Our prayers are with the families of those lost to the tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. Mary Katharine and Vic talk about the shooting and unpack the internet's takes on gun regulations.
We're talking about new anger, frustration, and confusion about what went on during this week's school shooting. Police released more information that made parents have more questions.
Also, a lot of public support is coming for both gun rights and gun reform.
And we'll tell you what you need to know about this Memorial Day weekend: from the events to the weather to the travel forecast.
Plus, Twitter shareholders are suing Elon Musk, the "greatest spectacle in racing" is this weekend, and a teen athlete who realized the power of his mind is helping other kids do the same.
In this groundbreaking work, Professor Brandon T. Jett unearths how police departments evolved with the urbanization of the Jim Crow South, to target African Americans through a variety of mechanisms of control and violence, such as violent interactions, unjust arrests, and the enforcement of segregation laws and customs. Race, Crime, and Policing in the Jim Crow South, published by Louisiana State University in July 2021, provides explanation and context to show the way that modern institution of policing in the United States has evolved from, but clings to historical patterns and attitudes that situate African Americans in positions of relative vulnerability in their interactions with police.
Still, what surprises in Jett's work is the way that Black residents co-operated and even manipulated the police in aid of crime reduction and to extract services in the urban spaces that they lived. Vivid examples and rich detail provides the reader with a thorough understanding of criminal justice and the way that policing reinforced segregation during the Jim Crow era.
Brandon T. Jett is a professor of history at Florida South Western State College. In 2017, he was awarded a William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Early Career Scholar Fellowship. You can listen to him host on New Books in The American South. Race, Crime Policing in the Jim Crow South was the Silver Medal Winner of the Florida Book Award in 2021.
Jane Richards is a doctoral student at the University of Hong Kong. You can find her on twitter where she follows all things related to human rights and Hong Kong politics @JaneRichardsHK
Parents and other community members in Uvalde, Texas, are criticizing local police for its handling of the Robb Elementary School shooting where 21 people were killed on Tuesday. In addition, many are wondering why there were differences in the initial statements that officials had made, why it took so long for police to apprehend the gunman, and how the gunman was apparently able to enter the school through an unlocked door.
In headlines: Oklahoma enacted the country’s strictest anti-abortion law, actor Kevin Spacey was charged with four counts of sexual assault in the U.K., and a New York court required Trump and his family members to sit for a deposition in a civil case brought by Attorney General Letitia James.
And we interview Makanalani Gomes, a member of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. The Red Hill water crisis in O’ahu, Hawai’i continues to spark outrage among residents, particularly Native Hawaiians. Local activists have taken up the issue all the way to the United Nations, demanding a formal investigation into the facility. Gomes discusses her and her fellow activists’ demands to demilitarize Hawai’i and the Pacific at large.
Show Notes:
What A Day is going on break for Memorial Day weekend. We’ll be back with a new episode on Wednesday, June 1st.
KSAT: “Remembering the victims of the Uvalde elementary school shooting” – https://bit.ly/3MOvdSV
New York Times: “How to Help Victims of the Uvalde School Shooting” – https://nyti.ms/3LNCnFK
New York Times: “Uvalde Had Prepared for School Shootings. It Did Not Stop the Rampage” – https://nyti.ms/3LOnKSB
Grist: “Following 14,000-gallon fuel spill, Pacific representatives call for UN investigation” – https://bit.ly/3NuGNTk
What does someone’s skin color have to do with who he or she is? “Not a whole lot,” Dr. Ben Carson says.
Carson, a renowned brain surgeon, experienced racism as a child and even early on in his celebrated medical career.
But Carson says he never has considered the color of someone’s skin to be a defining factor of who they are.
“As a brain surgeon, obviously, when I open somebody's head, I'm operating on a thing that makes them who they are,” Carson says. “It's not their hair or their skin that makes them who they are. It's their brain that makes them who they are. ... So obviously, I'm not going to sit around and blame somebody for something that their forefathers did to my forefather.”
Another horrific mass shooting has us all asking WTF can we actually do about this? There is plenty of reason for pessimism, but Opening Arguments is here to break down what might realistically be done. This is part 1, focusing on why gun companies are immune from civil actions and what we should do about that. Part 2 will be about the police response. In the first segment, we give an update on Elon Musk. There was a filing that went virtually unnoticed but sheds more light on the Twitter situation.
Contrary to how it might feel when we're just seeing them through screens, celebrities, too, deal with very common human problems: disease, mental health concerns, complicated relationships. Today, we bring you two celebrity memoirs that show journeys in the spotlight and the human side of fame. First, Selma Blair talks about her memoir Mean Baby, in which she recounts her battles with addiction, multiple sclerosis, and more. Then, Jennifer Lewis talks about becoming The Mother of Black Hollywood – also the title of her book – and how performing ultimately masked her bipolar disorder.
The first all-black team of climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest last week, including the first Kenyan ever to do so. Today on the show Short Wave Host Aaron Scott talks with Science Reporter Ari Daniel about his interview with James Kagambi, a snow-loving, 62-year-old with a bum knee who made the trek despite his doctor's orders.
