Five Best Sunday Columns

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Dr. Boyce Watkins on Why a Black Scholar Pities Trump. Dr. Boyce Watkins is "taken aback" by the way that Donald Trump is using racist code language to undermine the presidency of Barack Obama. "But when I analyze Trump's statements objectively," writes Watkins, "I must confess that the Business School professor in me doesn't understand his choices one bit. One of the first rules of 'Corporate America 101' is to avoid any serious controversy, especially religious or political, for this additional volatility almost never helps the bottom line." Rather than helping his "Apprentice" shows, Watkins says that Trump's behavior is driving viewers from the show in droves, inciting advertiser boycotts, and "his shareholders and employees will suffer." What ever happened to the calculated risk that made Trump rich in the first place? "Whatever the reason... the price is going to be steep... If I had to be honest, I'd say that deep down, there's a part of me that feels sorry for Donald Trump."

Dave Eggers and Ninive Clements Calegari on the Raising Teacher Salaries. "When we don’t like the way our students score on international standardized tests, we blame the teachers," write author Dave Eggers and educator Ninive Calegari. "Compare this with our approach to our military: when results on the ground are not what we hoped, we think of ways to better support soldiers." Both authors propose the way to change course for our schools is to make the teaching profession more attractive to the best young minds. "McKinsey polled 900 top-tier American college students and found that 68 percent would consider teaching if salaries started at $65,000 and rose to a minimum of $150,000. Could we do this? If we’re committed to 'winning the future,' we should.

John Kerry on Transitioning out of Afghanistan. The Obama administration is set to announce critical choices about the next phase of its Afghanistan strategy. John Kerry, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, opines that "we need to demonstrate what type of Afghanistan we plan to leave in our wake so that we may actually achieve these objectives... The truth is that there is no purely military victory possible in Afghanistan." Kerry looks at the serious hurdles we face in Afghanistan, from dealing with a corrupt police force, reconciling with ethnic groups, and threats from Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan. Negotiations with President Karzai must result in "a sustainable civilian strategy that leaves behind an Afghan state that can function without indefinite donor resources."

Michael Bloomberg on a New Immigration Consensus. Conventional wisdom in Washington, according to Michael Bloomberg, is that bipartisan immigration reform is impossible. However, a new consensus on immigration reform has emerged in the business industry. "In the global economy, the countries that attract the world's best, brightest and hardest-working will grow and succeed. Those that refuse them entry will not...  Our economy demands that we take immediate action on the most urgent—and politically attainable—reform: making it easier for job creators to come and stay here" These are the necessary immigration reform steps to create jobs: "Creating a visa for entrepreneurs who already have funding to start their businesses... Providing visas to the brightest foreign graduates of our universities... [and] Finally, developing a reliable way for employers to hire guest workers."

Sandra Day O'Connor and Kim Azzarelli on Why We Need More Female Judges. Without access to justice, O'Connor and Azzarelli explain, investments in women and girls will not yield much impact nor have a lasting effect. One way to secure access to justice for women is through women judges. Women judges not only ensure the judiciary is representative of society, they also are emerging  as leaders in using law for the purpose of "eradicating violence against women and providing women and girls with access to justice... Women judges have also played critical roles in shaping international law relating to gender-based violence through their participation on international tribunals." The emergence of women judges will be a "necessary and critical accelerator" in effecting sustainable social equality.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.