Author: Insights

“Day after day for the past nine years, we crafted every urgent plea possible to persuade them: appealing to their intellects and their hearts and their humanity and their patriotism. They told us we were exaggerating, we were overreacting, that we were drifting into melodrama or delusion, that the doom we were forecasting was a fabrication of our minds, that such grim realities were virtual impossibilities. ‘The sky is not falling, Chicken Little.’ they said. ‘You need to relax.’ And now…” – John Pavlovitz Life in a politically charged era can feel like you are constantly standing at the...

Across the American South, statues of Confederate generals loomed in public squares, along courthouse lawns, and at the entrances to museums for decades. Those monuments, erected during periods of racial backlash in the early 20th century, once stood unchallenged. In the last few years, however, a widespread movement has drawn attention to the cruelty, oppression, and racism symbolized by the figures. In an era more open to conversations about sexuality and identity, some historical experts have contemplated if certain Confederate leaders might have been gay, or what we would now understand as part of the LGBTQ community. Speculation ranges...

The Trump administration has removed explicit prohibitions against segregated facilities in federal contracts, a change that took effect immediately in March across all civil federal agencies. The shift eliminated a clause that had barred federal contractors from maintaining segregated workplaces, dining areas, and other facilities, a restriction that had been in place for the decades since Jim Crow. The change, outlined in a General Services Administration memo, follows Donald Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which repealed a 1965 directive signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. That executive order had required federal contractors to comply with federal...