Without any mechanisms to adjust for rising prices, the real value of the federal minimum wage hit a 66-year low in 2023, say the authors. It’s now worth 42 percent less than its highest point in 1968.
US LABOR DAY: The Minimum Wage at Age 85
Category: Race Relations
Discovering Largest Known US Slave Auction
Lauren Davila made a stunning discovery as a graduate student at the College of Charleston: an ad for a slave auction larger than any historian had yet identified, Jennifer Berry Hawes reports.
Viewpoint: The Problem With the Feb. 19 Anti-War Rally
People must decide who they align with based on their principles of unity and shared interests, but they should also consider that their alliances do not bring harm to the most marginalized people, writes Jacquie Luqman.
Police Terror in America
The officers in Memphis, Tennessee, came into the community to kill. Like a pack of wild dogs, they were there to satisfy a blood lust and insatiable taste for Black flesh, writes Wilmer Leon.
Chris Hedges: Teaching ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ in Prison
There are many disturbing similarities between the brutality imposed on Stalin’s victims and the injustices endured by the incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons.
Is the ‘Conscience of the Congress’ Unconscious?
Wilmer Leon says it’s time for the African-American community to take stock, not of the original 13 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but of the current 58.
Turning the Tables on Right-Wing Jurists
Marjorie Cohn describes how Ketanji Brown Jackson crafted her own originalist argument to defend taking race into account when drawing voting district maps.
Covering Up Slavery in the Birth of the US
As some politicians try to shackle educators with restrictive laws, Raphael E. Rogers recommends using historical records to show the role that slavery played in the forming of a nation.
Criminalizing ‘Extreme Hatred of Britain’
The proposal by Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, is another attempt to stage a culture-war spectacle, writes Sita Balani. But these rhetorical games have real consequences.
Student Debt Cancellation a Racial Justice Issue
Presidential executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in student debts would increase Black wealth by 40 percent, the authors say.