Reads of the Week: Segregation in Cities, Vaping Regulations, and the Problem with Chinese Power Centralization
Each week, we’ll be featuring opinion pieces from the alumni and current participants of AF’s Writing Fellows Program. A few highlights from the past week are below. Do you dream of having bylines like these? Learn more about how the Writing Fellows Program can help boost your writing career!
High Rents in Philly Amplify Racial Segregation by Anthony Hennen (Spring 2019) in Philadelphia Weekly
The focus of city governments, colleges, and activists in recent years has shifted to diversity issues, yet almost every American city has become more segregated by race compared to a few decades ago. That is the concerning conclusion of a report from the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California-Berkeley.
“Out of every metropolitan region in the United States with more than 200,000 residents, 81 percent (169 out of 209) were more segregated as of 2019 than they were in 1990,” writes Stephen Menendian, the Institute’s associate director and director of research…
Policymakers’ Confusion Will Ultimately Harm Adult Smokers by Lindsey Stroud (Spring 2019) in Townhall
Since 2018, when then-U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams declared a youth vaping epidemic, America has been engaged in the great American vape debate. In the three years since the infamous shot heard round the anti-tobacco control world, states and localities and the federal government have pushed to restrict adult access to e-cigarettes through taxes, regulations, and some have supported all out prohibitions.
Over the past week, two notable events took place in the debate. On Wednesday, June 23, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL.) chaired a House Oversight subcommittee hearing titled “An Epidemic Continues: Youth Vaping in America.” On June 28, the e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL reached an agreement with the state of North Carolina to a consent order, which requires the manufacturer to pay state $40 million over the next six years, as well as establish and maintain certain marketing requirements…
Xi’s Power Problem by Sukhayl Niyazov (Spring 2021) in The American Conservative
In the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on July 1, China has ramped up its propaganda to signify the party’s achievements and solidify its hold on power, resulting in what experts call “China’s largest mass-education drive since the Mao era”: rewriting textbooks and distorting history in order to portray Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping in a more favorable light.
However, for all the successes of the Chinese Communist Party—real and imaginary—Xi Jinping cannot erase the weaknesses of China’s system of governance. A year into the coronavirus pandemic that originated as a result of the CCP’s mistakes, it is important for the West to study the problems of China’s authoritarian system of governance in order to safeguard against dangers it poses in our globalized age…