A Victory for Democracy
By Alex Mikuilch, Ph.D.
Americans won a crucial battle for democracy in the 2012 election. In the face of vicious racism, voter suppression and intimidation, hurricanes and inclement weather, millions of Americans endured long lines and witnessed to the hope of democracy: that government gains its power only by the will and consent of the governed, to paraphrase the Declaration of Independence.
Race and the 2012 Presidential Election
By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.
We live in an odd in-between time, neither free of the racist politics of the past nor committed to achieving racial justice within our multi-racial reality. In the 2012 U.S. presidential election, the casualties of racism include not only the lives lost to death-dealing racism, but also truth and justice.
The Dynamism of Catholic Social Teaching in the Pursuit of the Common Good
A Framework for Faithful Citizenship
Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.
Who Cares about the Broken World?
Celebrating The Church in the Modern World
by Fred Kammer, SJ
On October 11, 2012, we observed the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council—an event in Church and world history that is unprecedented in many ways. It was the largest and longest meeting ever held—over 2,000 bishops, cardinals, and other prelates meeting for four months every fall over the course of four years. Moreover, the tone and texture of its documents were like nothing before and have shaped public discourse in the Church ever since.
Expanding health coverage could reduce longstanding racial disparities
A North Carolina report from the Budget and Tax Center of the North Carolina Justice Center indicates that implementing the Medicaid expansion provision of the Affordable Care Act could "reduce racial health disparities and reap the benefits of improved health coutcomes and resulting cost savings." See full report here.
U.S. Supreme Court to look at affirmative action case of white LSU graduate
In a major affirmative action case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, Abigail Fisher, a white graduate of Louisiana State University who was denied admission to the University of Texas, claims discrimination on the basis of race. Jamilah Lemieux reflects on the issues of affirmative action versus white privilege in Ebony magazine.
Available online at http://www.ebony.com/news-views/affirmative-action-vs-white-privilege-119.
Brennan Center for Justice updates its Voting Rights map
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University just updated its Voting Rights and Laws map which can be accessed at http:// www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/2012_summary_of_voting_law_chang….
The Real Fraud in “Voter Fraud”
How so-called reform laws aim to disenfranchise voters
By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.
Changing the Script: A Starting Point for Reducing Gun Violence
By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.
In the last issue of JustSouth Quarterly, my article, “Stop Casting Stones: The Failure of Punitive Crime Policy,” focused on what does not work in criminal policing. A key point to remember about the failure of punitive crime policy is that getting “tough on crime,” through more arrests, more incarceration, harsher sentences, and imposition of the death penalty contribute to a “vicious cycle” of violence itself.
The challenge of building an inclusive, high-skilled workforce for New Orleans' future
As the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign heats up and debates how to ignite a fragile economic recovery, the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center recently released a study demonstrating the need for New Orleans to “place greater emphasis on building the education and skills of its future workforce in a more inclusive way.”