Posts Tagged ‘American history’
Sundown Towns: Racial Segregation Past and Present
A sundown town is a community that for decades kept non-whites from living in it and was thus “all-white” on purpose. Sundown towns are rare in the South but common in the rest of the country. Learn why sundown cities, towns, suburbs, and neighborhoods developed–and how they continue to shape the lives and relationships of black and white Americans today.
Read MoreTexas officials: Schools should teach that slavery was ‘side issue’ to Civil War
Five million public school students in Texas will begin using new social studies textbooks this fall based on state academic standards that barely address racial segregation.
Read MoreThe American Revolution was not a whites-only war
The political freedom resulting from the war was earned on battlefields at Lexington and Concord, at the Battle of Bunker Hill and beyond, with the help of black soldiers, both free and enslaved, who fought with the Continental Army.
Read MoreMichelle Obama Tells Grads Not to Let Hate and Insults Stand in Their Way
In her commencement speech to the graduating class, the first lady shared what she has overcome at the White House and encouraged members of the senior class to have faith in themselves.
Read MoreConfronting Past, Mississippi Town Erects Emmett Till Museum 60 Years After His Killing
Six decades after the brutal slaying of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy, the small Mississippi Delta town where two white men were acquitted of his murder is dedicating a museum to the event credited with helping spark the U.S. civil rights movement.
Read MoreTonight: Premiering on BET, “The Book of Negroes” mini-series
Based on the award-winning novel by Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes tells the story of Aminata Diallo after her capture and the pain she endured as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Starring Aunjanue Ellis as well as Cuba Gooding Jr. and Louis Gossett Jr., The Book of Negroes will premiere as an epic miniseries that highlights Aminata’s powerful journey.
Read MoreHistory of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names
On Tuesday, the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala., released a report on the history of lynchings in the United States, the result of five years of research and 160 visits to sites around the South. The authors of the report compiled an inventory of 3,959 victims of “racial terror lynchings” in 12 Southern states from 1877 to 1950.
Read MoreWhy Do We Still Care About the Confederate Flag?
150 years after the Civil War ended, the Confederate flag is still one of the nation’s most divisive emblems. Is it treasonous or just hateful to display it?
Read MoreWho Were the Great Black Historians?
Meet the people to whom all black—and American—history buffs owe a great debt.
Read MoreNew York Is Cataloging, and Returning, Bloody Relics of 1971 Attica Assault
New York State invited the families of 12 families of victims of the Attica assault for a memorial service and to return personal belongings.
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