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Racism

Fox News anchors and high-profile politicians are now openly pushing the racism of the alt-right. The fringe movement’s messages have permeated the mainstream Republican Party - Stephanie Keith / Reuters

The White Nationalists Are Winning

By Commentaries/Opinions

Fox News anchors and high-profile politicians are now openly pushing the racism of the alt-right. The fringe movement’s messages have permeated the mainstream Republican Party. By Adam Serwer, The Atlantic — The year since the white-supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been difficult for the rogues gallery of Nazis and pseudo-Nazis who championed it. Jason Kessler, one of the organizers, was practically run out of town and faces…

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William Lloyd’s Coffee House in London specialized in being the first in getting marine news, such as arrivals and shipwrecks. Merchants and traders profited from the transatlantic slave trade before abolition, not only in the buying and selling of slaves, but also in the whole marine business of ship insurance and mortgages to sea captains.

The Surprisingly Long History of Racial Oppression in Coffeehouses

By Editors' Choice, Reparations

Centuries before two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks, capitalists met at coffee shops to profit from the transatlantic slave trade. By Tasha Williams, Yes Magazine — An 18th-century ad tells us that a dozen or so men, women, and children of African heritage were scheduled for buyer’s inspection one Saturday, just outside the entrance of the London Coffee House in Philadelphia. The Stamp Act protests and other famous anti-British…

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Calling 911

White People Have Been Dialing 911 On Black People Since 911 Was Invented

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Neil J. Young, HuffPost — It was his first day on the job. A 12-year-old kid with a newspaper route, that rite of passage for so many American boys and girls. Uriah Sharp gathered the pile of newspapers he was to deliver and set out with his mother and older brother to their assigned neighborhood of Upper Arlington, Ohio, an affluent Columbus suburb. That’s where Sharp, a young African-American boy…

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"When we sent Japanese Americans to internment camps, families were often separated when fathers were sent hasty relocation orders and forced labor contracts." (Photo: Clem Albers/ US National and Records Administration)

America Was in the Business of Separating Families Long Before Trump

By Commentaries/Opinions

The true story is that the United States has a well-documented history of breaking up non-white families. By Jeffery Robinson, Common Dreams — Children are crying for their parents while being held in small cages. The attorney general tells us the Bible justifies what we see and the White House press secretary backs him up. Be horrified and angered, but not because this is a new Trump transgression against real…

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Black child holding coins - Serede Jami / Eyeem / Getty Images

Black Americans’ Median Wealth Could Disappear in One Generation

By Editors' Choice

By Adam Hudson, Truthout — It’s no secret that, as the saying goes, “The rent is too damn high.”Across the nation, housing is becoming increasingly expensive for many Americans. But the story of the present-day housing crisis is not just a story of rising rents; it’s also a story of systemic racism. Today’s rising housing prices exacerbate the racial wealth gap in the US by making it more difficult for Black…

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The Second Sight of W.E.B. Du Bois

By Editors' Choice

By Chris Hedges, Truthdig.com — Chris Hedges gave this talk Friday at the Left Forum in New York City. W.E.B. Du Bois, more than any intellectual this nation produced in the first half of the 20th century, explained America to itself. He did this not only through what he called the “color line” but by exposing the intertwining of empire, capitalism and white supremacy. He deftly fused academic disciplines. He possessed unwavering…

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“Trump is a walking, talking permission slip for the white supremacist,” Charles Blow writes

On Race: The Moral High Ground

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Charles M. Blow, The New York Times — Racist comments don’t hurt my feelings. Not at all. However, I find that people assume that they are hurtful, both the persons spewing them and those empathic about the perceived pain. But I register no such pain. I’m from the Toni Morrison school of morality on the subject of race. As she once told Charlie Rose: “I always knew…

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The Mormon church is still grappling with a racial past.

Mormons confront a history of Church racism

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Matthew Bowman, The Conversation — On June 1 of this year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – or the Mormons – will celebrate the 40th anniversary of what they believe to be a revelation from God. This revelation to the then-President of the Church Spencer W. Kimball – which is known as “Official Declaration 2” – reversed longstanding restrictions placed on people of black African descent in the…

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