The Respect Rundown is a companion blog for the Foundation’s diversity newsletter, Respect. All articles published in Respect, (complete with discussion questions) are posted to the blog so they may be used as individual handouts.
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The Respect Rundown
Librarians Face a New Chapter on Book Banning
by Emily Pecot Could school librarians face jail time for the books they choose to include in your library? The late Judith Krug, a former executive director of the American Library Association who...
Defining Antisemitism in the Garden State
by Sylvia Mendoza In general, hate crimes are on the rise in the United States. Of the 11,862 reported hate crimes in 2023, 1,832 were due to antisemitism, according to data from the Federal Bureau...
Federal Hate Crime Law Brings First Conviction
by Michael Barbella In February 2024, U.S. prosecutors won their first case under a federal hate crime statute that was expanded in October 2009 to encompass gender, gender identity, sexual...
Appeals Court Ruling Weakens Federal Voting Rights Act
by Michael Barbella For nearly 60 years, private groups and ordinary citizens were legally permitted to file voter discrimination lawsuits under the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). In November 2023, a...
Manipulating Boundaries with Gerrymandering
by Sylvia Mendoza Gerrymandering is almost as old as the United States itself. Even before it had a name, Patrick Henry tried to draw a congressional map in Virginia that would have denied a seat...
The Battle Over Voting Rights in America Continues
by Emily Pecot Across the country, concerns over voting rights and the integrity of the electoral process have led to a surge in legal actions ahead of Election Day 2024. Fueled by the false claims...
Founding a New Nation at the Expense of Enslaved People
by Jodi L. Miller The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, states that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that...
Freedom Gives Way to Segregation
by Suzi Morales The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in December 1865, abolished slavery in the United States. While the amendment indicated progress, it was also during this...
Danger for African Americans When the Sun Goes Down
by Phyllis Raybin Emert Instead of welcoming signs at the city limits of small-town America in the late 19th and 20th centuries, there were warnings. A sign in one Connecticut town read, “Whites...
Citizen’s Arrest Laws Trace Origins to Slavery
by Phyllis Raybin Emert and Jodi L. Miller Have you ever heard the phrase “I’m making a citizen’s arrest?” Citizen’s arrest laws date back to 13th century England. They were a way of helping local...
Struggle to Protect African American Voting Rights Continues
by Maria Wood When the first federal elections were held in the United States only white men who owned property could vote. Since then, the franchise has been expanded three times through the 15th,...
What Story Do Confederate Monuments Tell?
by Jodi L. Miller The debate over whether Confederate monuments and other testaments to the Confederacy merit a place in public spaces continues. Some believe that these monuments are simply a...