Free Republic

In June 2021, comedian and political commentator Bill Maher slammed college as a “racket” on his political talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO.“Now that graduation season has ended and we won’t be spoiling anyone’s big day, let’s talk about what higher education in America really is — a racket that sells you a very expensive ticket to the upper middle class,” Maher declared to wide applause and cheers.The comedian has not been alone in his criticism.A few months later in December of that year, partially paralyzed former Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who attended a...

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis slammed the National Hockey League (NHL) in a statement Friday afternoon after the league posted what the state deemed to be a “discriminatory” job posting. “The NHL is proud to announce its first-ever Pathway to Hockey Summit launching during our 2023 All Star festivities in South Florida!” the NHL said in the job posting on LinkedIn. “The Pathway to Hockey Summit is a career event for diverse job seekers who are pursuing careers in hockey. The day will be filled with guest speakers and panelists, networking opportunities, and more!” The event takes place on February 2...

The American Bar Association is under fire after taking steps to abandon LSAT entrance exam scores as a law school admissions requirement after a study showed that minority applicants score lower. The Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar approved the proposed standards revision earlier this month.The proposed change now goes to the association's policy-making body, the House of Delegates, for review in February. "But final approval to change ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools rests with the council, which serves as an independent arm of the ABA for...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher called for people to “rally the normies, which we now realize are still most of us,” after the 2022 midterm elections, and push back against extremes on the left and the right with “grand bargains” like people on the right conceding voter fraud “doesn’t exist” “and liberals will admit that getting a picture I.D. is not a Herculean burden that minorities can’t manage like everybody else, and which most don’t even object to.”

In-depth: The death of Jina 'Mahsa' Amini at the hands of the Islamic Republic's morality police sparked nationwide protests and has put a spotlight on the plight of Iran's long-oppressed Kurdish minority... With the protest movement following the lead of Kurdistan, the Kurdish cause has rapidly become intertwined with that of other oppressed communities in Iran.

More than 20 black White House aides have departed the Biden administration since late last year, an exodus some have dubbed “Blaxit,” according to a new report. While some of the departing staffers have left on good terms to pursue additional career or educational opportunities, others have attributed the turnover to a lack of mentorship and opportunity, Politico reported Tuesday, citing nine black current and former White House officials. “We’re here and we’re doing a lot of work but we’re not decision-makers and there’s no real path towards becoming decision-makers,” one current staffer told the outlet. “There is no real...

A Disney executive has vowed to drastically increase inclusivity in its productions, promising that at least 50 percent of its characters will be LGBTQ or racial minorities by the end of the year. Karey Burke, president of Disney’s General Entertainment Content, said the company must do more to make its content more inclusive in a company-wide Zoom call Monday that was later posted to Twitter. “I’m here as a mother of two queer children, actually,” Burke said on the call. “One transgender child and one pansexual child, and also as a leader.” Burke said she supports featuring “many, many” characters...

Former Fort Lauderdale police chief Larry Scirotto, 48, was fired after an inquiry found that he asked 'which one is blacker?' when considering a promotion The inquiry also claimed Scirotto once said a conference room wall of photos was 'too white' and added, 'I'm gonna change that' Scirotto has vehemently denied the accusations, and has insisted he gave promotions based on merit to staff who happened to be minorities He is also accused of working as a high school basketball referee while being on the clock as chief 'The Chief was paid by the City for these unauthorized schedule adjustments,...

Native Canadians are second class citizens. Justin Trudeau’s crackdown on protests under an Emergencies Act order specifically exempts refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants and other ethnic minorities.Yes, really.The Canadian government’s Emergency Measures Regulations: SOR/2022-21 order bans people from taking part “in a public assembly that may reasonably be expected to lead to a breach of the peace.”However, the law does not apply to “any person in a class of persons whose presence in Canada, as determined by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration or the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, is in the national interest.”This includes Indians, refugees, immigrants,...

As of October 4, 2021, CDC reported that race/ethnicity was known for 61% of people who had received at least one dose of the vaccine. Among this group, nearly two thirds were White (60%), 11% were Black, 17% were Hispanic, 6% were Asian, 1% were American Indian or Alaska Native, and Figure 1: Race/Ethnicity of People Receiving a COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. as of October 4, 2021

Humans are varied. Some are old, some are fat, some are from Kentucky, and others are from Kenya. Some can touch the tip of their nose with their tongue, and others can flatulate on command. We all have intersections of privileges and disadvantages. The point is not to see each of us as unique individuals, but to parse all of humanity into groups based on these obscure and often meaningless attributes so that a new minority group can be created.

Amid some encouraging news that Pennsylvania’s rate of new COVID-19 cases appears to be leveling off, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday once again drew attention to persistent COVID-19 related health disparities among minority communities. Wolf used the backdrop of one of the region’s largest providers of health care to impoverished communities to once again urge ethnic and racial minorities to get vaccinated. “This is a sales pitch,” said Wolf during a press conference held at the Hamilton Health Center in Harrisburg. The center provides care for more than 20,000 underserved central Pennsylvania residents, the majority of them Black or Latino....

Advocates say voter ID laws could disproportionately impact minorities.As voters across Texas submitted voter registration applications on Monday, Oct. 4, ahead of the Nov. 2 statewide election, 82-year-old Elmira Hicks was left out.The Oakwood, Texas, native says she hasn't been able to renew her driver's license for more than a year because she has been unable to present the required birth certificate needed to verify her identity.In the Lone Star State, election laws require voters to present a driver's license, passport, military identification card, citizenship certificate, state election identification certificate or a personal identification card to cast a ballot or...

WASHINGTON — About a third of the female service members in the Air Force and Space Force say they've experienced sexual harassment and many can describe accounts of sexism and a stigma associated with pregnancy and maternity leave, a study released Thursday has found. The review, done by the Air Force inspector general, also concluded that minorities and women are underrepresented in leadership and officer positions, particularly at the senior levels, and get promoted less frequently. It echoed many of the findings of an initial review, released last December, which found that Black service members in the Air Force are...

The state of Oregon will no longer require its students to demonstrate proficiency in math, reading and writing in order to earn a high school diploma in a bid to bolster minority students. Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill late last month suspending the state's 'essential skills' requirement for graduation for the next three years while its Department of Education seeks alternative graduation requirements. The bill extended a suspension of the requirements that was put in place during the coronavirus pandemic. Proponents of the measure have said the state's proficiency specifications hurt disadvantaged students, while opponents say suspending them lowers...

Exorbitant fees, draconian laws, and more combine to disadvantage minorities the most.Gun control disproportionately impacts the poor and minorities and puts them at greater risk of prosecution. So why is it that progressives, who like to think of themselves as champions of the “people,” are always pushing for stricter gun-control laws?In January 2016, New York mayor Bill de Blasio created “Project Fast Track” to aggressively pursue all firearms cases in New York. Defendants in that court are overwhelmingly young black males who are charged with simply possessing an illegal firearm — not using it or committing any violent crime. The...

New York City’s notoriously incompetent election officials have not finished tabulating the votes in the June 22 Democratic primary, with its novel ranked-choice-voting system. But the first choices of voters - minus some 124,000 absentees - nevertheless reveal some important things about the differences between different segments of the Democratic coalition in America’s largest city. These initial results were a clear repudiation of the term-limited left-wing Mayor Bill de Blasio. Coming in first was Brooklyn borough president and former NYPD cop Eric Adams with 31.7 percent, well ahead of top de Blasio aide Maya Wiley, with 22.2 percent. Third was...

The New York Times was forced to admit what has been obvious for a while: Minority communities don’t support progressives’ radical views on criminal justice.

The Biden administration knew the key to a successful Covid vaccination campaign would be reaching the most vulnerable populations. But more than five months in, even a blueprint that’s worked with other ethnic and racial groups isn’t doing enough to win over Black Americans. Less than a quarter of Black Americans had received their first Covid-19 shot as of June 7 based on available federal data, amid a weekslong stagnation that has defied the government’s ramped-up effort to accelerate vaccinations and reach the nation’s most vulnerable communities.

Back on May 19, I wrote about a federal district judge in Texas who issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Biden Administration’s plan to prioritize the distribution of COVID assistance to women and minority business owners under the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.On Thursday, in a case where a federal district judge in Tennessee refused to grant injunctive relief regarding the same program, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals entered an emergency stay blocking the same Biden Administration plan.Let’s revisit for just a moment the comment by Chief Justice Roberts that “there are no Obama judges or Trump judges”.US District Court...