Ismael Cid Martínez

@icidmartinez.bsky.social

Latino | Runner | Economist | DC/NYC Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE), Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Views are my own. Engagement with content does not equal endorsement.

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.socialReposted by @icidmartinez.bsky.social

This thing has made me go do a lot of reading tonight, and the Wikipedia page about the last public execution in the United States is well-written. It was Rainey Bethea, a Black man hanged in front of a crowd of 20,000 in 1936, a spectacle which embarrassed Kentucky enough that they ended hangings.

Hanna placed the noose around Bethea's neck, adjusted it, and then signaled to Hash to pull the trigger. Instead, Hash, who was drunk, did nothing. Hanna shouted at Hash, "Do it!" A deputy then leaned onto the trigger, which sprang the trap door. citation needed! Bethea fell 8 feet (2.4 m), and his neck was instantly broken. Afterward, two doctors confirmed he was dead. His body was taken to Andrew & Wheatley Funeral Home. Icitation needed! He wanted his body to be sent to his sister in South Carolina so that she could arrange for him to be interred next to his father, but against these wishes, he was buried in a pauper's grave at Owensboro Cemetery (also known as City Cemetery and "Potter's Field") in Owensboro. 14]It was estimated that a crowd of about 20,000 people gathered to watch the execution.!9! One man, 36-year-old Leonard A. Peters, was killed in a car accident while driving to Owensboro to witness the hanging. Three others, including his wife, were injured. 15. Afterwards, Hanna complained that Hash should not have been allowed to perform the execution in his drunken condition. Hanna further said it was the worst display he experienced in the 70 hangings he had supervised. citation needed] The spot where the scaffold stood (approximately 37.775248° -87.116462°) is now part of a drop-off/pick-up lane in front of the Owensboro Convention Center. citation needed]へ End of public executions in Kentucky As the Kentucky General Assembly had been meeting in its biennial sessions at the time, the media circus surrounding the Bethea execution embarrassed members of the Kentucky legislature. In spite of the humiliation, they could not amend laws regarding executions until the next session in 1938. However, the trial judges in two separate Kentucky rape cases ordered that the hangings of John "Pete" Montjoy and Harold Van Venison be conducted privately. Montjoy, age 23, was privately hanged in Covington on December 17, 1937.On January 17, 1938, William R. Attkisson of the Kentucky State Senate's 38th District (representing Louisville), introduced Senate Bill 69, repealing the requirement in Section 1137 that executions for convicted rapists be conducted by hanging in the county seat where they raped their victims. The bill was promoted in the Kentucky House of Representatives by Representative Charles W. Anderson Jr., one of the attorneys who assisted Bethea in his post-conviction relief motions. After both houses approved the bill, Governor Chandler signed it into law on March 12, 1938; it became effective on May 30 of that year. Chandler later expressed regret at having approved the repeal, claiming, "Our streets are no longer safe." The last person ever legally hanged in Kentucky was Harold Van Venison, a 33-year-old African-American singer, who was privately executed in Covington on June 3, 1938.
Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social

I think people should listen to what the administration trying to bring back spectacle lynchings, race riots, and middle passage-esque deportation voyages are trying to tell you about themselves. bsky.app/profile/bren...

@elisegould.bsky.socialReposted by @icidmartinez.bsky.social

Notable weakness in today's #jobs report for this morning. Payroll employment grew by 29,000 while downward revisions to both July and August totaled 60,000. July is now recording losses. The job growth in September (29,000) is slower than the prior 12 months (45,000).
#EconSky

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.socialReposted by @icidmartinez.bsky.social

The rise of 287(g) programs has meant that ICE is increasingly using local police as a very significant force multiplier, with up to 1 in 8 arrests of noncitizens in the interior now being carried out by state and local police. This is going to have profound impacts on community relations.

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.socialReposted by @icidmartinez.bsky.social

A cop in rural Texas pulls over a Latino. He demands papers; doesn’t get any. Arrests the guy, throws him in a local jail cell. Hours later, GardaWorld staff show up to put him on a bus with a dozen others. They drive him to the nearest ICE jail; a bus service for the machine of mass deportation.

@jedkolko.bsky.socialReposted by @icidmartinez.bsky.social

The 2025 American Community Survey should have come out today. But it has been delayed because of unusual political encroachment at Census. ACS drives business and policy decisions, especially in local communities, and is the primary input to Census’s immigration estimates.

@npr.orgReposted by @icidmartinez.bsky.social

A Trump administration proposal would change access to Head Start for children experiencing homelessness and the kind of care they would receive if they do get in. n.pr/46Z2ExU

n.prHead Start got her out of homelessness. Trump proposal threatens that help for othersA Trump administration proposal would change access to Head Start for children experiencing homelessness and the kind of care they would receive if they do get in.
@icidmartinez.bsky.social

Poverty continues to disproportionately burden children of color. Black and Hispanic children remain nearly 3 times as likely as their white peers to suffer poverty, even after we account for basic needs programs and recent improvements in Hispanic poverty.

Child supplemental poverty rates by race and ethnicity since 2021
@icidmartinez.bsky.social

With no significant changes in the supplemental poverty rates of families of color, inequities remain deeply entrenched. Black and Hispanic individuals, for example, remain more than twice as likely as their white peers to suffer material shortcomings.

Supplemental poverty rates by race and ethnicity since 2021
@icidmartinez.bsky.social

New income and poverty data show that despite gains in real household median income, strong inequities persist. Pre- and post-tax income at the bottom 10th percentile remained unchanged from 2024. Black & Hispanic households continue to earn just a fraction of the income their white peers enjoy.

Real median household income by race and ethnicity since 2002
@elisegould.bsky.socialReposted by @icidmartinez.bsky.social

This morning, the Census Bureau is releasing the latest data on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance!

Note: these data are for 2025 and will not reflect changes in the labor market, rising inflation, and attacks on vital safety net policies, hitting families in 2026.

www.epi.org/blog/2025-ce...

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