The MAGA Mainline
Plus, the NYPD self-reports its racism
Hi everyone,
Our first monthly conversation for subscribers with Jonathan and Sy is on Tuesday! If you’re a paid subscriber,, the registration link is at the bottom of this email. If you’re not, consider subscribing!
Our highlights this week include:
- The Promise of “Open Streets”
- The NYPD made reporting stops easier—guess what the new numbers show
- The MAGA Mainline
- The legacy of eugenics in Sickle Cell treatment
- And Jonathan keeps us grounded with prayers for Pride Month
Jonathan’s Recommendations
The Promise of “Open Streets”
My old neighborhood in Queens has permanently embraced a COVID-era change, the complete banning of traffic for a 26-block section of 34th Avenue for 13 hours of every day. The road has become a bustling space for kids and families, demonstrating what’s possible when creativity meets opportunity. The largely immigrant neighborhood fought for this space because constant traffic created danger for the thousands of schoolchildren travelling through the area each day. And because the neighborhood has the least green space anywhere in the city. The avenue now serves as a communal backyard where residents, artists, and activists gather. “Open streets,” as they are known in NYC, offer a promising reimagining of how we organize our neighborhoods, and a refutation of the idea that commercial activity is the only measure of prosperity. We too must imagine a different way forward. Followers of Jesus should work towards a society that is cleaner, more communal, and less exploitative.
- Read about the open street in Queens
The NYPD Made Reporting Stops Easier—Guess What the New Numbers Show
A few years ago, the NYPD required officers to switch from logging activity on the beat in physical notebooks to a digital interface on iPhones. Researchers found this made the number of reported stops increase by 18%. But the number of stops of White people did not increase at all. And neither did the overall number of arrests. In other words, the difference was entirely in pointless stops of people of color. This is more confirmation of long-held concerns about police harassment within communities of color. And it refutes the “bad apples” theory. Racism within policing is indeed systemic, and we desperately need change. Brad Greenwood, a professor at George Mason University who led the researchers who uncovered these numbers, warns that we need further studies before drawing broad conclusions about the role of racial bias in police stops. What I know is the data supports what non-White people have known for generations and I pray for the day when it reveals an opposite trend.
Sy’s Recommendations
MAGA Mainliners
On a recent bonus episode of Shake the Dust, we argued Christian nationalism is not just a movement of the far-right. It’s actually quite common among White Christians of all stripes. A new book called Baptizing America by
and from the Substack chronicles the history of mainline American Protestants promoting Christian nationalism. You can read about the book in a conversation with the authors and , another great commenter on American Christian nationalism. This is a great resource to help progressive White people face the enormity of the problems in American Christianity, instead of dismissing those problems as some other, les-enlightened segment of the Church’s responsibility.- Read the conversation with the authors
The Legacy of Eugenics in Sickle Cell Treatment
The idea of informed consent is crucial any time a service provider has significantly more knowledge about a subject than their clients. Even more so when there is an existing power imbalance between them. A recent investigative article on consent in the reproductive health decisions of Black women with Sickle Cell Anemia demonstrates this point in a profound and often disturbing way. Pointing to the long history of trying to control both Black and disabled people’s reproduction, the article highlights modern-day stories where (usually) White doctors gave inadequate information about—or patients gave questionable consent for—contraceptive surgeries and even hysterectomies. But the surgeries went forward because of the ingrained belief that Black women with Sickle Cell shouldn’t have children. The risks during pregnancy are too high and the condition is hereditary. But the article also tells stories of the possibilities that exist when doctors do everything in their power to support the reproductive goals of their patients. And professionals specializing in pregnant Sickle Cell patients have in some instances nearly erased the maternal mortality disparities. The article is a difficult read, but it highlights the need for as many people as possible to know and spread accurate information if we want to see a world in which marginalized women can have the autonomy everyone deserves.
Staying Grounded with Jonathan
Wherever you find yourself theologically on Pride Month, I hope you can find yourself on your knees for people made in the image of God who society and the Church have intentionally minimized, overlooked, undervalued, and violated. These prayers for Pride Month are grounding me and I am exceptionally grateful for the Queer friends I have who offered this resource to me. So I offer it to you as a reminder that we must hold people closer than our convictions. Jesus’ commandment to us was to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. And this month, we can offer lament, praise, prayers and thanks and protection on behalf of our LGBTQ+ neighbors.
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