The year 1619 and my home state of Virginia - Fleming Rutledge, Ruminations – America has been inseparable from its roots in the enslavement of Africans for economic enrichment, and at this rate it will be a long time yet before the connection can plausibly be said to have been severed. Still, if God is visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the third and fourth generations, what choices can we make now to reduce the effects of our own sins on those who will come after us?

The Great Land Robbery – Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic – The history of farming land ownership in the south is a specific example of Rutledge’s thesis above. Whereas in many cases whites lost their heritage as farmers by selling their land in down years, blacks were disproportionately forced off their land by predatory lending practices and preferential treatment for whites at both local and national levels. If broad reparations were calculable and feasible, how would we make sure they are qualitatively different from the “40 acres and a mule” once given yet quickly and quietly taken away?

The First Responders – Kevin Hazzard, The Atavist Magazine – The remarkable story of one of the precursors to modern emergency medical services, provided by and for a predominantly African-American population in Pittsburgh, and their success despite the racially prejudiced world within which they operated.

Seeing the crucified Christ in my wife’s C-section – Brad East, The Christian Century – As a husband who recently experienced this miracle, I can only quote directly from the article: “It is a mystery altogether humbling, certainly to those of us reduced to being onlookers. The only fitting response is dumbstruck awe, followed by the sacrifice of praise.”