Teaching American Slavery: Confronting an Educational Deficit in Our Schools

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As of the presidential election of 2008, the US has now had an African American President – for eight years. When Barack Obama was first elected, there was speculation, even hope, that the US might finally be entering a time of reduced racism. Of course, many others among us realized that merely the election of […]

Solidarity with Jews in Light of Heightened Antisemitism

| Past,Present

Last year brought yet another extremely disturbing statistic: 2017 marked the highest increase in antisemitic incidents in the US since the first Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents was taken in 1979.  In a statement, Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, stated, “A confluence of events in 2017 led to a surge […]

First Lawsuit Filed to Challenge Trump Medicaid Attack

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Certain Republicans and conservatives would love to damage, severely weaken or kill off Medicaid (and other social safety net programs that have been in place for decades). A first step was recently taken in Kentucky and approved by the Department of Health and Human Services. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, on January […]

Hate in the White House: A New Tool from the SPLC

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Is it not tragic that we must speak of hate in the People’s House, our beloved White House in the seat of our national government? Unfortunately, we must call a spade a spade: the Trump Administration, from the top down, fosters hatred, bigotry, and animosity – citizen against citizen – on a regular basis. Donald […]

Index to the Second Year

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Thank you as always for checking in with WisdomWordsPPF!  Here is a guide to the past year of blog posts (note that some posts appear in several categories). If you want a guide to the first year (October 2015-October 2016), you can find it here. Posts on Social Justice, Politics and Our Peer Nations The […]

Fact-Checking the Trump-Sessions DACA Statement

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It probably should not come as a surprise that the Trump Administration’s statement on DACA is full of inaccuracies. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has provided us with an annotated version of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ statement on Trump’s decision to halt President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, showing at least 26 examples […]

Resources to Combat the “Alt-Right:” Constructive Advice from the SPLC

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In the wake of the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, recently – not only the gathering of Neo-Nazi and other white supremacist groups, but also the murder of an innocent woman, President Trump’s various comments on the situation, the memorial service for Heather Heyer, and candlelight vigils and rallies for peace around the nation – it […]

The SPLC’s Latest Report on US Hate Groups

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The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just released its annual report on hate and extremism in America.  Entitled “Hate groups increase for second consecutive year as Trump electrifies radical right,” it is a “must-read” for all Americans who care about our country. As SPLC noted in the cover memo to supporters, “As Donald Trump’s […]