Systemic Racism is shorthand for discriminatory policies in education, employment, housing, politics, and the judicial system. We have less institutional racism in governing than we used to, but recent threats to the Voting Rights Act show that it is a continuing battle.

The range of people of color now includes not only African Americans, but also Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. Each of these groups has its own cultural identity that is suppressed by the majority Caucasians. White Supremacy has become a flag for bigots who fear a loss of power, who also respond with bitterness, anger, and violence.

Immigration Reform has been a political football for 40 years, and there seems to be no solution in sight. That’s why it was a surprise when the U.S. Senate proposed non-partisan legislation this month. Its chances looked good until Trump threw a firebomb, and the Speaker of the House caved and said he wouldn’t even put a bill up for a vote. The Senate quit. The Republican strategy has been to stall until Trump takes office again.

Immigration on the southern border is no longer an issue of Mexican migrants crossing the border for seasonal agricultural work. It involves millions of people from Central and South American, particularly from the failed states. The drug cartels present a serious security threat not only to these governments, but to citizens caught in the crossfire. The majority are crossing the border legally through a system set up for the asylum process. The flow has crashed the inadequate processing system, so the people are just let out on the streets. Some still try to cross the Rio Grande River in between the established border crossings.

The Pandemic of Gun Violence in the United States has lasted longer than Covid-19.

The resignation of Wayne LaPierre, the long-term leader of the National Rifle Association, is the latest in the problems of the association. The NRA filed for bankruptcy in 2021 after the departure of its chief lobbyist Chris Cox in 2019 that led to a leadership fight. Since 2018, the organization has lost a million members and half of its revenue.

Rather than cite the history of the rise and fall of the most significant gun-rights organization, I will focus on the costs of their success. Through their lobbying efforts and donations over 40 years, they stalled any effort to regulate guns or gun ownership by the Congress. Since then, 126 people in the US are killed by guns every day. The cost is estimated to be $229 billion per year. This data includes suicides, homicides, school shootings, and mass shootings. Mass shootings get all the media attention, but the daily violence produces the most numbers.