#73: My Favorite Extras of the Year

Abigail Fisher lost her anti-affirmative action case last month at the Supreme Court. This essay is by a woman who regrets helping white high school students like Ms. Fisher on their personal essays so that they can get admitted into the University of Texas at the expense of similarly qualified students of color. I’m particularly frustrated that our conversation on affirmative action has not moved one bit for 20+ years. Conservatives, like Chief Justice John Roberts, continue to believe in a “color-blind Constitution” and incorrectly invoke the 14th Amendment as basis for their claim. I tend to agree with Justice Warren Burger when he wrote in 1971: “In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way.” Update: Author Jia Tolentino now writes for the New Yorker.

For just $10 a meal, Blue Apron sends you all you need to make home cooking easy as pie. But behind all the tiny containers with two tablespoons of EVOO are the people who prep the food and pack the boxes. This Buzzfeed exposé uncovers the working conditions at the Richmond, CA plant — and management’s meager response, with racism thinly veiled. Update: An easy epiphany I’ve reached this year is that when something is convenient for me, it’s usually horrible for somebody else.

Read this delightful piece by author Michael Chabon (Telegraph Avenue, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), who takes his son, Abe, to Paris Fashion Week. Abe, 13, cares deeply about fashion, but unfortunately, his father is indifferent. Read all the way until the end of this article and you realize this is a double coming-of-age tale. Update: This was my favorite article of the year.