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Two Governors, Two Visions of a New South
While Maryland embraces egalitarianism, Louisiana veers toward Christian nationalism.
By Charles M. Blow
I am fascinated by precedents and historical corollaries — I view human beings as stuck in rotation of our failings and frailties — so I often use history to contextualize our present-day politics. I’ve written, for example, about the enduring legacy of lynching and what the presidential election of 1912 can teach us about fighting extremism. I also reflect on lessons from my own life as a queer man who grew up poor in rural Louisiana.
I have written two New York Times best-selling books: “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which has been turned into an opera, and “The Devil You Know,” which inspired the HBO documentary “South to Black Power.” I joined The New York Times in 1994 as a graphics editor, later becoming the paper’s graphics director and eventually the Times’s design director for news. I left in 2006 for National Geographic, where I was the magazine’s art director, before returning to The New York Times in 2008 as an Opinion columnist. I received a B.A. in mass communications from Grambling State University in Louisiana. I am a political analyst for MSNBC, and I live in Atlanta.
I strive to be accurate, fair and empathetic in my writing. Every piece I publish is fact-checked and edited. Along with all Times journalists, I am committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook.
Email: chblow@nytimes.com
Instagram: @charlesmblow
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While Maryland embraces egalitarianism, Louisiana veers toward Christian nationalism.
By Charles M. Blow
A collection of stories on the challenges and joys of coming out later in life.
By Charles M. Blow and Vishakha Darbha
The best way to think of the holiday is not as the moment Black people attained freedom but as a moment in the struggle to realize freedom.
By Charles M. Blow
I remind myself to relish every summer day.
By Charles M. Blow
The seemingly transactional relationship between hip-hop artists and a politician with legal troubles.
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Descending to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s level can be satisfying, but it is also degrading.
By Charles M. Blow
What his rants about protesters say about his authoritarian streak.
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The president’s complicated relationship with a key demographic.
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In her conversation with the vice president, Drew Barrymore allowed informality to veer into disrespect.
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Lessons from a tumultuous summer.
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The suffering in the war in Gaza is unacceptable. Young people will make that point clear this summer in Chicago.
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With the issue of abortion rights, the vice president has hit her stride.
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For many Black Americans, the verdict was proof that injustice could be applied equally.
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Jerrod Carmichael’s stock in trade is the exploitation of the awkward.
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Attempts to show Black inferiority amount to another form of white supremacy.
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Like the “Lost Cause” ideology, Donald Trump’s propagandistic mythology negates the truth.
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There are signs that Black voters are inching closer to the patterns of other demographic groups.
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The two movements have a strong intersection.
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Protesters could create echoes of the 1968 convention in Chicago.
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Many would have preferred that she represent her House district, rather than run for the Senate.
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Her vote against authorizing the war in Afghanistan was an act of true courage.
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If alarms weren’t already sounding in the Biden campaign, now they have to be.
By Charles M. Blow
Gaza weighs on their minds, but for many, domestic concerns matter more.
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Why some Democrats won’t be supporting Biden in the primary.
By Charles M. Blow
To those advancing Christian nationalism, the will of God counts more than the will of the American people.
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The trial may not be affected, but the Democratic Party’s standing in Georgia will be tarnished.
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Too many people have settled into a hagiographic view of the former president.
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It’s heartening to watch Black pop culture embrace Black cultural institutions.
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A divide bodes ill for Democrats and perhaps even for Palestinians.
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Periods of backlash take shape after surges of Black progress. We have entered another such period.
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By staying in the race, she’s softening him up for the general election.
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Two libertarians haven’t given up on him.
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It was as mixed-up and contradictory as her campaign.
By Charles M. Blow
The pandering that works for Trump doesn’t work for her.
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Some governors are putting political philosophy over badly needed aid.
By Charles M. Blow
Who will be the best of the rest?
By Charles M. Blow, Gail Collins, Jamelle Bouie and David Brooks
They’re not persuaded that Biden would be much better.
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The president’s speech at Mother Emanuel was a missed opportunity.
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As Black women have raised their profiles, they’ve also raised some right-wing hackles.
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As people lose faith in institutions, they can lose faith in democracy itself.
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President Biden’s insistence on seeking a second term comes at high risk.
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It is here, in the dispute over definitions, that things begin to break down.
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The risk of a loss for the president is real, and no amount of political ego can disguise that.
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Where he and I are from, even would-be oppressors can be affable.
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An increasingly disaffected activist base on the left could be disastrous for the president in 2024.
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In this war, a gloves-are-off, by-any-means-necessary retaliation is unacceptable, regardless of who is engaged in it.
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A medical breakthrough has a history tangled up in questions of medical ethics and racial exploitation.
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Republicans’ impulses to disrupt and destroy keep winning out.
By Charles M. Blow
He has deceived his followers into believing in trickle-down tyranny.
By Charles M. Blow
It’s a sad state of affairs that our current political system starves young people of hope and optimism.
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On the 60th anniversary of a K.K.K. bombing, Sarah Collins Rudolph is still seeking restitution.
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His opponents keep refusing to return his barbs, and are racking up political wounds.
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On Wednesday night, Vivek Ramaswamy was seen as the greatest threat.
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An argument for consolidating Black political power.
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Is anyone served by this bastardizing of history?
By Charles M. Blow
It had a sense of historical correction.
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The document isn’t a pleasant read, but it’s surprisingly readable.
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Florida’s distortion of the history of slavery is more consequential than many comprehend.
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Trump recognized that for many Americans, celebrity was more powerful than character or civics.
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White nationalism was fundamental to the creation of America. That fact doesn’t change because it makes some uncomfortable.
Charles M. Blow
By striking down affirmative action, justices take the absurd position that racism must be ignored for racism to be overcome.
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G.O.P. politicians today aren’t constitutional absolutists. They’re constitutional opportunists.
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Many people, including me, come out in later adulthood. Our stories are not only uplifting but also illuminating and educational.
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Times columnists chose the TV shows, movies, books and songs that capture the country as they see it.
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Queer people and their families are registering the danger in some states and considering relocation.
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This year, there is a pall over Pride.
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If they can’t outpace Trump, they’ll lie in wait to catch him limping.
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As political figures, they’re not innovating. They’re peddling ahistoric drivel.
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The breathless headlines about the president’s age are fueled, at least in part, by political manipulation and media complicity.
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What the cable host could “taste” in the heat of the moment was the power to assign death.
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Biden has to demonstrate more fight for more progressive policies.
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Belafonte asked, “Where are the radical thinkers?” His question kept repeating in my head.
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I’ve often been delighted by how older men lean into sartorial whimsy when they exit workplace life.
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Veteran campaign managers worry about Biden’s age and the country’s polarization.
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Their lust for vengeance and opprobrium not only failed — it backfired.
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The former president’s post-arraignment speech at Mar-a-Lago reinforced just how stale he’s become.
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The state’s crusading censors are choosing the comfort of ignorance over the inconvenience of truth.
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Trump is still fighting old battles. But Republicans have moved on to their own war, a new war, a culture war.
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We are called to endure what I call the inconvenience of the necessary, a point at which something is morally right but the political timing is problematic.
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Prosecuting the former president would be a step toward mending the country.
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