The 2020 election and Trump presidency are stress tests for American democracy and its first principles of freedom, equality and democratic elections. In our democracy, an enlightened citizenry, informed by a free press, renders its judgment and a losing incumbent peacefully transfers power to a new president. The transfer of power has happened so many
Clarence Thomas is not evil as many of his critics say nor the hero his backers worship. He’s not the legal incompetent his detractors ridicule. Nor is he the legal visionary many conservatives describe. He’s not the Uncle Tom of racist caricatures drawn by some liberal cartoonists. But his vision of equality couldn’t be more
St. Louisans may be surprised to hear it, but their U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen had a lead role in recommending that Michael Flynn be cleared of lying to the FBI – even though Flynn had been convicted and twice admitted the crime in open court. The Flynn dismissal is a key element of President Donald
The spring 2020 print issue on the history of slavery, segregation, and racism in our region was produced with the help and financial support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The soul of America is its promise of ever-expanding freedom, equality and opportunity. The parodox of America is that over four centuries our Founders
The press’ rough draft of the history of race in St. Louis, Missouri and Illinois got most things wrong. In the early 1950s, a group of young civil rights activists – Irv and Maggie Dagen, Charles and Marion Oldham and Norman Seay – led a CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) sponsored sit-in of lunch counters
