It’s been five years since I first speculated in this space about the end of American democracy. In doing so, I felt like a man climbing out […]
Author: Leonard Pitts Jr.
Tired of marching for what should already be ours
He said many profound things that day. He said America had given African Americans “a bad check.” He said he had come to remind the nation of […]
Skepticism can make you blind
They told them they had bad blood. What they actually had was syphilis, but the U.S. Public Health Service never shared that diagnosis with the almost 400 […]
Let’s talk about the things they will not learn
Let’s talk about the things they will not learn. “They” meaning K-12 students in Tennessee. Not that the Volunteer State is alone in passing laws and standards […]
We can’t endanger lives of the many to humor misconceptions of the few
We were almost there. That’s the most frustrating thing about the most recent announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that even those who are […]
‘It was my second shooting.’ She is 8 years old
She is 8 years old. That’s … what? About third grade? Too young for boyfriends. Too young for R-rated movies. Too young for algebra or a learner’s […]
Ignorance is death
We live in ignorant times. By now, surely this is obvious beyond argument to anyone who’s been paying attention. From the Capitol insurrectionist who thought he was […]
They fear nothing quite so much as losing whiteness’ privileges
Here you go: I have forgotten more about race than most people have ever known. Apologies if that sounds like braggadocio, but there’s a point that needs […]
No mystery why conservatives find education dangerous
I owe a lot to Gary Mahoney. He was the campus conservative back in the middle 70s, when I was a student at the University of Southern […]
The right to bear arms does not extend to Black people
Conservatives have a special purgatory for uppity Black women who dare question America’s founding myths. New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones — her Pulitzer Prize-winning “1619 Project” […]
