Civil Rights
Governor’s task force outlines more than 120 ideas for improving equity, justice
Gov. Laura Kelly's task force on racial equity and justice outlines more than 100 ideas for addressing education, health care and economic issues.
Name Change Project simplifies a complex, emotional process for transgender Kansans
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ellen Bertels is an attorney for Kansas Legal Services Inc. Let me tell you a quick story about Kansas. For years, an unwritten rule made it […]
How an election denier’s fan club got its start in the states
WASHINGTON — The suddenly famous election denier behind the circulation of a PowerPoint filled with plans to overturn the 2020 election has a long history of election subversion attempts in multiple states. Retired Army Col. Phil Waldron also has close ties to former President Donald Trump’s legal team and served as one of its key […]
Kansas lawmakers don’t appreciate $1.9M bill for unconstitutional voter restriction
TOPEKA — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt told a panel of lawmakers Thursday that he and Secretary of State Scott Schwab mutually agreed to extend a costly, futile legal battle over the state’s unconstitutional restriction on voter registrations all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state is now on the hook for $1.9 […]
U.S. House Dems pass anti-Islamophobia bill, condemn Boebert remarks
The U.S. House following a vitriolic debate passed a bill along party lines Tuesday night to create a State Department office that would counter Islamophobia worldwide. Democrats said a conflict much closer to home showed the need to confront anti-Muslim bigotry. The bill sponsored by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) picked up momentum after Colorado Republican […]
Activists target corporate campaign cash in battle against voting restrictions
Members of the Defend Black Voters Coalition chose Detroit’s TCF Center as their backdrop earlier this month when they issued a warning about the dangers of “voter suppression legislation” backed by Republican state lawmakers. The building behind them was a powerful symbol of what could happen if elections indeed are undermined. It’s where conservative poll […]
Democratic governors press U.S. Senate to act on voting rights legislation
WASHINGTON — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and 16 other Democratic governors are urging the U.S. Senate to pass two bills that aim to protect voting rights. Both measures need 60 votes to advance under Senate rules but have been stalled by Republican opposition in the evenly divided Senate. “Without decisive action by the federal government […]
Kansas needs an equality curriculum for our public schools
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Samuel Paunetto has a bachelor’s degree in general sociology from Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, a Master’s Degree in divinity from the Seminario Evangelico de Puerto […]
The latest fear for Kansas schools: CRT is turning our children gay
Critical race theory is turning our precious children gay. No matter how loony it sounds, that was the terror coursing underneath the words of parents, advocates and legislators at a hearing last week by the 2021 Special Committee on Education. Remember, CRT is an academic theory taught by precisely zero K-12 schools in Kansas. Somehow, […]
Bob Dole championed ‘lives of greater dignity’ for Americans with disabilities
TOPEKA — In 1969, during his maiden speech on the Senate floor, Bob Dole focused his remarks on the rights and opportunities of individuals with disabilities, a subject with which he was intimately familiar. Dole’s passion for disability rights stemmed from his service as a soldier in World War II, where he was rendered unable […]
In book form, ‘The 1619 Project’ unrolls bracing historical corrective
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Holly McCall is the editor of the Tennessee Lookout, which first published this commentary. You’d have to be completely out of the political loop — and I […]
Hearing on critical race theory in Kansas schools veers into sex, religion and supposition
TOPEKA — A state education official told lawmakers Wednesday they need to “stop calling everything under the sun” critical race theory if they want to work together to improve student achievement. Ann Mah, a Democrat on the Kansas State Board of Education and former state representative, clashed with Republicans during a hearing on how CRT […]