Commentary
High schoolers need exposure to ideas in African American studies
As Black History Month begins, our education governor’s Education Department says it’s reviewing an advanced placement course in African American studies that’s being tried out in two Arkansas schools as part of a pilot program in 60 high schools nationwide. The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education is asking questions of the nonprofit that […]
The assault on diversity, equity and inclusion continues
Arkansas’ Republican overlords continued their assault on affirmative action and the very basis of righting past wrongs with the passage of Senate Bill 71 in committee on Tuesday. In doublespeak that George Orwell would have recognized, SB 71 sponsor Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro) characterized the legislation as anti-discriminatory because its stated intention is “to prohibit […]
International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Still close to home
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Arkansas Advocate occasionally publishes commentary from other sources, including other members of the States Newsroom network. This column from the Arizona Mirror reflects on the importance of educating younger generations about the Holocaust.) On Jan. 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz camp complex in occupied Poland. What the Soviet liberators found […]
Arkansas’ would-be religious tyrants gather steam with ‘culture-war’ bills
I grew up Catholic in a deeply Catholic region of Louisiana. I don’t think I met any non-Catholics until after second grade. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only were there Christians who worshiped differently from me but believed in a totally different Jesus. Imagine my consternation when I learned that some Christians […]
Fifty years later, our lives still at risk
Fifty years ago, a very different U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. Radical right-wing extremists control the Supreme Court and serve in elective office. We have fewer freedoms than we did a generation ago. We suffer, and women die because of it. When the Supreme Court ruled last June to strip away our rights […]
How the distortion of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s words enables more, not less, racial division
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is just the latest conservative lawmaker to misuse the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to judge a person on character and not race. In the protracted battle to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, Roy, a Republican, nominated a Black man, Byron Donalds, […]
In more ways than one, Dr. King taught us to speak up for the oppressed
The speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be cited throughout this day meant to honor his memory and legacy – and for good reason. As one of the world’s most influential orators of the 20th century, he brought truth to power with his words, time and again. Equally deserving of praise is King’s […]
Martin Luther King ‘reigns as a man who saw tomorrow’ on ‘relentless tokenism’
Republished from the Kansas Reflector — which, through its opinion section, works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Some historians mark the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder as the end of the civil rights movement. Over an arc of 14 years — from […]
Time is running out to get ACA health coverage; Jan. 15 is deadline
If you don’t have health insurance — or just want to explore your options — go to healthcare.gov on or before Jan. 15 to get covered with affordable health insurance now. Having and keeping good quality affordable health care is personal for me. The Affordable Care Act saved my life. In 2017, I walked into […]
The ‘education governor’ and the threat to public schools
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ two inauguration day speeches and slew of executive orders she issued contained a lot of references to GOP red-meat issues: from an alleged “crime wave plaguing our cities” to supposedly creeping big government from Washington. I’m going to focus on the big one: so-called education reform. To reform something is to […]
What does the speaker of the House do?
Second in the line of presidential succession after the vice president, the speaker of the House occupies a central role in our national government. But what is it that a speaker actually does? Most people think the speakership is a party office. It’s not. The speaker is selected by the full House membership, though the […]
The Ghost of an Idea: A reflection on Charles Dickens and the history and meaning of the season
Since the stone age, winter festivals have bestowed their warming glow of fire and light and bountiful feast in nearly every culture of human civilization drudging through the cold, dark, biting months surrounding the solstice. Using the stars and sun as a guide for monitoring the seasons, humans through history sowed their crops, stocked food […]