympic podium. Tennis great Billie Jean King fought for equal pay for women. Olympic runner Caster Semana challenged intersex bigotry to be able to compete. And of course, NBA players organized a strike this week in protest of the killing by police of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Democratic platform fails in some respects to meet the demands of the moment and misses the opportunity to provide a home for the millions of Americans looking for transformational change of a criminal legal system rooted in white supremacy and racism.

Recognizing that he’s in hot water, Chad Wolf, who was illegally appointed as head of DHS, wants us to forget about the administration's lawlessness.

We promised that if Trump or his administration tried to implement unconstitutional policies, they would face the full firepower of the ACLU, our affiliates, and supporters. We meant it.