Americans are divided by race and politics over political activism in sports, especially athletes taking a knee during the national anthem, managing editor David Nather writes from a new Axios-Ipsos poll:

• The split on advocating personal views came largely from the opposition of white respondents: 60% said athletes shouldn't express their views. Large majorities of Black respondents (84%), Hispanic respondents (63%) and Asian respondents (68%) said they should.

The poll of 2,035 adults (margin of error: ±2.6 points) found a huge partisan gap: 8 out of 10 Republicans — including 84% of white Republicans — said athletes shouldn't express their views. Three out of four Democrats and 57% of independents said they should.

• More than nine out of 10 white Republicans said kneeling is inappropriate, and nearly six out of 10 white independents agreed. Among white Dems, 68% said it's OK to kneel.

Keep reading.

"Degrowthers" — with associations, conferences and academic journals springing up — argue for shrinking the economy to avert environmental catastrophe, Bryan Walsh writes in Axios Future.

• Greta Thunberg, now 18, summed up the argument when she chastised delegates at a UN climate summit in 2019: “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"
• The catch: Economic shrinking during the pandemic indicates the pain would outweigh the benefits — especially for the world's poorest.

The global economy shrank an estimated 4% in 2020, according to data from the World Bank.

• That contraction, due to the direct pain of the pandemic and to the effects of social distancing, led to a roughly 6% reduction in global CO2 emissions — the biggest annual drop since WWII.
• A new Pew analysis found the ranks of the global middle income — those who live on $10.01 to $20 a day — fell by 54 million in 2020. The number of global poor rose by 131 million.

Keep reading.

• 🔮 Sign up here for Bryan Walsh's twice-weekly Axios Future.

Just 60 days in, President Biden "got a taste this week of what the next four years may look like," the N.Y. Times' David E. Sanger writes:

• Biden faces "a new era of bitter superpower competition, marked by perhaps the worst relationship Washington has had with Russia since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and with China since it opened diplomatic relations with the United States."

What's happening: "It has been brewing for years," Sanger writes, "as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Xi Jinping of China took sharp turns toward authoritarianism."

• "But it blew up in open fashion this week, after Mr. Biden agreed with the proposition that Mr. Putin is a 'killer' and the Chinese, meeting with the United States for the first time since the new administration took office, lectured Americans about the error of their arrogant view that the world wants to replicate their freedoms."

Asylum-seeking families and unaccompanied minors from Central America walk toward the border wall in Peñitas, Texas, after crossing the Rio Grande into the U.S. from Mexico on rafts.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporary processing center in Donna, Texas.

Hyun Jung Grant, one of the victims of the Atlanta rampage, danced during household chores while working almost every day to support two sons, her older son, 23-year-old Randy Park, told AP.

• "I learned how to moonwalk because I saw her moonwalking while vacuuming when I was a kid,” Park said.

Here's what we know about the victims.

• Here's a video pronunciation guide for their names, from the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

Go deeper: "How Anti-Asian Activity Online Set the Stage for Real-World Violence" (N.Y. Times; subscription) ... "Trump’s 'Chinese Virus' Tweet Linked to Rise of Anti-Asian Hashtags on Twitter" (UC San Francisco).

Above, coordinator of school counseling Carli Rocha-Reaes (left) and high school counselor Nadia Pearce speak to a group of juniors and seniors via video conference in Bridgeport, Conn.

Pearce reminds her students of career and college goals they had before the pandemic, and calls parents to show how kids are supposed to log in for distance learning, AP's Michael Melia reports.

• Why it matters: Counselors everywhere are trying to guide students through the pandemic's stress and uncertainty. The burden has been especially heavy in urban districts like Bridgeport, where school officials are consumed with attendance and engagement.

Counselors regularly run reports to identify students who are missing consecutive days of school or not logging in for class.

• 🤯 Pearce said: "The data for attendance is like that emoji where there's an explosion."

Keep reading.

Two women whose husbands died of COVID are favored in races to replace them in Congress, Axios' Ursula Perano writes:

• In Louisiana today, a special election is being held to replace Rep.-elect Luke Letlow (R), who died Dec. 29, at age 41, before he could take office. Donald Trump has endorsed Letlow's widow, Julia Letlow.
• On May 1, a special election will be held in Texas to replace Rep. Ron Wright (R), who died last month at age 67. His widow, Susan Wright, is the frontrunner among 23 candidates in an open primary.

Keep reading.

Many of us quite literally owe our lives to researchers who fought COVID. Young winners announced today should give us faith in the future of science, Axios Future correspondent Bryan Walsh writes.

• 40 high school seniors from across the country competed virtually in the final round of the Science Talent Search, run every year since 1942.

Over $1.8 million in prize money was at stake. First place, and $250,000, went to 18-year-old Yunseo Choi of Phillips Exeter Academy.

• Choi studied matching algorithms that work for a finite number of couples to see how it would work for an infinite number.
• Other finalists built computer models for identifying drugs, developed biochar filtration machines and engineered deep learning systems.

Watch a video of Choi explaining her project.

• Share this story.