Rookie » Daily Links: Brexit Edition

Good morning, Rooks! Get ready for Monday with this edition of Daily Links…

Photo of UK Prime Minister David Cameron via Vox.

If you keep up with international politics and trending hashtags, you’ve likely noticed the prevalence of #Brexit throughout the weekend. This six-letter amalgamation of “Britain” and “Exit” signaled the tumultuous end of a tug-of-war that raged in the UK over the past several months in regard to maintaining their position in the European Union. In a referendum last week, 51.9 percent of Brits voted to leave the EU and 48.1 percent voted to stay. Supporters of the leave campaign have said the decision was pushed forward because the British people wanted a democracy free of EU intervention, greater economic control, and “to take their country back.” Critics of the leave campaign, however, have spoken out about heightened xenophobic fear-mongering and propaganda behind the decision to leave the EU. It’s too early to tell the long-term effects this will have on Britain and the rest of the world, but this type of isolationism can be damaging. It’s also been reported that 73 percent of people 18 to 35 voted to remain in the EU. Those who chose to leave were mostly seniors, who thereby voted for a future that will not affect them, and instead will create a legacy that many young Brits do not want.

President Obama officially made New York City’s Stonewall Inn the first LGBTQ+ monument in America, setting a precedent that hopefully sees more facets of LGBTQ+ history recognized as having national significance and being treated as such. This decision comes a year after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, and a few weeks after the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. These stark contrasts show that even though momentum is being gained in the fight for equal rights, bigotry and intolerance still follow those who choose to authentically live their lives, and that is something we will need to continue fighting against. Let’s remember the legacies of the Stonewall Uprising–era activists, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, and their messages of inclusion and equity.

Photo via The Huffington Post.

Abigail Fisher, a white student from Sugar Land, Texas took race politics all the way to the Supreme Court when she decided that it was affirmative action, and not her low grades, that made it impossible for her to be accepted into the University of Texas-Austin. Fisher believed that affirmative action favored black people, and as such put her at a disadvantage as a non-black person. Her case was dismissed, but that didn’t stop Black Twitter from reacting with shade and finesse. #AbbyWithTheBadGrades.