race and class in america

The Last Compromise Walter Russell Mead
The history of race in America has been one of a series of "great compromises", from the Founding up to the election of Barack Obama. There are signs that the latest compromise is breaking down.

Black and White No Longer Richard Thompson Ford
American society is neither post-racial nor stuck fast in a racist past, but fantasies of monolithic racial communities are distorting our national conversation on race and public policy.

Transcending the Poverty Industry Robert L. Woodson, Sr.
Federal anti-poverty efforts have relied too heavily on solutions cooked up in academia and inside the Beltway. We already have plenty of proven programs—at the local level.

Whatever Became of the Raucous Caucus? Paul Frymer
The Congressional Black Caucus is no longer the flamboyant organization it was at its birth in the late 1960s, but it's still worth listening to.

Still Separate and Unequal Rhena Catherine Jasey
America's poorest students need extra educational resources just to keep pace with their more privileged peers. Instead, they get less—and teachers, principals and unions get blamed for the outcome.

american politics, 2012

The Open Fields of November Michael Barone
American politics today is far more volatile than in the past. That makes predicting what will happen in November a temptation for fools. Expect a massive failure to resist temptation.

What Newt Means Adam Clancy
The Newt Gingrich campaign amused the pols and pundits, but what it says about future primary contests isn't the least bit funny.

wavelengths

Hacking the Next War Chris C. Demchak
Cyber security is an ultra-modern challenge, but we could learn a lot about it by examining how pre-modern European city-states managed their defenses.

Turn Your Radio On Jeffrey Gedmin
The former director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty assesses what's right and what's wrong with U.S. broadcasting policy.

reviews

Down to The Wire Francis Fukuyama
The HBO television series The Wire, which aired between 2002 and 2008, brought Americans face-to-face with the stubborn and disturbing reality of inner-city life.

Zoned Out J.P. O'Malley
Two new books show us that racism is alive and all too well—not just in America, but in segregated cities around the world.

Finding the Founding Michal Jan Rozbicki
Scholars are fond of criticizing ideologues who ransack history for useful material to promote contemporary agendas. It turns out that many scholars do more or less the same thing.

The Great Stone Face Colin Fleming
The recent release of a series of 1930s-era two-reelers reminds us how great Buster Keaton was even when he wasn't at this best. The Great Stone Face was no slapstick peddler, but a true harbinger of film comedy as an art form.

Hope in the Searching Joseph R. Wood
Walker Percy distrusted the esoteric and the arcane, looking instead to the concrete and the quotidian as a bridge to faith and meaning. A man of both the American South and the Catholic Church, his novels and essays never evince a claim to know any mortal's destination—only the value of the journey.