Robin Givhan is senior critic-at-large writing about politics, race and the arts. A 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism, Givhan has also worked at Newsweek/Daily Beast, Vogue magazine and the Detroit Free Press.https://www.washingtonpost.comThu, 23 Dec 2021 02:00:47 +00001hourly1https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/21/kim-potter-saw-daunte-wright-clearly-belatedly/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/21/kim-potter-saw-daunte-wright-clearly-belatedly/Robin GivhanWed, 22 Dec 2021 00:51:06 +0000In all the chaos and panic, the former police officer saw what she had done. She had killed a boy.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/07/elizabeth-holmes-used-every-trope-book/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/07/elizabeth-holmes-used-every-trope-book/Robin GivhanWed, 08 Dec 2021 00:08:10 +0000The Holmes case is an indictment of old-fashioned masculine stereotypes, including the notion that fashion doesn’t matter.https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/12/02/berry-gordy-kennedy-center-honors/https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/12/02/berry-gordy-kennedy-center-honors/Robin GivhanThu, 02 Dec 2021 13:58:41 +0000Berry Gordy's Motown record label became a form of diplomacy that crossed racial boundaries: “I felt that people were way more alike than different.”https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/30/exhausting-soul-sapping-meanness-lauren-boebert/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/30/exhausting-soul-sapping-meanness-lauren-boebert/Robin GivhanTue, 30 Nov 2021 23:51:37 +0000Trolling is hollow and cheap. And it deadens us all.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/29/white-house-spare-christmas-decorations-abundant-optimism/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/29/white-house-spare-christmas-decorations-abundant-optimism/Robin GivhanMon, 29 Nov 2021 23:31:14 +0000The revelry is in the details.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/29/virgil-abloh-appreciation/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/29/virgil-abloh-appreciation/Robin GivhanMon, 29 Nov 2021 10:00:03 +0000Abloh wasn’t interested in blowing up the fashion system. He was simply looking to blow open the door.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/24/verdict-not-held-hostage-history/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/24/verdict-not-held-hostage-history/Robin GivhanWed, 24 Nov 2021 23:19:10 +0000The jury saw the world through Ahmaud Arbery’s eyes.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/23/ahmaud-arbery-death-optimism/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/23/ahmaud-arbery-death-optimism/Robin GivhanWed, 24 Nov 2021 19:59:48 +0000Arbery jogged like a man who believed he would be fine. Like a man who had nothing to fear.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/16/identifying-danger-rittenhouse-case/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/16/identifying-danger-rittenhouse-case/Robin GivhanWed, 17 Nov 2021 00:20:11 +0000Rittenhouse, with his youth, is a reminder that this sense of favor and privilege is not just embedded in an older generation. This belief in one’s infallibility, this certainty, has been inherited.https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/11/15/alessandro-michele-gucci-100-anniversary/https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/11/15/alessandro-michele-gucci-100-anniversary/Robin GivhanMon, 15 Nov 2021 14:42:36 +0000On top of Gucci celebrating its anniversary and the upcoming release of the Ridley Scott film “House of Gucci,” the company is showing the industry how to thrive in the aftermath of change.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/02/climate-luxury/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/02/climate-luxury/Robin GivhanTue, 02 Nov 2021 23:22:42 +0000“Some of the ideas of luxury are old ideas that have to be refreshed.”https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/26/better-than-black-square/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/26/better-than-black-square/Robin GivhanWed, 27 Oct 2021 00:05:00 +0000Maison Black, a new e-commerce site, is a reminder that race is both everything … and nothing at all.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/19/claiming-self-defense-face-privilege-boogeymen/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/19/claiming-self-defense-face-privilege-boogeymen/Robin GivhanTue, 19 Oct 2021 23:43:09 +0000They defended themselves against the audacity of Blackness.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/18/remembering-where-colin-powell-came/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/18/remembering-where-colin-powell-came/Robin GivhanMon, 18 Oct 2021 22:30:03 +0000Colin Powell never forgot where he came from or the distance he’d traveled. That was his power and his grace.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/12/gray-pink/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/12/gray-pink/Robin GivhanTue, 12 Oct 2021 23:00:18 +0000The senators’ attire speaks. Hers is quite garrulous, but it doesn’t say much beyond: Look.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/05/whistleblower-came-advocate-humans-over-algorithms/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/05/whistleblower-came-advocate-humans-over-algorithms/Robin GivhanTue, 05 Oct 2021 23:44:54 +0000Facebook “is being led by metrics, not led by people,” Frances Haugen said. “The metrics make the decisions.”https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/28/limits-militarys-best-advice/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/28/limits-militarys-best-advice/Robin GivhanTue, 28 Sep 2021 23:14:13 +0000Senators wanted answers. They went fishing for them with impossible questions.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/07/fictional-complexity-omar/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/07/fictional-complexity-omar/Robin GivhanTue, 07 Sep 2021 20:45:17 +0000It is easier to make space for difficult characters than for difficult people.https://www.washingtonpost.comhttps://www.washingtonpost.comRobin GivhanWed, 01 Sep 2021 05:15:23 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.comhttps://www.washingtonpost.comRobin GivhanWed, 01 Sep 2021 02:00:16 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/31/seeking-an-orderly-end-chaos/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/31/seeking-an-orderly-end-chaos/Robin GivhanTue, 31 Aug 2021 23:30:21 +0000The last soldier had left Afghanistan, and the president once again explained himself and explained the circumstances of his decision.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/24/slathering-culture-top-capitalism/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/24/slathering-culture-top-capitalism/Robin GivhanTue, 24 Aug 2021 23:12:49 +0000Tiffany is hoping to bask in the light of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. But the Carters are stingy with their reflected glory.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/17/americas-humiliation-is-more-american-hubris/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/17/americas-humiliation-is-more-american-hubris/Robin GivhanTue, 17 Aug 2021 20:43:38 +0000There’s something not quite right in assigning “humiliation” to America. Something selfish and ultimately self-aggrandizing.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/10/systemic-cuomo/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/10/systemic-cuomo/Robin GivhanTue, 10 Aug 2021 23:10:05 +0000Yet again, we’ve shown how adept we’ve become at hacking down the high weeds, but we’ve yet to pull their stubborn roots from the soil.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/03/biles-redefines-balance/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/03/biles-redefines-balance/Robin GivhanTue, 03 Aug 2021 16:16:59 +0000The gymnast prioritized herself, and her fans are better for it.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/27/tears-anger-america/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/27/tears-anger-america/Robin GivhanTue, 27 Jul 2021 22:45:23 +0000The first hearing of the Jan. 6 commission tapped into all of the frailty that hides beneath the epaulets, badges and symbolic ribbons.https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/07/23/olympic-myth-tokyo-opening-ceremonies/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/07/23/olympic-myth-tokyo-opening-ceremonies/Robin GivhanSat, 24 Jul 2021 02:05:25 +0000Winning is the Olympic message. Striving is the myth.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/20/wally-funk-jeff-bezos-cowboy-hat/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/20/wally-funk-jeff-bezos-cowboy-hat/Robin GivhanTue, 20 Jul 2021 22:00:28 +0000No one really ever ages out of dreaming.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/15/angela-merkels-lasting-impression/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/15/angela-merkels-lasting-impression/Robin GivhanThu, 15 Jul 2021 22:58:55 +0000The longtime German chancellor came to Washington to say goodbye and to add a few more visual souvenirs to her enduring cultural legacy.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/13/president-came-preach-valor-voting/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/13/president-came-preach-valor-voting/Robin GivhanTue, 13 Jul 2021 23:12:51 +0000The president came to rouse the populace.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/29/jill-bidens-vogue-cover-theres-optimism-rebuke/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/29/jill-bidens-vogue-cover-theres-optimism-rebuke/Robin GivhanTue, 29 Jun 2021 21:07:05 +0000The lighting is warm. The reality is heightened. The pictures signify continuity after a staggering divergence.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/22/faith-silence/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/22/faith-silence/Robin GivhanTue, 22 Jun 2021 22:56:21 +0000Perhaps religion is clear cut. But faith is far more complicated.https://www.washingtonpost.comhttps://www.washingtonpost.comRobin GivhanWed, 16 Jun 2021 09:05:00 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/15/biden-had-grins-hugs-love-allies-will-not-offer-morsel-bread-putin/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/15/biden-had-grins-hugs-love-allies-will-not-offer-morsel-bread-putin/Robin GivhanTue, 15 Jun 2021 22:50:47 +0000There’s diplomacy in the details, in the aesthetic story. And in the empty spaces.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/08/moving-beyond-making-history/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/08/moving-beyond-making-history/Robin GivhanTue, 08 Jun 2021 22:55:14 +0000The wonder of electing the first female vice president has given way to the slow slog through a problem that has stymied multiple administrations.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/01/cleansing-necessity-guilt/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/01/cleansing-necessity-guilt/Robin GivhanTue, 01 Jun 2021 23:32:21 +0000Guilt reminds us that we are all each other’s keepers. It reminds us to care.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/25/floyds-are-marking-time/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/25/floyds-are-marking-time/Robin GivhanTue, 25 May 2021 23:35:18 +0000George Floyd’s family came to Washington to commemorate the first anniversary of his death and lobby for changes in policing. Negotiations are happening. But nothing has happened.https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/why-the-tailored-suit--not-ruffles-and-lace--became-synonymous-with-power/2021/05/20/b3a0099c-a9fb-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.htmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/why-the-tailored-suit--not-ruffles-and-lace--became-synonymous-with-power/2021/05/20/b3a0099c-a9fb-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.htmlRobin GivhanFri, 21 May 2021 12:00:00 +0000Richard Thompson Ford traces how the evolving rules of fashion shaped gender norms.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/18/joe-biden-detroit-autoworkers/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/18/joe-biden-detroit-autoworkers/Robin GivhanTue, 18 May 2021 23:06:11 +0000Behind the wheel of a new electric truck, Biden indulged in old-fashioned politicking back before applause was replaced with car honks and rope lines became a distant memory.https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/interactive/2021/diversity-models-fashion/https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/interactive/2021/diversity-models-fashion/Robin GivhanWed, 12 May 2021 15:20:27 +0000Joan Didion was the brand ambassador for Céline. Poet Amanda Gorman graced the cover of Vogue. These days, anyone can be a model.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/11/liz-cheney-sad-face-republican-party/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/11/liz-cheney-sad-face-republican-party/Robin GivhanTue, 11 May 2021 23:05:26 +0000The state of the Republican Party is written in the resting expression of Rep. Liz Cheney.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/04/space-filled-by-al-sharptons-prayers-politics/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/04/space-filled-by-al-sharptons-prayers-politics/Robin GivhanTue, 04 May 2021 23:25:38 +0000Sharpton fills a space with the urgencies of prayer and politics.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/28/history-writ-large-small/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/28/history-writ-large-small/Robin GivhanThu, 29 Apr 2021 03:12:59 +0000Sometimes history shouts its arrival. Sometimes it whispers.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/27/public-display-dignified-grief/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/27/public-display-dignified-grief/Robin GivhanTue, 27 Apr 2021 22:06:15 +0000Their sadness is deep and rough. It pulls you in like a rip tide.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/biden-photos-100-days/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/biden-photos-100-days/Robin GivhanMon, 26 Apr 2021 19:20:56 +0000During his first 100 days in office, the president has cast his ambitions high, but he has kept his gaze at human level.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/20/verdict-his-life-mattered/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/20/verdict-his-life-mattered/Robin GivhanWed, 21 Apr 2021 00:14:54 +0000“History is here. This is monumental,” said George Floyd’s brother Terrence. “We got the verdict we wanted. We said, ‘God, we need justice. We need it now.’ And he answered.”https://www.washingtonpost.comhttps://www.washingtonpost.comRobin GivhanTue, 20 Apr 2021 20:11:33 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/20/nation-is-waiting/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/20/nation-is-waiting/Robin GivhanTue, 20 Apr 2021 17:40:53 +0000Everyone waits. They put their anger on simmer. They hold their relief in reserve.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/17/royal-funeral-was-reminder-value-rituals/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/17/royal-funeral-was-reminder-value-rituals/Robin GivhanSat, 17 Apr 2021 17:44:53 +0000Rituals remind us how small we are in the scope of history. They can also reassure us that despite all evidence to the contrary, none of us is alone.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/13/objective-reasonableness-fear/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/13/objective-reasonableness-fear/Robin GivhanTue, 13 Apr 2021 23:48:12 +0000Derek Chauvin’s defense attorney filled the courtroom with great plumes of fear.https://www.washingtonpost.comhttps://www.washingtonpost.comRobin GivhanWed, 07 Apr 2021 13:05:16 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/06/trial-testimony-chauvin-is-cast-beyond-blue-wall/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/06/trial-testimony-chauvin-is-cast-beyond-blue-wall/Robin GivhanTue, 06 Apr 2021 23:22:57 +0000They spoke with nonchalant certainty. Their accounting of the facts was laced with condemnation.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/30/donald-williams-chauvin-trial-floyd/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/30/donald-williams-chauvin-trial-floyd/Robin GivhanTue, 30 Mar 2021 23:14:05 +0000“You can’t paint me out to be angry,” witness Donald Williams said.https://www.washingtonpost.comhttps://www.washingtonpost.comRobin GivhanTue, 30 Mar 2021 13:40:07 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/29/justice-by-numbers/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/29/justice-by-numbers/Robin GivhanMon, 29 Mar 2021 23:13:29 +0000“He does not let up. He does not get up,” prosecutor Jerry Blackwell said. The words would become a refrain.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/25/many-languages-joe-biden/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/25/many-languages-joe-biden/Robin GivhanThu, 25 Mar 2021 23:25:28 +0000Biden came prepared to speak of politics and governance, politics and constituent services, politics and simple common sense.https://www.washingtonpost.comhttps://www.washingtonpost.comRobin GivhanWed, 24 Mar 2021 22:10:31 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/americans-are-stubbornly-unmoved-by-death/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/americans-are-stubbornly-unmoved-by-death/Robin GivhanTue, 23 Mar 2021 23:08:00 +0000Muscle memory demands that we lament mass shootings — but they don’t cause behavior to change.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/22/kamala-harris-asian-americans-georgia/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/22/kamala-harris-asian-americans-georgia/Robin GivhanMon, 22 Mar 2021 22:27:41 +0000Harris words were spiked with emotion. But she didn’t let a warm bath of reassuring this-is-not-who-we-are overrun the truth.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/16/just-let-them-keep-talking/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/16/just-let-them-keep-talking/Robin GivhanTue, 16 Mar 2021 23:25:54 +0000Sometimes voices that are intemperate, uninformed and cruel can be put to use. Their bleak, caustic nature tells us something about our weaknesses and failures.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/11/biden-spoke-without-swagger/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/11/biden-spoke-without-swagger/Robin GivhanFri, 12 Mar 2021 03:08:58 +0000The president didn’t sound boastful as much as he sounded relieved.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/09/looking-jury-chauvins-peers/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/09/looking-jury-chauvins-peers/Robin GivhanWed, 10 Mar 2021 00:28:40 +0000Defendant Derek Chauvin spent the afternoon with his pen poised over a yellow legal pad as potential jurors alternately described police officers as above reproach and beyond salvation. Saints or liars, all.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/03/bureaucracy-no-one-has-answers/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/03/bureaucracy-no-one-has-answers/Robin GivhanThu, 04 Mar 2021 00:26:52 +0000The four-hour hearing sent the attentive citizen plummeting into a governmental morass in which no one was responsible because no one was apparently in charge.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/02/vernon-jordan-made-being-black-man-america-look-effortless/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/02/vernon-jordan-made-being-black-man-america-look-effortless/Robin GivhanWed, 03 Mar 2021 00:25:21 +0000He knew what it meant to be underestimated and rose above those who would insult his humanity.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/23/optics-arent-everything-sometimes-they-are-only-thing/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/23/optics-arent-everything-sometimes-they-are-only-thing/Robin GivhanWed, 24 Feb 2021 00:04:15 +0000The Senate convened to examine the security lapses at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and although the witnesses made clear there were multiple points of failure, the missteps always seemed to come down to optics.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/22/merrick-garland-finally-speaks-his-words-were-worth-wait/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/22/merrick-garland-finally-speaks-his-words-were-worth-wait/Robin GivhanMon, 22 Feb 2021 23:50:05 +0000For the Republicans, justice is not something that “rolls down like waters,” it’s something that comes down like a hammer.https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/02/19/samira-nasr-harpers-bazaar/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/02/19/samira-nasr-harpers-bazaar/Robin GivhanFri, 19 Feb 2021 11:00:25 +0000Nasr is the first person of color appointed editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar in the magazine's 154-year history.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/16/mcconnell-shows-that-legacies-dont-matter-when-facts-no-longer-do/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/16/mcconnell-shows-that-legacies-dont-matter-when-facts-no-longer-do/Robin GivhanWed, 17 Feb 2021 00:38:56 +0000Reverence for one’s legacy was supposed to be the safety valve. It meant being able to take a step back. It was salvation from our worst impulses.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/12/impeachment-trial-begins-moment-prayer-one-can-only-hope-its-not-vain/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/12/impeachment-trial-begins-moment-prayer-one-can-only-hope-its-not-vain/Robin GivhanFri, 12 Feb 2021 23:52:59 +0000Trump's supporters aren’t aggrieved by the loss of their own rights. They’re simply angry that people unlike them have access to rights of their own.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/10/everything-about-trumps-impeachment-trial-is-personal/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/10/everything-about-trumps-impeachment-trial-is-personal/Robin GivhanThu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:38 +0000The House managers are arguing, with a calm and simmering rage, that this impeachment is not politics. It’s personal. As it should be.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/09/an-avalanche-words-theres-no-sign-regret-trump/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/09/an-avalanche-words-theres-no-sign-regret-trump/Robin GivhanWed, 10 Feb 2021 00:08:11 +0000The pictures from the Capitol riot are a punch in the gut, but the former president’s words before and during the violence gnaw at the intellect. His words bring demented logic to the seemingly illogical actions.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/03/plea-forgiveness-before-we-forget/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/03/plea-forgiveness-before-we-forget/Robin GivhanWed, 03 Feb 2021 19:58:35 +0000Officer Brian Sicknick lay in honor but the public could not come to pay its respects. Our representatives did so in our stead.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/02/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-shared-her-personal-story-revealed-our-collective-trauma/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/02/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-shared-her-personal-story-revealed-our-collective-trauma/Robin GivhanWed, 03 Feb 2021 00:10:28 +0000In a monologue that lasted nearly 90 minutes, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has borne witness for the people.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/26/ghosts-our-unsettled-past/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/26/ghosts-our-unsettled-past/Robin GivhanTue, 26 Jan 2021 23:55:26 +0000The nation wants to move on, but we can’t until we’ve dealt with the mess that lies behind us, in front of us and all around us.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/20/democracy-survived-barely/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/20/democracy-survived-barely/Robin GivhanThu, 21 Jan 2021 00:22:47 +0000We have been at war with our own democracy. But we haven’t yet managed to topple our own moral code.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/19/dr-jill-biden-often-overshadowed-is-quietly-making-history-too/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/19/dr-jill-biden-often-overshadowed-is-quietly-making-history-too/Robin GivhanTue, 19 Jan 2021 23:54:21 +0000Biden is planning to be her own person, which for her, includes continuing to teach. It’s a simple but profound decision that strikes a blow for gender equity that resonates intimately.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/19/biden-harris-style-message/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/19/biden-harris-style-message/Robin GivhanTue, 19 Jan 2021 13:00:35 +0000They are opposites, a man and a woman from different generations and different sides of the country. A daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. A son of Irish Catholics. But the way they dress places them on common ground.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/13/antiracism-joe-biden/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/13/antiracism-joe-biden/Robin GivhanWed, 13 Jan 2021 19:56:37 +0000Joe Biden bears the country forward on a path toward racial justice -- one marked by his own failures, moments of enlightenment and political rebirth.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/13/power-structure-black-women-kamala-harris/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/13/power-structure-black-women-kamala-harris/Robin GivhanWed, 13 Jan 2021 19:52:25 +0000With the swearing in of Kamala D. Harris, the voice of the second highest-ranking executive in the land will not be a masculine baritone. Gravitas will have a feminine lilt.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/12/women-would-be-insurrection/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/12/women-would-be-insurrection/Robin GivhanWed, 13 Jan 2021 00:18:14 +0000The mob was dominated by men, but the ladies were all over this mayhem, from the start to the present, from Congress to the White House and out in the hinterland.https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/01/11/kamala-harris-howard-university-black-city/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/01/11/kamala-harris-howard-university-black-city/Robin GivhanMon, 11 Jan 2021 15:39:20 +0000When anyone challenges her racial identity, the vice president-elect points to her four years at Howard University.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/10/vogue-got-too-familiar-too-fast/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/10/vogue-got-too-familiar-too-fast/Robin GivhanMon, 11 Jan 2021 03:11:51 +0000The Vogue print cover, in effect, calls Harris by her first name without invitation.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/06/flying-flag-fascism-trump/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/06/flying-flag-fascism-trump/Robin GivhanThu, 07 Jan 2021 03:13:01 +0000Americans stormed the U.S. Capitol while flying the Confederate flag. That is who they are. And they are part of this body politic.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/15/bill-barr-was-disdainful-block-gray/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/15/bill-barr-was-disdainful-block-gray/Robin GivhanTue, 15 Dec 2020 23:19:27 +0000The lasting image is that of a graceless, block of a man hunched over a hearing room desk with a resting expression of genial disgust.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/14/electoral-college-vote-was-blissfully-bureaucratic-boring/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/14/electoral-college-vote-was-blissfully-bureaucratic-boring/Robin GivhanTue, 15 Dec 2020 00:08:29 +0000“We made it,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said as the electoral college did its democratic duty.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/08/joe-biden-goes-church-politics-remains-outside/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/08/joe-biden-goes-church-politics-remains-outside/Robin GivhanWed, 09 Dec 2020 00:05:48 +0000Politics has been bludgeoning religion at a time when scripture and faith really should be at their most profound and when grace should shine.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/06/georgia-runoff-just-showing-up-debate-was-apparently-hardest-part/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/06/georgia-runoff-just-showing-up-debate-was-apparently-hardest-part/Robin GivhanMon, 07 Dec 2020 03:08:33 +0000Georgia's senate debates began with a Republican insulting voters with his absence. It ended with another Republican insult voters’ intelligence.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/01/biden-is-building-team-that-looks-like-people-it-serves/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/01/biden-is-building-team-that-looks-like-people-it-serves/Robin GivhanWed, 02 Dec 2020 00:50:03 +0000If there’s anything that Biden has made clear, it’s that he alone will not right the country. It’s a group effort.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/30/melania-trump-made-herself-into-symbol-her-admirers-filled-it-with-meaning/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/30/melania-trump-made-herself-into-symbol-her-admirers-filled-it-with-meaning/Robin GivhanMon, 30 Nov 2020 23:50:20 +0000Over four years, the first lady has come into her own. Her place is on a pedestal — alone. She seems perfectly content there. And that reassures her supporters.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/24/christmas-tree-turkey-pardon-trumps-thankfully-showed-up/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/24/christmas-tree-turkey-pardon-trumps-thankfully-showed-up/Robin GivhanTue, 24 Nov 2020 23:38:09 +0000These holiday ceremonies are something pleasant in the midst of a world of awful. Even if it is just a matter of appearances.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/18/rudy-giuliani-is-mess/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/18/rudy-giuliani-is-mess/Robin GivhanThu, 19 Nov 2020 00:20:39 +0000Giuliani, at 76, has revealed himself to be a man who believes that he can summon truth from falsehoods, bend the law to his will and conjure whatever reality suits him simply by speaking his hopes and dreams aloud.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/17/president-is-golfing-exercising-white-male-privilege/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/17/president-is-golfing-exercising-white-male-privilege/Robin GivhanWed, 18 Nov 2020 00:26:02 +0000The fat-cat tooling around in his golf cart is a classic metaphor for privilege and disregard — and reckless ineptness — and one that is also terribly apt for Trump.https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/11/16/valentino-pierpaolo-piccioli-high-fashion/https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/11/16/valentino-pierpaolo-piccioli-high-fashion/Robin GivhanMon, 16 Nov 2020 15:34:58 +0000Pierpaolo Piccioli defends the highest of high fashion in a changed world.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/10/trump-is-lame-duck-all-caps-president/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/10/trump-is-lame-duck-all-caps-president/Robin GivhanWed, 11 Nov 2020 00:34:05 +0000Trump has left a vacuum and President-elect Joe Biden has filled that void.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/07/kamala-harris-made-history-with-quiet-exquisite-power/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/07/kamala-harris-made-history-with-quiet-exquisite-power/Robin GivhanSun, 08 Nov 2020 03:24:23 +0000"On a night of celebration, a Black woman — an Asian American woman — was at the center of it all."https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/07/biden-picked-up-weight-presidency-much-nation-set-down-its-burdens/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/07/biden-picked-up-weight-presidency-much-nation-set-down-its-burdens/Robin GivhanSun, 08 Nov 2020 00:37:14 +0000Biden was the pragmatic choice for this moment. And that makes him invaluable.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/05/melania-trump-glosses-over-presidents-worst-tendencies-jill-biden-highlights-her-husbands-best-instincts/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/05/melania-trump-glosses-over-presidents-worst-tendencies-jill-biden-highlights-her-husbands-best-instincts/Robin GivhanThu, 05 Nov 2020 21:59:43 +0000https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/04/president-hides-behind-power-grace-american-flag/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/04/president-hides-behind-power-grace-american-flag/Robin GivhanWed, 04 Nov 2020 19:07:48 +0000President Trump has weaponized and diminished the beauty of the American flag.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/03/waiting-relief/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/03/waiting-relief/Robin GivhanWed, 04 Nov 2020 00:58:16 +0000Trump versus Biden is emblematic of America’s enduring tension between getting there first and leaving no one behind.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/27/amy-coney-barrett-took-her-bows-promised-be-independent-president-reveled-applause/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/27/amy-coney-barrett-took-her-bows-promised-be-independent-president-reveled-applause/Robin GivhanTue, 27 Oct 2020 22:27:20 +0000Barrett stood at center stage and accepted the plaudits. Then she told the president for whom everything is performance that she took this all quite seriously. For her, it wasn’t just a show.