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A Look Back At The Most Popular Stories of 2024

A Look Back At The Most Popular Stories of 2024
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The Fulcrum is a trusted platform where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy.

We amplify marginalized perspectives through news articles, opinion pieces, and investigative reports. Thanks to our contributors, we foster an inclusive dialogue vital for a thriving democracy.


Here are the most popular stores published on The Fulcrum:

"White" and "Colored" water fountainsKamala Harris is Black & Asian and Why Does Trump Care? kickstand/Getty Images

Kamala Harris is Black & Asian and Why Does Trump Care?

In 2024, 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, it is unfortunate that, because of statements made by a candidate for the presidency, we need to remind Americans that the color of one’s skin is a terribly unreliable indicator of one’s so-called racial heritage.

Department of Veterans Affairs buildingProject 2025: The Department of Veterans Affairs Air Force Reserve Command

Project 2025: The Department of Veterans Affairs

Project 2025, a conservative plan for a second Trump administration, aims to make the Department of Veterans Affairs more efficient and responsive, which is a commendable objective. But the focus on conservative political goals and extensive outsourcing risks politicizing the VA and potentially undermining its ability to serve veterans effectively.

John Roberts at the State of the UnionIn Trump v. United States, Chief Justice John Roberts produced an astonishing and convoluted treatise that denigrates a key principle of our jurisprudence championed by the founders, writes Toscano. Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images

Conservatives will rue the day they compromised the rule of law

Defenders of democracy had hoped the Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States would begin with the words “No man is above the law.” But Chief Justice John Roberts avoided the phrase entirely in his opinion. Instead, he produced an astonishing treatise that denigrates a key principle of our jurisprudence championed by the founders.

Mark Esper sitting next to Donald TrumpDefense Secretary Mark Esper (left) and other leaders stood up to Donald Trump when he was president. Trump would likely face similar resistance if he wins another term. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

What would really happen if Trump wins?

If Donald Trump wins, American democracy will undergo a severe stress test. Yet again. But it won’t plunge into dictatorship, authoritarianism or fascism. Instead, if Trump wins, America will have an incoherent and volatile mix of some government institutions that function democratically and some that don’t.

Joe Biden speaking in PennsylvaniaThe speech Joe Biden won’t give Anadolu/Getty Images

The speech Joe Biden won’t give

If President Joe Biden reached out to independent voters in a way that legitimized their concerns about the self-serving nature of the Democratic and Republican parties, he could probably win with 60 percent of the vote. But he won’t. And neither will Donald Trump.

If Donald Trump implements the Heritage Foundation's policy plan, he'll take us down the path of authoritarianism, writes Corbin. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Project 2025 is a threat to democracy

On Jan. 20, 2025, will the duly elected and inaugurated president of the United States keep America as a democracy that dates back to the 1630s or will the commander-in-chief start changing the country to authoritarian-fascism? That depends on whether Trump wins and he follows the Project 2025 playbook.

People working in a grocery storeLatino-owned businesses, such as the Aztec Farmers Market in Houston, contribute billions of dollars to the economy each year. Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Trump's right! A massive invasion is happening at the southern border

Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed an invasion is taking place on the southern U.S. border. He is absolutely right. But it's not an invasion of people taking over cities and jobs, it's an invasion of communities playing a significant role in shaping the cultural, social and economic landscape of the United States.

White House with "stop" barrier in frontIf Trump wins, should Democrats turn over the keys to the White House? Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

If Trump wins, should Democrats turn over the keys to the White House?

The Democrats, believing Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, have few options if he wins, and none of them are good. A Trump victory will force our leaders and all of us to confront a series of tragic choices.

Donald TrumpWas Trump right when he said he could ‘shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters’? MEGA/Getty Images

Has 'just about every law enforcement agency in the country' endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2024?

Former President Donald Trump claims he is “supported by just about every law enforcement agency in the country; I think, maybe every one.” But police unions — not law enforcement agencies such as police or sheriff’s departments — endorse candidates.

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs on stageTracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform "Fast Car" at the Grammys. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Luke Combs, politics and healing our nation's divide

Today's pop artists can have tremendous influence on politics and poltiical divide, if only more of them were willing to speak out.


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What a 16th-Century Mexican Woman Taught Me About Myself

Sometimes it takes centuries to discover who you are.

This Women’s History Month, I honor Malinche, one of the most controversial women in Mexico’s history. In my work over 25 years to discover and tell her story

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The Tax-Season Trap: When Refunds Become a Child Care Safety Net

Man receives a tax refund check from the government; Indoor background

Getty Images

The Tax-Season Trap: When Refunds Become a Child Care Safety Net

Most parents are more than happy to receive a tax refund. That money can help pay bills, fund a long-overdue vacation, or simply offer breathing room. But for too many families, especially Black families, that refund is not extra. It too often becomes a temporary relief from a child care gap created by school systems that are no longer designed around the realities of working families.

Schools are supposed to be structured in a child’s best interest. In practice, hardships are built into an antiquated design. Seventy percent of Black parents work service-essential nine-to-five roles, yet schools dismiss in the early afternoon. Parents are left scrambling to find and pay for before- and after-school care, babysitters for holidays, teacher workdays, and full-time summer camps. Those gap hours and summer care costs average to about $400 to $500 per week. For many households, that equals an entire paycheck.

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DHS Shutdown Becomes Democrats’ Leverage to Curb ICE Tactics after Minnesota Deaths

Demonstrators protest Department of Homeland Security assigning ICE agents to work alongside TSA agents at O'Hare International Airport on March 27, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. The travel disruptions continue as hundreds of TSA agents quit or work without pay during a partial government shutdown. U.S. President Donald Trump said ICE agents will be deployed to U.S. airports on Monday, with border czar Tom Homan in charge of the effort.

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

DHS Shutdown Becomes Democrats’ Leverage to Curb ICE Tactics after Minnesota Deaths

WASHINGTON – For more than a month, Democrats have refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security while demanding that the agency limit Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in ten specific ways after federal agents killed two people during federal immigration operations in Minnesota in January.

“We will not continue to allow what we’re seeing on the streets. Thousands of Americans, of immigrants, of our neighbors from Chicago to Minneapolis are saying ‘enough is enough,’” said Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.

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Construct or Destruct: The American Promise is at a Crossroad!
shallow focus photo of Statue of Liberty

Construct or Destruct: The American Promise is at a Crossroad!

In my US History class, I asked a simple question: What keeps democracy alive[DK1]? Most students answered, “good leaders” or “strong laws.” One student paused and said, “People who know how to listen to each other.” That answer is at the heart [DK2] of the American Promise and may matter more than any election.

America has always been defined as much by its promises as by its policies. From the Declaration of Independence to modern political speeches, leaders and thinkers alike have tried to answer a central question: What is America supposed to be?

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