1619 arrival

  • How American Slavery Helped Create Modern-Day Policing

    This year marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in what we now know as Virginia. Their voyage was, no doubt, filled with unspeakable horror and death, and their presence would forever change the United States—especially when examining the way this country approaches policing. When enslaved Africans arrived in America,…

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    Breaking: Something Bad Is Happening in Virginia [Updated]

    To commemorate the quadricentennial anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans in America, we imagined what it would be like to cover that late August day when the first slave ship landed on the shores of the place now known as Hampton, Va. 8/20/1619 2:27 P.M. Earlier: A few hours ago, The Root received several…

  • Meet ‘Angela,’ One of the 1st Slaves to Arrive in America

    What if we could put names and faces to the Africans who were brought over to America as slaves in 1619? Would it humanize slavery instead of making it a category in American history that people love to conveniently forget or urge black folks to “just get over it”? The first Africans arrived at Point…