Schools and universities are marking Black History Month starting today, but this is the first time it will be celebrated under new restrictions on diversity education imposed by some states.
Why it matters: The constraints — under the guise of banning the teaching of critical race theory — limit what some state-supported institutions can discuss about the nation's racial past. Educators embracing Black history have received death threats.
Paths to power and winning electionsinside the GOP are changing rapidly and radically, spawning a new generation of kingmakers while diminishing the clout of many who lorded over the party for years.
Why it matters: Fourteen of the Republican Party's top consultants and operatives across the country spoke in detail with Axios about how profoundly primary races have changed since 2014 — the last pre-Donald Trump midterm election and the last midterms in which a Democrat occupied the White House.
Joe Rogan, the popular podcaster whose anti-vaccination remarks have sparked protests against Spotify, apologized on Saturday via an Instagram post for repeatedly using racial slurs in the past.
Why it matters: The admission follows a weeklong public relations crisis for Spotify over the way it moderates content, specifically Rogan’s podcast, which they pay to exclusively distribute.
A Navy SEAL candidate died on Friday and another was hospitalized in San Diego at the end of what is known as Hell Week, an intense training phase for the military unit, NBC News reports.
Driving the news: The candidates were taken to the hospital Friday "several hours after their Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) class successfully completed Hell Week, part of the first phase of the Navy SEAL assessment and selection pathway," Naval Special Warfare command said in a statement, per NBC.
A single day's events made clear the new GOP litmus tests: Is Joe Biden the lawfully elected president, and was Jan. 6 an insurrection?
Why it matters: The correct answer is often "no" to both if you want to win a contested GOP primary or make a serious 2024 play. A full-throated "yes" gets you censured or defeated.
U.S. cities have long lagged behind counterparts in Europe when it comes to biking infrastructure, but some metros are making a push to build more lanes and boost bike commuting.
Why it matters: Transportation is the leading generator of greenhouse gases, the Urban Institute notes. Still, just 0.5% of Americans commuted on bikes in 2019, reports National Geographic.
Reports of hate crimes skyrocketed in 2021 in more than a dozen of America’s largest cities, with a record number of Asian Americans saying they were targeted, according to a preliminary analysis of the data.
Why it matters: The unpublished study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino comes amid the COVID-19 pandemicand as police departments have improved record-keeping.
Nearly 70 years since Brown vs. Board of Education ended racial segregation in schools, most Black history lessons taught across America are insufficient and under attack, several presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities tell Axios.
Why it matters: There's been a renewed and fierce debate around the role of race — and, specifically, Black history — in school curricula as states propose measures to curtail the teaching of the country's racial past.
A Virginia judge on Friday temporarily barred enforcement of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's (R) executive order making masks optional in schools.
Why it matters: Seven school boards have sued Youngkin over the order, calling it a violation of Virginia’s constitution, which leaves school supervision up to the boards, and a state law that requires school districts to follow federal health guidelines.
