Given that universal mask wearing might be the next step for the country’s fight against Covid-19, it is in all of our best interests if we help each other learn to tolerate and then overcome our anxieties about wearing them.
Whether we move statues or keep them in place, our history in all its complexity needs to remain in plain sight. We cannot lock it behind walls or barricade it with cement. We need to move through that place of pain until the statues themselves become irrelevant.
The takeaway from my experience at Wash U is that companies can do that with some core factors in place: firm, explicit support and resources from leadership; an intentional focus on racial diversity in hiring and advancement; and creating a culture that recognizes and responds to the realities Black workers face.
I fear that removing episodes — some of which actually open discussions about racist representation — simply goes for an easy, non-substantive approach to harder questions about more dangerous racist logics and practices in Hollywood culture.
International lawyers and legal scholars sometimes treat the ICC as fundamentally different than other international institutions and regulatory regimes. It is not. It is an integral part of the global legal order, an order that promotes international peace and security for all, including Americans.
