WRITING & MEDIA

John W. Mason writes and comments on civil rights, democratic institutions and why commitments to equity so often fail to last. He is available for interviews, panels and guest essays.

Writing:

• "Recent essays and commentary will appear here."

• The morning after a wave: how new majorities keep their wins from being contained
• Civil-rights enforcement after 2025: what happens when the offices that answer complaints close
• The retreat from the 2020 promises: what institutions pledged after George Floyd's murder, and where it went
• DEI, the "war on woke" and the law: what Students for Fair Admissions and Louisiana v. Callais changed and what they didn't
• Title XII and state action: how to make equity enforceable without quotas, nationally and in Minnesota
• Minneapolis, six years later: the city, the police agreement and the politics of reform
• Leadership inside institutions: how good intentions get managed away, and how leaders can stop it

• Headshot: high resolution, one color, one black-and-white
• Short bios: the one-line and 60-word versions from the About page
• One-sentence book description: the lead sentence from the Book page