Some people will call it surprising that a reporter was reportedly assaulted Wednesday night by a political candidate. Truth is, it is not surprising in the least. For those who hadn’t heard: Greg Gianforte, a Montana Republican running for Congress, was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly body-slamming Ben Jacobs, who works for the British […]

I’ve been meaning to write this column for years. The inspiration will invariably come some warm May evening as I am standing in the lobby of a downtown hotel and, suddenly, a limousine sweeps up and disgorges these boys in crisp tuxes, these girls in sparkly dresses, T-shirts and hoodies abandoned for the night, looking […]

“White people riot by voting.” Years later, I no longer recall who first shared that bit of wisdom with me, but I’ve always found it striking. Not, of course, that it is literally true. As is attested by any fair reading of the history of urban uprisings — New York City in 1863, Chicago in […]

So when will there be justice for Levar Jones? The question is occasioned by a reader’s recent request for an update on an incident I wrote about in 2014. Jones, an unarmed African-American man, was shot by South Carolina State Trooper Sean Groubert during a routine traffic stop in Columbia. Jones did nothing to merit […]