Tag Archives: racism
For Austin Police, Claims of Racism Are Only the Tip of the Iceberg
An investigation into allegations of racism against a former top cop points to deeper problems of bias and retaliation at the Austin Police Department.
In December, following the abrupt resignation of an assistant police chief accused of using racial slurs on the job, Austin’s city council launched an investi...Read More
A Top Cop Accused of Racism Forces Austin to Confront Bias in Law Enforcement
Austin isn’t the only Texas city where trust between police and communities of color has frayed this year.
In late October, Assistant Chief Justin Newsom abruptly resigned from the Austin Police Department after 23 years on the force. Newsom, who oversaw the departme...Read More
Loon Star: The Elephant in the Room
Ben Sargent on the GOP’s racism. Trump will be in Dallas for a rally on October 17.
To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section, or find Observer political reporting here....Read More
Texas Leads in Polling Place Closures Since 2013
750 polling places in Texas have been shuttered since Shelby v. Holder, the Supreme Court decision that released the state from federal oversight in changing its voter laws and practices.
If you’ve been on the voting rights tour bus in Texas, what a ride it’s been—especially since 2013. Prior to then, the state was beholden to the Voting Ri...Read More
‘Owned’ Explores the Racist Foundation of Homeownership in America
Giorgio Angelini, the film’s director and a native Houstonian, discusses the movie ahead of a showing in Austin on September 10.
After Giorgio Angelini graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005, he toured the country with his two bands, playing in the same bars and clubs ye...Read More
‘Seadrift’ Dredges Up a Little-Known—and Deeply Disturbing—Texas Story
An electrifying new documentary captures a forgotten conflict in the sleepy coastal community of Seadrift.
The new documentary Seadrift opens with a tranquil shot of the bay in the tiny Gulf Coast fishing town that lends the film its title. Frogs jump and a heron pre...Read More
Finger-Wagging, but No Oversight, for Texas Redistricting
A federal court delivers a stern warning but no relief despite Texas’ long history of deliberately discriminatory voting laws.
Even though Texas lawmakers deliberately discriminated against minority voters the last time they drew congressional and state district lines, the Texas Legisla...Read More
Where the Bodies are Buried
In 1910, East Texas saw one of America’s deadliest post-Reconstruction racial purges. One survivor’s descendants have waged an uphill battle for generations to unearth that violent past.
In 1910, East Texas saw one of America’s deadliest post-Reconstruction racial purges. One survivor’s descendants have waged an uphill battle for generations...Read More
Steve King Has a Friend in Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert
The East Texas tea partier came to the defense of white nationalist Steve King, underscoring the Iowa congressman’s deep ties with Lone Star conservatives.
When Iowa Congressman Steve King wondered out loud last week to the New York Times, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did th...Read More