New York Times: “What began as scattered calls for removing the Confederate battle flag from a single state capitol intensified with striking speed and scope on Tuesday into an emotional, nationwide movement to strip symbols of the Confederacy from public parks and buildings, license plates, Internet shopping sites and retail stores.”

“Racism, we are not cured of it. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say n—– in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not.”

— President Obama, in an interview on the WTF podcast.

New York Times: “In a display of unity, resolve and defiance, ‘Mother Emanuel,’ as people here call the church, opened its doors for its regular Sunday service, just four days after three men and six women were left in a bloody pile in its basement.”

“The chocolate wooden pews with scarlet cushions were packed here, with whites sitting next to blacks, locals next to visitors. Similar gatherings spanned the country, as churchgoers mourned and prayed and honored the lives lost Wednesday evening. They hoped to show that the suspect’s reported goal of setting off a race war had failed miserably.”

“National Guard troops fanned out through Baltimore, shield-bearing police officers blocked the streets and firefighters doused still-simmering blazes early Tuesday after riots, looting and violent unrest engulfed swaths of the city Monday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The unrest came just hours after thousands of people attended a funeral for Freddie Gray , a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody earlier this month. Fifteen officers were injured, and at least 27 people were arrested as Baltimore became the latest national flash point for race relations and law enforcement.”

Politico: “Obama and Congress are busy arguing over the Iran nuclear negotiations, a trade deal, what could become the broadest climate change agreement in history. But each city that erupts is a reminder of how little’s been done to address the hopelessness that’s hitting Americans in some communities across the country much more immediately.”

“A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting and killing an apparently unarmed black man in the back while he ran away,” the New York Times reports.

“Scores of U.S. lawmakers are converging on tiny Selma, Alabama, for a large commemoration of a civil rights anniversary. But their ranks don’t include a single member of House Republican leadership — a point that isn’t lost on congressional black leaders,” Politico reports.

“None of the top leaders — House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy or Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who was once thought likely to attend to atone for reports that he once spoke before a white supremacist group — will be in Selma for the three-day event that commemorates the 1965 march and the violence that protesters faced at the hands of white police officers. A number of rank-and-file Republicans have been aggressively lobbying their colleagues to attend, and several black lawmakers concurred.”