2018 brought a lot of change. Here are the best of our Weekend Reads.
2018 has brought a lot of change. It was an election year; the #MeToo movement gained momentum; we saw lynching memorials go up and Confederate monuments come down.
Through it all, we鈥檝e done our best to bring you the smartest, most timely analysis with the Weekend Read. We鈥檝e written about topics from LGBT rights to juvenile justice, from the hate and extremism in our country鈥檚 streets to the hate and extremism in the White House.
Which Weekend Reads did you found most engaging? This week, we鈥檙e bringing you a selection of the very best of 2018 based on what you, our readers, tell us you liked best.
2019 is fast approaching, but first, let鈥檚 take a look back at some of the hottest topics of 2018.
1. Trump says we don鈥檛 have to let you in
At the foot of the bridge over the Rio Grande, Laura turned to Agent Garza. 鈥淲hen I am found dead,鈥� she said, 鈥渋t will be on your conscience.鈥�
Hours earlier, a police officer had stopped Laura on her way home from work in a car with her cousin Elizabeth. She had no license, no registration 鈥斅燼nd no visa to be in the United States. 鈥� Elizabeth tried to tell the officer about Laura鈥檚 ex-husband, Sergio, who had continued to text her even after he was deported to Mexico. He promised he would set Laura on fire if she ever returned.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 do this,鈥� Elizabeth聽聽Solis. 鈥淗e鈥檒l kill her.鈥�
It was too late. Officer Solis had already called Border Patrol, setting in motion a chain of events that would make Laura one of an untold number of undocumented immigrants whom federal agents have deported to their deaths.
2. For incels, it鈥檚 not about sex. It鈥檚 about women
The hatred these men feel stems 鈥� crucially 鈥� not from their belief that they鈥檙e entitled to sex, but from their belief that women are required to give it to them. When women don鈥檛, incels weaponize their hate.
It cannot be women鈥檚 job to pacify men who hate them because of their gender 鈥� just like it cannot be the job of people of color to disarm white supremacists.
We began tracking male supremacy in 2012. In the wake of the 2016 election, we saw how essential male supremacist ideas were to the rise of the so-called 鈥渁lt-right鈥� and formally added male supremacist groups to our hate map the following year.
Now more than ever, it鈥檚 clear that we ignore male supremacy at our peril.
3. White nationalists who shouted 鈥淩ussia is our friend鈥� weren鈥檛 just whistling Dixie
The love affair between Russian and American extremists isn鈥檛 limited to individual relationships. Whole cultural exchanges are taking place between white nationalists in both countries, borne along by a current of swastikas, the Nazi 鈥渂lack sun,鈥� and references to 鈥�88鈥� (code for Heil Hitler) or 鈥�14鈥� (code for the 14-word white supremacist mantra). 鈥�
The bonds between Trump-adoring American extremists and Russia are cultural, political and, apparently, strong.
It鈥檚 increasingly clear that the white nationalists who shouted 鈥�Russia is our friend鈥� in Charlottesville last summer weren鈥檛 just whistling Dixie.
4. "He needs long-term care. Apparently we don鈥檛 have that in the state of Mississippi鈥�
Tyler Haire was 16 when he was locked up. He was 20 before he went to trial. 鈥� Once in jail, he colored pictures of dragons and aliens for the sheriff and his deputies. Sitting in front of the television, Tyler held his feet and rocked back and forth. He misspelled his own name in two different court documents. He went without any of his prescriptions. He lost 90 pounds.
Tyler鈥檚 court-appointed lawyer told the judge it was clear Tyler didn鈥檛 have 鈥渟ufficient mental capacity鈥� to understand the charge against him. He asked that Tyler receive a psychiatric evaluation, and the judge 鈥斅爈ooking at Tyler鈥檚 history of seven different mental disorders, the first diagnosed when he was just 4 years old 鈥斅燼greed. 鈥�
Every month, Sheriff Greg Pollan called the state mental hospital and asked when Tyler would be admitted. 鈥he hospital told Pollan that Tyler was third on its list and then, in the very next call, that he had inexplicably slipped to No. 10. It would admit him 鈥渋n two weeks.鈥�
It would actually take nearly four years.
5. These white Southerners changed their views on race. Your family can, too
Today, many of us will sit around tables with family members who don鈥檛 share our politics, our belief systems or even our values.
That can be difficult. Just ask the people who were interviewed by Donna Ladd earlier this fall in Mississippi:聽white Southerners whose views on race have changed聽since their racist upbringings. 鈥�
The people whom Ladd interviewed were changing beliefs, in many cases, that they鈥檝e held for decades. And they鈥檙e people who have a lot to lose in the process 鈥斅爄ncluding relationships with some of the very same friends and family members with whom they might have shared a Thanksgiving meal.
Conversations around the Thanksgiving table may be hard. But we know the work doesn鈥檛 stop there. And, we know the stakes are high.
And a few of the other Weekend Reads you found most engaging:
6. 鈥淲e go on electing politicians who heat kettles of hate鈥�
7. Mark Zuckerberg鈥檚 comments about Holocaust denial are disturbing
8. "You people who鈥檝e got gay children, don鈥檛 mess up like I did鈥�
9. Executed for committed war crimes 鈥� then honored with a Confederate monument
10. When calling yourself a fascist is 鈥榚dgy鈥�
11. Long lines, broken machines, voter ID laws: Welcome to the neo-Jim Crow
12. When you don鈥檛 know the laws or the language, it鈥檚 a lot harder to say #MeToo
We鈥檙e proud to fight by your side for justice and the promise of a more progressive South.
We鈥檒l see you in the New Year!
The Editors
P.S. Here are some other pieces we think are valuable this week:
- by Page Pate for CNN
- by Jesus Rodriguez for Politico
- by Greg Allen for NPR
- by Caitlin Byrd for The Post and Courier
人兽性交's Weekend Reads are a weekly summary of the most important reporting and commentary from around the country on civil rights, economic and racial inequity, and hate and extremism.聽Sign up to receive Weekend Reads every Saturday morning.
