(By Jeremy Levine, and x-posted from Social Science Lite.) In last week’s New York Times, Jeremy Peters wrote a thought-provoking article about the lack of visible leadership in the gay rights movement. While Peters is generally fast and loose (read: weak) with his historical analysis, his general point seems accurate: there really isn’t any national Read More
French President Nicolas Sarkozy would like to ban the burqa in public places, stating that it’s “a problem of liberty and women’s dignity.” He also called the burqa “a sign of subservience and debasement.” There are two specific moments in Obama’s speech in Cairo, where he addresses women’s rights: “it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim Read More
Ta-Nehisi’s (predictably) insightful post about the Letter From Birmingham Jail and the conservative relationship with black Americans got me thinking about something else from the letter. This excerpt, in particular: Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what Read More
Adam at TAP: The NAACP has been walking a tightrope on gay rights. Polls show that African Americans overwhelmingly oppose gay marriage, but much of the high-level leadership of the nation’s oldest civil-rights organization opposes legal efforts to deny gays the right to marry. Last week, the national office of the NAACP leapt into the Read More
Or not: The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of an Alabama man on drug and weapons charges, emphasizing that the exclusionary rule, which generally bars prosecutors from using evidence obtained by the police through improper searches, is far from absolute. In a 5-to-4 opinion, the court upheld the federal conviction of Bennie Dean Read More
At about the 4:15 mark, Robert Gibbs responds to a question about whether the Obama administration will get rid of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. “You don’t hear a politician give a one-word answer much,” Gibbs said. “But the answer’s ‘yes.’” You could make an argument against codifying bigotry on moral grounds, but it Read More
