Adam Serwer

An opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas exposed the limits of originalism.

The debate over abortion is an important part of the story of polarization in American politics, but it is not its genesis.

The “racial” distinctions between master and slave may be more familiar to Americans, but they were and are no more real than those between Gentile and Jew.

Florida’s move to silence expert criticism of its disenfranchisement campaign echoes its Redemption-era assault on civil rights.

Objections to the appointment of Nikole Hannah-Jones to an academic chair are the latest instance of conservatives using the state to suppress "dangerous" ideas.

True democracy in America is a young, fragile experiment that must be defended if it is to endure.

Not since Reconstruction has there been such an opportunity for the advancement of racial justice.

A dispute between some scholars and the authors of NYT Magazine’s issue on slavery represents a fundamental disagreement over the trajectory of U.S. society.

The gravest danger to American democracy isn’t an excess of vitriol—it’s the false promise of civility.

No belief in the history of the US has been more threatening to democracy than the certainty that only white people are fit for self-government.

The Trump administration’s commitment to deterring immigration through cruelty has made horrifying conditions in there inevitable.

A long-overdue excavation of the book that Hitler called his “bible,” and the man who wrote it.

T. Thomas Fortune changed Black History, and seems to have been forgotten.

The justices again appear poised to pursue a purely theoretical liberty at the expense of the lives of people of color.

To preserve the political and cultural preeminence of white Americans against a tide of demographic change, the administration has settled on a policy of systemic child abuse.

His moralizing accelerated the cultural backlash against him and provided evidence that would be used against him at trial.

Obama's desire to “look forward” on torture has enabled Trump to look backward in his appointment of a new CIA director.

To those outside the black community, the Nation of Islam’s persistent appeal, despite its bigotry, can seem incomprehensible.

Trumpism emerged from a haze of delusion, denial, pride, and cruelty—not as a historical anomaly, but as a profoundly American phenomenon.

The legend of the Confederate leader’s heroism and decency is based in the fiction of a person who never existed.

Preston Brooks, Greg Gianforte, and the American tradition of disguising cowardice as bravery.

The accomplishments of the first black president will be erased by a man who rose to power on slandering him.