What We’re Following
North and South: After a week of talks with South Korean President Moon Jae In, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly agreed to shut down one of the country’s major missile-testing sites. In steering away from bombast, the South Korean government may have broken through some of the diplomatic paralysis, though real peace on the peninsula is far from a done deal.
Bloomberg 2020: The billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is mulling a 2020 presidential run. But he—and the company he founded—has a past dotted with claims of sexism and sexual harassment. Will voters in the #MeToo era weigh such allegations of misogyny against a political candidate as disqualifying?
Friends and Family: For those displaced from their home due to hurricanes or other natural disasters, staying with friends or family might alleviate symptoms of PTSD later on, according to new research: “Shelter settings—even the best-run shelters, with the most well-intentioned people, with the best leadership—can be highly stressful.”
Snapshot
Evening Read
A Washington State man is suing after being rejected certification as part of a program that helps minority-owned businesses win government contracts. As proof of his minority status, Ralph Taylor had submitted a DNA test that estimates he’s 90 percent European, 6 percent indigenous American, and 4 percent sub-Saharan African:
Taylor is now challenging how racial groups are defined for this program. “Black Americans,” according to the federal regulations for disadvantaged business enterprises,“includes persons having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.” The lawsuit calls this definition “impermissibly vague” and criticizes the lack of “any minimum percentage of DNA, or other objective criterion.” “He considers himself to be Black based upon DNA evidence,” Taylor’s lawyer asserted in a letter included in the lawsuit, which also called DNA “objective” and “unalterable.”
Here’s what the case might mean for the thorny problem of proving race and ethnicity.