Laws enacted during the U.S. slavery era are still being used by lawyers and judges in today’s courtrooms. By Justin Simard, The Conversation — As the story of Juneteenth is told by…
The conflict that ripped the country apart 160 years ago has resurfaced as a campaign issue. By Toluse Olorunnipa, The Washington Post — What started with a single question from…
We rightly celebrate Abraham Lincoln for helping end slavery. But we shouldn’t forget the unstoppable force that also brought down the Slave Power: the several million slaves who left the…
A little-known Civil War story illuminates America’s broken promise to Black America. By Bennett Parten, Zócalo Public Square — Americans get Sherman’s March all wrong. Ask anyone who’s seen Gone…
After the Civil War, African Americans in the South transformed Independence Day into a celebration of their newly won freedom. By Ethan J. Kytle and Blain Roberts, The Atlantic —…
Half a century ago, writer Wendell Berry saw this coming: What white people can’t talk about is destroying them. By Kirk Swearingen, Salon — Words matter; poetry has power. It’s…
By Kevin Waite, The Conversation — The history of American slavery generally conjures a set of familiar images: sprawling plantations white with cotton, gangs of enslaved African Americans stooped low…
A new book tells the forgotten story of fugitive slaves who found freedom south of the border. David S. Reynolds, The New York Review There has long been a fascination…
By Walter G. Moss — The violent occupation of the U. S. Capitol building on January 6 shocked many people into realizing White terrorism is scary. Soon afterward, D. C….
By Victor Luckerson— For most of the hundred and fifty-six years since the Civil War, white mobs have had free rein over American society. They burned Black schools during Reconstruction,…
An image from the Capitol captures the distance between who we purport to be and who we have actually been. By Clint Smith— On Wednesday afternoon, as insurrectionists assaulted the…
The black codes effectively continued enslavement for African Americans by restricting their rights and exploiting their labor. By Nadra Kareem Nittle — When slavery ended in the United States, freedom…