Carissa Wyant

Carissa Wyant is a former MintPress columnist specializing in faith, race and social justice issues. She has been published in the Huffington Post, Patch.com, American City Business Journals and various local publications around the American Midwest.

Mixed Feelings About Race Relations In Post-Obama US As Hate Crimes Reach Record High

In this July 27, 2012, photo President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. As the nation moves toward the multiracial future heralded by this son of an African father and white mother, the events of Obama’s first term, and what people make of them, help trace the racial […]

Carissa Wyant
Par Carissa Wyant
In this July 27, 2012, photo President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. As the nation moves toward the multiracial future heralded by this son of an African father and white mother, the events of Obama's first term, and what people make of them, help trace the racial arc of his presidency. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(MintPress) — “The fantasy was that electing a black president would end racism for good, and it was just that - a fantasy, of course,” Mark Potok, editor of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) quarterly investigative journal Intelligence Report told MintPress. While many Americans heralded the 2008 election of the first African-American as

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Demonstrations Erupt After Study Reveals Profitable Companies Employ Most Minimum-Wage Workers

Supporters for a state minimum wage increase rally in Albany, N.Y., on Wednesday, June 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) (MintPress) — “America’s low‐wage economy is marked by two extremes. On the one hand, workers earning at or near the minimum wage are seeing the real value of their paychecks diminish steadily over time, as the […]

Carissa Wyant
Par Carissa Wyant
Supporters for a state minimum wage increase rally in Albany, N.Y., on Wednesday, June 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

(MintPress) — “America’s low‐wage economy is marked by two extremes. On the one hand, workers earning at or near the minimum wage are seeing the real value of their paychecks diminish steadily over time, as the cost of living increases while their wages remain stagnant.  After nearly half a century of neglect, today’s federal minimum wage of $7.25

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Netanyahu Calls For Peace, Praises Arab Spring Goals as Israel Razes West Bank Villages

Jewish settlers and movers employed by the Israeli Defense Ministry carry out belongings from settler’s apartment in the Ulpana neighborhood in the West bank Jewish settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah, Tuesday, June. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) (MintPress) — Eight Palestinian villages were ordered to be destroyed by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak this […]

Carissa Wyant
Par Carissa Wyant
Jewish settlers and movers employed by the Israeli Defense Ministry carry out belongings from settler's apartment in the Ulpana neighborhood in the West bank Jewish settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah, Tuesday, June. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

(MintPress) — Eight Palestinian villages were ordered to be destroyed by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak this week, at the same time that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed an interest in working toward peace and a hope that the goals of the Arab Spring will flourish. However, civil rights groups in Israel, who have been

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Concerns Raised Over US Poverty, Election As Wealth In Off-Shore Accounts Grows To $32T

This is an undated file picture of the logo of The Swiss National Bank in Berne, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Keystone) (MintPress) — Offshore accounts across the globe are swelling with upwards of $32 trillion deposited by the world’s wealthiest hoping to escape paying taxes, according to a new report from Tax Justice Network, an international group […]

Carissa Wyant
Par Carissa Wyant
This is an undated file picture of the logo of The Swiss National Bank in Berne, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Keystone)

(MintPress) — Offshore accounts across the globe are swelling with upwards of $32 trillion deposited by the world’s wealthiest hoping to escape paying taxes, according to a new report from Tax Justice Network, an international group that campaigns against tax havens. Moreover, the report calls this wealth, amassed under various offshore abuses,

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New Lawsuit from Rights Groups Calls SB 1070 An Invitation to Racial Profiling

Opponents of Arizona’s immigration law SB1070 gather outside the Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Courthouse in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York) (MintPress) – “In 2012 we like to believe that racism doesn’t exist, but the new racism, directed at Latinos, is ‘Go back to your country,’” Karen Tumlin, managing attorney at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) […]

Carissa Wyant
Par Carissa Wyant
Opponents of Arizona's immigration law SB1070 gather outside the Sandra Day O'Connor Federel Courthouse in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

(MintPress) – “In 2012 we like to believe that racism doesn’t exist, but the new racism, directed at Latinos, is ‘Go back to your country,’” Karen Tumlin, managing attorney at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) in Los Angeles told MintPress. Tumlin’s organization has partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union, Mexican American

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Native American Lawsuit Asks For Freedom Of Religion In Prisons

Inmates walk into the federal courthouse in Rapid City, S.D., Friday, Feb. 6, 2004. (AP Photos/Johnny Sundby) (MintPress) – Two Native American inmates in South Dakota filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Corrections, believing their first amendment rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference were being trampled on […]

Carissa Wyant
Par Carissa Wyant
Inmates walk into the federal courthouse in Rapid City, S.D., Friday, Feb. 6, 2004. (AP Photos/Johnny Sundby)

(MintPress) – Two Native American inmates in South Dakota filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Corrections, believing their first amendment rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference were being trampled on by an unjust state law. A South Dakota law, which went into effect in 2009 and banned

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Civil Rights Groups See Bachmann As Fanning The Flames of Hate

United States Congresswoman Michele Bachmann speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flikr) (MintPress) – Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and several other Republican leaders are calling on the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence to launch an investigation to […]

Carissa Wyant
Par Carissa Wyant
United States Congresswoman Michele Bachmann speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flikr)

(MintPress) – Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and several other Republican leaders are calling on the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence to launch an investigation to find out if "influence operations conducted by individuals and organizations associated

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