U.S. History - KOLUMN Magazine

Does the United States Owe Reparations to the Descendants of Enslaved People? | The New York Times

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020African American History, Reparations

The idea of economic amends for past injustices and persistent disparities is getting renewed attention. What do you think should happen? [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] In 1988, President Ronald Reagan sought to “right a grave wrong” by signing legislation that apologized for the government’s forced relocation of 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II and established a $1.25 […]

What everyone should know about Reconstruction 150 years after the 15th Amendment’s ratification | The Conversation

January 5, 2020January 5, 2020African American History, Slavery

I’ll never forget a student’s response when I asked during a middle school social studies class what they knew about black history: “Martin Luther King freed the slaves.” [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929, more than six decades after the time of enslavement. To me, this comment underscored how closely Americans […]

A 1970 Law Led to the Mass Sterilization of Native American Women. That History Still Matters | Time

January 2, 2020January 2, 2020Native Americans, Navajo

Marie Sanchez, chief tribal judge on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, arrived in Geneva in 1977 with a clear message to deliver to the United Nations Convention on Indigenous Rights. American Indian women, she argued, we’re targets of the “modern form” of genocide—sterilization. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Over the six-year period that had followed the passage of the […]

White people assume niceness is the answer to racial inequality. It’s not | The Guardian

January 1, 2020January 1, 2020African American Commuities, Race ...

“While most of us see ourselves as ‘not racist’, we continue to reproduce racist outcomes and live segregated lives.” [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] I am white. As an academic, consultant and writer on white racial identity and race relations, I speak daily with other white people about the meaning of race in our lives. These conversations are […]

‘The Slaves Dread New Year’s Day the Worst’: The Grim History of January 1 | Time

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019African American History, Black History ...

Americans are likely to think of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as a time to celebrate the fresh start that a new year represents, but there is also a troubling side to the holiday’s history. In the years before the Civil War, the first day of the new year was often a heartbreaking […]

The Norfolk 17 face a hostile reception as schools reopen | The Virginian-Pilot

December 31, 2019African American History, Black History ...

Three weeks later than originally scheduled, Norfolk schools were finally ready to open. Well, most of them. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] On Sept. 29, 1958, 48 of Norfolk’s schools welcomed students – but the doors of six were padlocked and under police guard. Maury, Norview and Granby high schools and Northside, Norview and Blair junior highs remained […]

US taxpayers spent almost $1 billion incarcerating innocent black people | Yahoo Finance

December 19, 2019December 19, 2019Criminal Justice Reform, Mass Incarceration

In total, among all known exonerees, Americans have shelled out a staggering $4.12 billion to incarcerate innocent men and women since 1989, according to a Yahoo Finance analysis. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Over the last few weeks, the Rodney Reed case has ignited a firestorm of interest, as celebrities, activists, and politicians worked to delay his Nov. […]

A 1970 Law Led to the Mass Sterilization of Native American Women. That History Still Matters | Time

December 9, 2019January 15, 2020Native Americans

Marie Sanchez, chief tribal judge on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, arrived in Geneva in 1977 with a clear message to deliver to the United Nations Convention on Indigenous Rights. American Indian women, she argued, were targets of the “modern form” of genocide—sterilization. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Over the six-year period that had followed the passage of the […]

Found: The Oldest-Known Photograph of Enslaved African Americans With Cotton | Atlas Obscura

December 6, 2019January 15, 2020African American History, Black History

The daguerreotype records their faces, but not their names.

US city to pay reparations to African-American community with tax on marijuana sales | The Telegraph

December 5, 2019December 5, 2019African American History, Reparations

A city in Illinois has announced it will create a reparations fund for its African American community through a new tax on marijuana sales. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Recreational use of the drug will become legal in the state from January and officials in Evanston, which is 12 miles north of Chicago, have voted to approve a […]