July 20, 2019 Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing The Color of Law

Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law is a great look at how the policies of the United States Government actively worked to segregate America. The Color of Law matters because it walks readers through laws, court opinions, and political decisions that forced America to segregate. The book also does a good job rebutting some of the arguments traditionally made in opposition to the reality that segregation was a choice made by racist and/or white supremacists to make unconstitutional segregation an American reality.

Most White people Don’t Care About Equal Education

Since the Democratic debates, the media has been giving a lot of attention to the exchange about school bussing between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. What is not being discussed is the racism behind America’s educational system.

March 30, 2019 Jonathan Simeone

Redlining Explained

With Facebook in trouble for allowing people to exclude potential renters based on race, redlining has been in the news lately. So, I thought it would be good to remind everyone of what redlining is and of ow it was critical to the federal government’s efforts to segregate America.

March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing Good Kids, Bad City

Kyle Swenson’s Good Kids, Bad City is one of those books I read knowing it will infuriate me. I read it because I can’t think about this kind of injustice and racism enough. As a lawyer, I want so badly to respect the law. As someone who has learned enough to realize people enforcing, prosecuting, and judging the law as well as the law itself are too often not worth respecting, I can’t stop being disappointed. Far too often the “justice system” is really the injustice system. Way more often than many white people want to admit the reason the “justice system” becomes the injustice system is the color of the defendant’s skin.

December 22, 2018 Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing Gary Pomerantz’s The Last Pass

Gary Pomerantz’s The Last Pass is an interesting read about racism, friendship, and mortality. Told largely through the historic run of the Boston Celtics of the ’50s and ’60s, The last pass focuses on the relationship between Bob Cousy and Bill Russel.

As a Celtics fan from Boston who appreciates history and acknowledges the terrible racist history of Boston and Massachusetts, I really enjoyed The Last Pass.

The story is told by Bob Cousy. It walks us through the abuse Cousy watched his mother inflict on his father and discusses how that impacted Cous’s life. But the focus of the story is Cous’s regret that he didn’t speak out when Russell and his other African-American teammates suffered discrimination.

By the end of the book, Cousy who is nearly 90, sends a letter to Russel and shares his feelings and regrets.

If you enjoy true life stories and you are willing to confront racism, you should give The Last Pass a read. If you’re a sports fan, the book will be especially enjoyable for you.

November 3, 2018 Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing The Fight to Vote

Michael Waldman’s The Fight to Vote is an incredibly timely, important look at the history of voting in America. Sadly, Waldman’s work highlights the systematic disenfranchisement of Americans (especially people of color and poor people).

October 22, 2018 Jonathan Simeone

Every American Should be Represented in Congress

The verdict for this episode is: if the citizens of Washington, DC and Puerto Rico were overwhelmingly white evangelical Christians, they would have Congressional representation.

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October 8, 2018October 8, 2018 Jonathan Simeone

America’s Illegitimate Political System

The verdict for this episode is: in America, minority rules.

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September 13, 2018 Jonathan Simeone

Being white, rich, and Living in a Blue State is Good

The Census Bureau released two critical reports demonstrating a lot about American society in 2017. Together, they highlight the widening gap between the rich and those living in poverty, the advantages of living in blue states, and the racism that still dominates much of American life.

September 7, 2018 Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing Linda Gordon’s The Second Coming of the KKK

The Second Coming of the KKK The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition is an especially relevant read today. If you enjoy history, aren’t afraid to be confronted by America’s racism, and follow today’s politics, you should read The Second Coming of the KKK.

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