8 posts categorized "On the Courthouse Lawn" Feed

The author of On the Courthouse Lawn says of Shirley Sherrod's speech that it "should be required listening for those who want to understand the arc of race and racism in America and the possibilities for redemption in this country." Read more →


Sherrilyn Ifill responds to the idea that the election of an African-American president means that traditional black civil rights thinking is now outdated. Read more →


My Soul Looks Back and Wonders

Sometimes, you just can't be cynical. Sometimes – even though you know that we still have a long way to go, that the work of achieving a racially just society is far from over, even though you don't subscribe to the messianic fervor that sometimes surrounds talk of about this presidential campaign – sometimes you just have to stop for a moment, and acknowledge the extraordinariness of this moment in American history. Read more →


The Relevance of Nooses and Lynching in the Age of Obama

by Sherrilyn A. Ifill In the flush of the current presidential campaign, when crowds of blacks and whites caught up in Obama fever chant together, “race doesn’t matter,” and even the mainstream media seems delirious with the possibility that the... Read more →


The Legacy of Lynchings in Halloween Decorations

Halloween is a time for "gallows humor," but macabre displays of fake bodies swaying from trees are not a laughing matter for those who understand the legacy of lynching in America. From Crystal Lake, Florida, to Stratford, Connecticut, hanging dummies... Read more →