jpederzane

There was an alarming recent article in the News & Observer. It quoted one student at Green Hope High School in Cary who warned of declining mental health and rising suicide rates… Read Article →

Even the suggestion of racial animus can get you fired these days as a Winston-Salem manlearned recently after he asked an African-American to prove she was entitled to use the community pool. So,… Read Article →

It is the most commonly denied undeniable fact: our world just keeps getting better. Even as scholars, pundits and the guy across the bar beat the ancient empty drum of doom, the… Read Article →

Why do so many white people put themselves at the center of every story about race? Why do they keep turning the problems that afflict too many African-Americans into questions about their… Read Article →

I wanted to ask my acquaintance if he was experiencing a torturous mid-life crisis or had lost his mind altogether. That seemed too pointed, so I said: Why are you running for… Read Article →

Echoing my liberal friends, “frightening” and “absurd” leapt to mind when I first heard about Republican ideas to arm teachers. As someone who wishes our nation didn’t have a deep reverence for… Read Article →

In 2013, I renewed my call in the Raleigh N&O that North Carolina remove the Confederate monument that towers before the state legislature. It’s still up! By J. Peder Zane Penn State… Read Article →

I was thrilled to see Svetlana Alexievich become the first journalist to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. In my years as a book critic, “Voices from Chernobyl” was one of the very best… Read Article →

By J. Peder Zane It happens fairly often. We’ll run a glowing review, and the author will contact me to say thanks. Usually I reply, “Well, you deserved it,” when what I… Read Article →

In light of recent push to remove Confederate statues, here’s the column I published in the Raleigh News & Observer on Feb. 8, 2009 calling on then Gov. Bev. Perdue to move… Read Article →