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Good morning,
Happy holidays from the team, pictured above in all of our winter glory. For this week’s newsletter, I asked several members of the extended Race/Related family at The New York Times to share their thoughts on the most significant stories about race in 2018.
Is there anything we’ve missed? If so, email us at racerelated@nytimes.com .
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
1. The Deafening Silence of Colin Kaepernick
This year, hardly a week passed when Colin Kaepernick’s name did not come up. The kneeling protests against racism and social injustice he ignited at the beginning of the 2016 football season continued to resonate on and off the field even as he says very little himself. It’s easy to conclude he is being shunned, but regardless the debate and dialogue over race and sports carries on.
— Randy Archibold, Deputy Editor
2. How ‘Gardening While Black’ Almost Landed This Detroit Man in Jail
For me, the biggest story this year was the numerous accounts of random 911 calls made on black Americans for doing everyday things, like barbecuing, swimming, sitting at Starbucks, golfing, eating at Subway, gardening, walking into their home, leaving a corner store or cashing a paycheck at a bank. The list goes on. Doing any of these things while black made several Americans feel threatened, so much so that they were willing to dial 911. I hope we don’t bring this habit into the new year.
