history
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A Republican Legislator Said Slavery Wasn't Racist Because Slave Owners 'Were Making Money.' Then Things Got Even Weirder
A New Hampshire state legislator is under fire for insisting that “owning slaves doesn’t make you racist.” In a private interaction with a former New Hampshire resident and during an interview with The Root, the Republican lawmaker doubled and tripled down on his assertion by altering the definition of the word “racist,” rewriting history and…
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Picture of Smiling Teachers Holding Noose Lands All Four on Paid Leave Alongside Principal
Four teachers in California decided to get cute and pose with a noose. Now, their bosses will decide if they, along with their principal, will receive their direct deposits from the school district or state unemployment. In the photo, originally shared online free of caption or context, was taken and initially distributed by the Summerwing…
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Erased From History: Meet Redoshi, the Last Survivor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
For years, Cudjo Lewis was recognized as the last survivor of the U.S. slave trade. His life’s story was told in news reports, history books and—most notably—in Zora Neale Hurston’s 2018 bestseller Barracoon. But new research has revealed that the last survivor of American slave trading appears to be an abductee on the same slave…
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No, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Didn't Call Ronald Reagan a Racist. But She Should Have
One of my earliest memories in life was the night Ronald Reagan was elected president because it was also the night I prayed harder than I ever have in life. During the presidential campaign of 1980, I distinctly remember being terrified after I heard an adult say: “If Reagan is elected, he will send black…
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Why Everyone’s Talking About Reparations, Explained
Hello again, Racist Baby! What are you doing here? Wait … Who told you Jesus is coming back? And why would he only come back for black people? No, Racist Baby. Those people aren’t talking about Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, they’re talking about black reparations. Reparations is “the making of amends…
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Court Upholds Ruling to Unseal Grand Jury Testimony in 1946 Moore's Ford Lynching
More than 50 years after the death of two black couples who were mobbed, dragged, tied and shot 60 times by a group of white men nearly 60 miles from Atlanta, answers may finally be available. Monday, the 11th circuit of the United States Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that ordered the…
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An Open Apology to the Covington Catholic MAGA Hat Harassment Team
Dear White Boys, In the past few days, you have endured ridicule, scorn and public outrage over your actions at the combination of a pro-life rally and an Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, DC. After a “longer video” surfaced, critics of your tactics were forced to retract their previous accusations that you were a mob…
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Black to the Future: Nadine Ijewere Is the 1st Woman of Color to Shoot a Vogue Cover
When 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell captured Beyoncé for the September 2018 issue of American Vogue, it was a historic moment as he became the first black photographer to be granted a cover in the magazine’s 125-year history. Now, history is being made again, this time by 26-year-old Nadine Ijewere who, with the January issue of British…
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'Slave Bible' Converted Slaves to Christianity by Omitting Parts That Could Lead to Uprising
A new exhibit at a Washington, D.C., museum featuring an abridged version of the Bible sheds light on how Christian missionaries converted enslaved Africans to Christianity by teaching them the Gospel… except the parts about freedom, equality and resistance. According to NPR, Parts of the Holy Bible, Selected For the Use of the Negro Slaves,…
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The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music; One NYC Principal Decides to Die on One Anyway
If there’s one movie I’ve seen a possible, actual, literal 1,000-plus times in life, it’s The Sound of Music. If you grew up overseas on military bases in the 1980s, movies were your viewing pleasure. The Department of Defense provided us with one channel, the Armed Forces Network (or AFN, for short), and decided what…