Monthly Archives: June 2020

Social change at Princeton (and everywhere): slowly, then suddenly

Princeton University is renaming some buildings, awards, and programs, striking Woodrow Wilson’s name from its School of Public and International Affairs, a response to the heightened awareness of structural racism in the United States, demonstrated most literally by hundreds of … Continue reading

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Statue, of limitations

Just because someone once thought a statue was a good idea doesn’t mean the rest of us have to live with it forever. The American Museum of Natural History is removing the statue of Theodore Roosevelt that guards its entrance, … Continue reading

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Tactical innovation, COVID, K-Pop, and cars.

I learned of the Tik-Tok K-Pop Trump ticket troll from my teen daughter, when the large crowds the Trump campaign didn’t quite turn up in Tulsa. She told me that many of her friends, high school students in Southern California, … Continue reading

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Putting activists and authorities on alert and cultivating allies

One round of activism can clear the way for the next one–even by other people–to make larger gains. The wave of protests against racialized police violence has already effectively promoted changes. It started with the arrests and indictments of the … Continue reading

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Why #JusticeforGeorge spurred a national movement

Certainly the Minneapolis police officer who crushed George Floyd’s neck with his knee, or the three other officers who stood by as it happened, had no sense that they’d face punishment, much less spark a national campaign against racial violence.  … Continue reading

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Froze and reversed the arms race, anniversary repost

I’m reposting this reminder about the massive nuclear freeze march, part of an important campaign in the 1980s. Of course, nuclear weapons are not the most salient story today, when the United States is faced with a public health crisis, … Continue reading

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NASCAR, race, and the Confederate flag–plus a query about Great Neck South

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) officials announced a ban on the Confederate Battle Flag at its events.  At  once,  the  decision  was  a response  to nation-wide demonstrations sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. The organization … Continue reading

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Statuary impacts: complex causality, the limits of social science, and striking Gen. Lee’s statue

In the wake of a dozen days and nights of protest against racialized police violence, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ordered the removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, that has loomed over the state capital’s Monument Park for … Continue reading

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Chains of change

In an expression of commitment and principle, served with a chaser of trolling for the president, Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed the plaza in front of the White House, and commissioned artists to paint BLACK LIVES MATTER in broad capital (or … Continue reading

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