Free Republic

Is America racist? It used to be that racism meant the actual enforcement of bigotry—the routine implementation of racial inequality everywhere in public and private life. Racism was a tyranny and an oppression that dehumanized—animalized—the “other.” It was a social malignancy, yet it carried the authority of natural law, as if God himself had dispassionately ordained it. Today Americans know that active racism is no longer the greatest barrier to black and minority advancement. Since the 1960s other pathologies, even if originally generated by racism, have supplanted it. White racism did not shoot more than 4,000 people last year in...

Fifa paid the Football Association of Ireland 5m euros (£3.6m) to stop legal action after France controversially beat Ireland in a World Cup play-off.

There is something not quite right with Lionel Messi at this World Cup. I am the Argentina captain's biggest fan and he is the most wonderfully gifted player since Diego Maradona but, here in Brazil, I have been disappointed with what I have seen. Some people might say there is not much wrong with Messi at all, because Argentina are in the final and he has scored four goals to help get them there. But there is no question in my mind that the Barcelona forward has become quite static on the pitch in this tournament.

I got a troll zotted yesterday, then all of a sudden this morning I get the following email (to the email address attached to my FR profile) from "Organizing for Action" (rapid pro-Obama group): Hi -- Thanks for saying you’re in for the next phase of our grassroots movement. I’m excited to get the chance to work with you as we set out to finish what we started. Over the next four years, we’ve got an incredible opportunity to keep moving this country forward. This grassroots movement has shown time and again that ordinary people have the power to change...

Bolton's Fabrice Muamba is critically ill and will remain in intensive care until at least Monday morning. The midfielder, 23, was taken to London Chest Hospital's heart attack centre after suffering a cardiac arrest during Saturday's FA Cup tie at Tottenham...

JANUARY 25--South Carolina cops are attempting to identify the participants in a wild brawl early Saturday at an International House of Pancakes, video of which has gone viral online. As seen in the below clip--which includes some cursing--the female combatants are seen punching and wrestling with each other as tables are toppled. At one point, a woman picks up a coffee pot and strikes another woman in the head while she is being pinned to a table. Later, a man is seen swinging a cane at the woman who was struck with the coffee pot. The woman, adopting a lion...

ACCORDING TO EXIT POLLS, 25% of lesbians and gay men voted for George W. Bush for president. Since that figure included those willing to identify themselves as lesbian or gay, a demographic that may skew toward "out and proud" liberals, the president's actual share of this vote might have been even higher. Each of those votes was a deliberate act. There was nothing to be gained by voting contrary to the dire warnings of gay political groups and media, by risking the disgust and ire of friends and associates. Nor might the approval of conservatives, grudging or otherwise, necessarily have ...

2002: RESULTS OF DRAW FOR CONCACAF SEMI-FINAL ROUND Zürich, 28 April 2000 - Following the meeting of the Bureau of the FIFA Organising Committee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea / Japan, a draw was held today at the FIFA Sonnenberg headquarters to determine the composition of the three groups of four teams each that will contest the semi-final round of the qualifying competition in the CONCACAF region. Group C Winner B; Mexico; Interzone 1; Caribbean 3 Group D Winner A; Interzone 3; Caribbean 2; Jamaica Group E Interzone 2; USA; Caribbean 1; Costa Rica Matches will be ...

John Amaechi likes America and Americans. He likes coffee shops and milkshakes, R&B and jazz, the X-Men and The X-Files. He likes a lot about the USA, but there is one thing about it that he despises. Guns. "People are tied to a constitutional right that extends to a time when you could walk out your front door and be mauled by a bear," he says. "All the statistics point to the fact that if you have a gun you - and your kids - are more likely to be killed. And yet people cling to this right like it's ...