Racial discrimination cases

Several Black students who were suspended for trying to protest Confederate flag displays at their school in Georgia have filed a federal lawsuit against their school district and its board members, accusing them of allowing an extensive pattern of racism including “overt bigotry and animosity by some white students and teachers against African American students.” The students, joined by their mothers as plaintiffs, already made news when their protest at Coosa High School was stifled last fall. Now, in their lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Floyd County school district and its board members, they allege an extensive pattern of racism, including white students reenacting the murder of George Floyd and posting it on social media, and a student who carried what appeared to be a whip and told a Black student “we used to whip you.” They also allege unfair punishment: Students are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, but Confederate flag apparel is acceptable under … [Read more...] about Georgia students sue over blocked protest against rebel flag

Last year, Texas passed HB 20, a law that prohibits major internet platforms from discriminating against users on the basis of their viewpoints or beliefs. The law proceeds from a centuries-old legal tradition holding that some businesses—such as phone companies, airlines, restaurants, schools and hotels—must serve all people without discrimination. Claiming that it has a First Amendment right to discriminate against users whose views it finds objectionable, Big Tech challenged HB 20 through its trade group NetChoice, which represents the interests of companies ranging from Google to the Chinese state-affiliated platform TikTok. It secured an injunction from an Obama-appointed district court judge in December. But last Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit lifted a stay on the law, allowing it to go into effect while the court decided the merits of the legal challenge. Rather than allow the judicial system to work itself out, however, NetChoice made an … [Read more...] about Big Tech is making a desperate bid to avoid judicial scrutiny | Opinion

South Korea's ongoing sex crime crisis forms the focus of a gripping new Netflix documentary— Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror. The latest program reveals just the tip of the iceberg of sex crimes in the Asian country, which can be traced back to a "deep-rooted gender inequality " and an increase in gender-based violence, Boram Jang, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International, told Newsweek. "According to the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, violent crimes such as murder, robbery and arson are generally decreasing in Korean society, but crimes involving sexual violence are steadily rising," Jang said. Released on Wednesday, the new Netflix documentary follows the exposé of a sexual abuse scandal that saw dozens of women—including minors—allegedly being blackmailed into capturing non-consensual , sexually explicit images and videos of themselves. The footage was shared and sold via online chat rooms—known collectively as the "Nth Room"—on … [Read more...] about ‘Cyber Hell’ only scratches surface of South Korea’s sex crime crisis

Some 2,000 Black people were killed from 1865 to 1876, during the Reconstruction era, the result of a widespread effort to use white supremacist terror to maintain economic, political and social control over newly emancipated Black people, according to the Equal Justice Initiative . This reign of terror worked to stamp out any semblance of Black progress after slavery, working hand in hand with oppressive Jim Crow laws that enforced legal segregation throughout the country for decades. A white man is accused of continuing this legacy of white supremacist terror on Saturday when he allegedly traveled to a supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, and killed 10 people , most of them Black. Experts say his act was not episodic or unprecedented, but is part of America’s violent history of using racial terror to intimidate and exert power over Black people. In the days since the shooting, conversations about hate crimes and gun control have consumed the nation. … [Read more...] about The Buffalo shooting was centuries in the making, experts say

Few terms have been as abused as “cancel culture.” Its very existence is a point of controversy, despite the fact that large majorities both on and off campus feel pressured to censor themselves for fear of losing their jobs or reputations. But it’s a real thing—no matter how many ways its meaning has been wrongly distorted. On March 3, Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russian foreign intelligence, accused the West of attempting to “cancel” their government for its invasion of Ukraine, echoing claims made by Vladimir Putin about alleged American cancel culture. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace that led to his resignation were cancel culture. And, of course, former President Donald Trump has blamed cancel culture for just about everything — including the Jan. 6 committee’s decision to subpoena Roger Stone and Alex Jones. Ridiculous non-examples of cancel culture, such as these, provide all the ammunition … [Read more...] about Don’t Stop Using the Term ‘Cancel Culture’

Tomorrow is Global Awareness Accessibility Day: an annual awareness day dedicated to improving access and inclusion in digital spaces for everyone out there who identifies as neurodivergent or having a disability. But today, a video is going viral of a senior Twitter exec calling Elon Musk a “looney tune”, “mentally handicapped” and “special needs” on account of him being autistic. In a lot of ways, the leaking of this clip, rife with ableist slurs, isn’t even about Musk, but about how deep-rooted ableism remains even in 2022. It doesn’t matter that Autism Awareness Day was just last month, or how many people in the public eye share their diagnoses, or the number of books, movies and documentaries released about autism. In Musk’s case, it doesn’t even matter if you’re quite literally one of the most powerful people in the world. The fact remains that for autistic people, we will still be seen as inherently “lesser” because we are neurodivergent. Don’t get me … [Read more...] about Sure, Elon Musk can be problematic – but leave his autism out of it

Tuesday on FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson defended prior statements regarding so-called great replacement theory pertaining to the U.S. electorate and how Democrats had openly claimed shifts in demographics would be to their political advantage. Carlson’s remarks come in the wake of the Buffalo, NY shooting in which the suspect allegedly used the theory for justification for actions. Many on the left had attacked the FNC host, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who Carlson called a coward for declining to appear on his FNC show. Transcript as follows: Last May, a 17-year-old high school senior called Payton Gendron received an assignment in his economics class. The assignment asked, “What do you want to do when you retire?” He answered, “Commit murder-suicide.” Gendron’s teacher immediately reported his threat to authorities who sent him to the emergency room for a psychiatric evaluation. Gendron was there for just 20 hours, as he … [Read more...] about Carlson: Democrats Have Decided Rather Than Convince You, They Will Change the Electorate

The leaked Roe vs Wade draft opinion has been in the news for its possible impact on abortion rights, but it also paves the way for the erosion of gay rights in America. If constitutionally protected women’s rights that were recognised almost 50 years ago, and then re-affirmed almost 20 years later, could be revoked by a conservative supermajority in the U.S. Supreme Court, then similarly situated rights for gay and lesbian people — such as the right to marry someone of the same sex — are also susceptible to revocation. A background In December 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded oral arguments in Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization , an ongoing case that looks at a 2018 Mississippi law (The Gestational Age Act) that bans most abortions after 15 weeks. Almost 50 years earlier, the same top court held in Roe vs Wade (1973) that it was unconstitutional for states to ban or restrict abortions before fetal viability. Later, Planned Parenthood of … [Read more...] about The ‘Roe’ draft ruling could affect other civil rights

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Question of the Week Caitlin Flanagan’s masterful “ Chasing Joan Didion ” has me thinking about travel. What have you learned while away from home? Paint a picture of where you went and share your insights. Conversations of Note Top of the mind: the mass shooting Saturday in Buffalo, New York, in which a white-supremacist terrorist killed 10 people. My colleague Graeme Wood, an expert on murderous extremists , read the killer’s apparent manifesto and grappled with whether it ought to be shared or suppressed. The Los Angeles Times editorial board argued that “Americans have ignored the insidious creep of white supremacy into the public discourse to the point that it has become normalized.” … [Read more...] about Tucker Carlson Deserves Blame—But Not for Buffalo

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge sentenced a white Wisconsin man to a decade in prison Wednesday for throwing acid in a Latino man's face in a racist attack at a Milwaukee bus stop. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean Marie Kies told 64-year-old Clifton Blackwell that he acted with hate when he threw the acid on Mahud Villalaz in November 2019. She said he wasn't provoked and that his behavior was “diabolical.” “We're all different from one another. ... When we let those differences cloud our judgment, that's bias or prejudice or discrimination, and in this instance it is hate,” the judge told Blackwell. “I'm sure (the acid) was absolutely painful. And you caused him emotional distress that I think is never going to heal. You made him feel he's not worthy and that's diabolical.” Villalaz testified that the vision in his left eye was permanently damaged by the attack, and the judge said Villalaz suffered second-degree burns. Blackwell attended the hearing in a wheelchair … [Read more...] about Wisconsin man gets 10 years in prison for racist acid attack