This release is jam-packed with goodies and improvements

In a letter to the Texas campus’s community, The university’s president, Greg Fenves, wrote that after the events in Charlottesville, it had become clear to him “that Confederate monuments have become symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism.”

He said the statues’ historical and cultural significance was compromised by what they symbolized, and noted that they were erected in the midst of Jim Crow and segregation and that they represented “the subjugation of African-Americans.”

“The University of Texas at Austin has a duty to preserve and study history,” Mr. Fenves wrote. “But our duty also compels us to acknowledge that those parts of our history that run counter to the university’s core values, the values of our state and the enduring values of our nation do not belong on pedestals in the heart of the Forty Acres.”

The last time the N-word was hurled at me was in April 2017. And yes, it was the full word. Sadly, I was angrier that the guy reset my clock than I was at being called a racial slur. Trust me, every black person distinctly remembers the last time they were called the N-word. Now, thanks to some saint with a slick tongue, it’s a frighteningly fresh wound from 2017.

Racism is a sin. An LDS Church definition of sin is “to willfully disobey God’s commandments or to fail to act righteously despite a knowledge of the truth.” It seems pretty straightforward, right? Except for that key word, “knowledge.” The fact is, there’s a facet of Latter-day Saints that don’t actually “know” what racism is or “know” that it’s a bigger deal to the church than say swearing.

When we don’t understand the very real damage that even the smallest act of racism does to those it is inflicted upon, we sit silently. Which means we’ve convinced ourselves that we don’t need to speak up against it, because discomfort is too high a price to pay to keep our Christian covenant to comfort those who stand in need of comfort.

“Hey Google, call Dad”

An interactive look at homes around the world

I feel pretty strongly that we, in America, should treat monuments to the Confederacy the same way Germany treats monuments to the Third Reich.