Category: Questions to Readers

Ever since being assured by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that socialism is essential for well-being, I have planned to visit Texas, where state/local government consumes only 7.6 percent of income (Tax Foundation; compare to New York at 12.7 percent), and enjoy it before the inevitable downward spiral from an undersized government.

It turns out that this is the big week for the investigation into the suffering endured by an under-served population.

I myself will be under-served at the Fairmont (no free Internet!).

Who would like to meet in Austin, perhaps coffee at the Fairmont, this week? I should be available Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. I can also get together in the evening. Email to philg@mit.edu if interested.

Who has brilliant ideas for activities, cultural events, and sightseeing?

[Update: Wrap-up meeting on Thurday morning, 2/21, Fairmont lobby coffee bar, starting 8:30 am.]

The Virginia governor, Ralph Northam, is in the news for a 1980s photo featuring blackface and KKK costumes.

My question today for readers: Have you ever personally attended an event in which people dressed up either in blackface or in a KKK outfit?

Personal answer: No! And I don’t think it is because I have been associating only with the most sensitive Americans.

Was there a wave of popularity for either blackface or KKK costumes at some point that I completely missed?

Related:

• “Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Denies Sexual Assault Allegation” (HuffPost): the potential replacement government says #DontBelieveWomen
• Black History Month (February)
• “When we said more black faces in government, we should have been specific.” (meme)
• “Second Virginia Democrat Says He Wore Blackface, Throwing Party Into Turmoil” (nytimes): “The third-ranking elected official in Virginia, Attorney General Mark R. Herring, acknowledged Wednesday that he had worn blackface at a party as an undergraduate student, deepening a crisis that has engulfed the state’s Democratic leadership. Then, just two hours later, a woman came forward to describe in detail her accusation that Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax had sexually assaulted her in 2004, an accusation he denies.”