Free Republic

In a night of many firsts, several minority and LGBT candidates won local elections that echoed the blue wave in which Democrats won races large and small. Two openly transgender candidates won races as well as the first Sikh mayor in New Jersey and first African-American mayors in major cities.

“We’ve never really reckoned with the issue of race in this country. We just haven’t. It’s almost like the Civil War ended and kind of like the child in a divorce. Like, you know, a conflict-averse child. ‘Okay, okay, it’s over, let’s not talk about that ever again.’ And that’s obviously not what needed to happen.” What did need to happen? Apparently something of biblical proportions. “There needs to be a reckoning, a true one. And that’s how we’ll make progress, and move forward.”

An Ivy League teaching assistant tweeted Monday that she calls on black female students first and white male students last. “I will always call on my black women students first. Other POC [people of color] get second tier priority. WW [White women] come next. And, if I have to, white men,” University of Pennsylvania teaching assistant Stephanie McKellop said in a tweet from an account linked to her name that has now been protected.

Al Sharpton’s daughter was on her last leg before marrying a fellow race activist on Sunday. Activist Dominique Sharpton, who is suing New York City for $5 million for a sprained ankle, despite being photographed climbing a mountain after her alleged injury, was an hour late to her wedding, the New York Post reported.

She then characterized Dr. Seuss's illustrations as racist and said that they were steeped in "racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes," listing several examples in her letter. Soeiro did not note that former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama both read Dr. Seuss books to children several times during their eight years in the White House.

Get your popcorn ready, as Terrell Owens would say. Despite the controversy swirling around the Colin Kaepernick-inspired NFL player protests for racial justice, CBS Sports told Sporting News it will televise the playing of the national anthem before Thursday night's Packers-Bears game at Lambeau Field. "The anthem will be live," promised CBS Sports spokeswoman Jennifer Sabatelle. CBS is handling production on the game that will air on CBS Sports, NFL Network and Amazon Prime Video (8 p.m. ET). There were loud boos heard in the home stadiums of the Jets, Cardinals and Lions. Will the same thing happen tonight at...

Almost everyone except those psychologically and politically dependent on accusing others of being racists can agree that racism is evil. I think almost everyone except those malignant defamers, who denounce all with whom they disagree as racist, can agree that all people are fundamentally equal and must be treated equally; that all definable groups of people are equal in their human merit; and that all such groups, unless they are defined by sociopathic goals, should be proud of whatever it is that defines them as a group. I cannot think of a more stupid and unjust reason for hiring or...

Former president George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush condemned hatred and bigotry on Wednesday — a day after President Trump incendiary comments further inflamed racial tensions in the US. “America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms,” the ex-presidents said in a statement issued from their vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine. “America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms,” the ex-presidents said in a statement issued from their vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine. “As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city’s...

It wasn’t a Cinco de Mayo party. It had no sombreros or tacos, as far as anyone knows. Yet the University of Chicago’s Phi Gamma Delta, known casually as FIJI, has nonetheless been reported for the “bias incident” of throwing a party where attendees wore construction outfits. Relevant to know: Its fraternity house has been “under renovation and construction for two years.” But activists don’t care about context. If the left-wing arbiters of cultural appropriation get their way, FIJI’s members could face disciplinary action. The Chicago Maroon reports that the party was originally scheduled for May 5, but its start...

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) spoke Thursday at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, where he told the students that the Trump administration was trying to damage the African-American community. "Jim Crow might be dead," Jeffries said at the beginning of his speech. "He's got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well, and a few of them are running around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue." The audience laughed and cheered in agreement with Jeffries' claim.

Noted liberal Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe claimed without evidence in a series of tweets Thursday that a recently deceased New York judge was the victim of a racist murder. Sheila Abdus-Salaam was the first Muslim-American judge and the first black woman to serve on the New York Court of Appeals. Late Wednesday, her body was found in the Hudson River after she was reported missing. Abdus-Salaam was 65 years old.

Rev. Al Sharpton is not happy with what he perceives as the White House's special treatment of President Trump's daughter. . . . "Giving a office on the West Wing of Ivanka Trump, somebody explain to me how you can give security clearance, access to classified material, and a office to somebody that don't have a title or job?" Sharpton said. "They say now she ain't got no title. She ain't got no role. We ain't payin' her no money. But she can see everything classified."

Leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus emerged from a meeting Wednesday at the White House to say they found some areas of agreement with President Trump on helping minority communities but still are not convinced he’s not a racist. CBC Chairman Cedrick L. Richmond said that many of their constituents urged them to not attend the meeting because of their hostility toward the president. But he said the black lawmakers wanted to offer an “opportunity to engage” Mr. Trump, who aggressively courted black voters during the campaign and vowed to make urban neighborhoods a priority for his administration.

Former President George W. Bush is criticizing President Donald Trump's first month in office, though he remains optimistic about the future. "I don't like the racism and I don't like the name-calling and I don't like the people feeling alienated," Bush told People magazine. "Nobody likes that." . . . "I didn't feel like speaking out before because I didn't want to complicate the job and I'm not going to this time. However, at the Bush Center we are speaking up." The Bush Center programs include immigration ceremonies, AIDS prevention programs in Africa and leadership training for Muslim women.

Chicago police clear officers of racial profiling in stop of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush On Aug. 4, 2016, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush was pulled over in Bronzeville. He was let go without a ticket being issued, but later filed a complaint with IPRA alleging racial profiling. This video contains body cam footage from one of the officers that Rush filed the complaint against. (Source: CPD) Chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department's Bureau of Internal Affairs found that the two Wentworth District officers acted properly because they had probable cause to make the stop. Earlier that day, officers at roll...

A controversial painting depicting police officers as pigs has been permanently removed from the Capitol complex. The office of Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., — a former sheriff who officially appealed to the Architect of the Capitol that the painting be removed — confirmed to the Washington Examiner that it was taken down for good on Tuesday. The painting, done by a black Missouri teenager, was one of hundreds of winners of the Congressional Art Competition. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., hung it in the tunnel leading from the Cannon building to the Capitol complex.

"Today, Donald Trump attacked me on Twitter. He said that I'm 'all talk' and 'no action,'" Lewis wrote in a fundraising email sent out by the Democratic National Committee. "Some leaders reject decades of progress and want to return to the dark past, when the power of law was used to deny the freedoms protected by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and its Amendments," he wrote. "We need leaders who will stand up and speak up and speak out for Americans, not someone who will work against us. Not someone who will move us backwards.

Journalists piled on criticism after President-elect Trump shot back at Democratic Rep. John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the election, many calling attention to the fact that Lewis is a civil rights icon and seemingly ignoring the fact that Trump does not mention race in his tweets. "Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to......mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results," Trump tweeted early Saturday. "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!" Almost immediately Trump was decried...

That has been a problem in my party, that when we’re in power, we’re nice. We bend over backwards to work with people. . . . Waters said she wouldn’t even bother to meet with Trump if he invited her to the White House, saying she doesn’t trust him. “I’m not going to go,” Waters said. “I have no intentions of sitting down with him … He can’t be trusted. Why should we work with someone I can’t trust? … I’m going to fight him every inch of the way.”

Finally, a mass demonstration was called-off because students again couldn’t agree on what to demonstrate against. Some even balked at repeating the chant that they were asked to recite at the planned protest. ... Student Robert Gardner expressed his unhappiness over the “trauma some of the organizers made…It was really hurtful to have other marginalized identities silenced because a small fringe of organizers decided that their oppressions are more important (talk about Oppression Olympics)…” Gardner added that he did not “appreciate one of the organizers calling my friend a b---- because of the chants she was told to say.”