Breaking News

Texas Librarians Face Harassment as they Navigate Book Bans

While some librarians in the state have been fired for refusing to comply with bans, many others have or are contemplating quitting over political interference with their work and social media harassment. 

Inside the Reversal of the Montpelier Board

The board approved the appointment of 11 members nominated by the Montpelier Descendants Committee, and the resignation of the board chair who led the resistance to the appointments is pending. 

Zemmour Acquitted of Holocaust Denial after Crediting Nazi Collaborator with Saving Jews

While there is substantial disagreement on whether Vichy leader Philippe Pétain's decision to turn over foreign-born Jews to the Nazis was motivated by a desire to save French Jews, a court ruled that the right-wing provocateur did not engage in Holocaust denial by endorsing that view. 

"Great Replacement" Rhetoric has not Historically Been Out of Place in the Halls of Power

Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo published a book in 1947 declaring that the failure to ensure racial segregation and Anglo-Saxon supremacy would lead to the destruction of American civilization. 

A Neighborly Civil War in Virginia over Street Names

Leaders of a group of suburban Virginia homeowners who want to change the Confederate-related street names in their community have been accused of being puppets of George Soros and threatened. 

Report Shows Church-State Collusion on US Native Residential Schools

The Interior Department report, quoting a 1969 Senate investigation, acknowledges that “federal policy toward the Indian was based on the desire to dispossess him of his land. Education policy was a function of our land policy.”

Margaret Atwood: I Created Gilead, but the Supreme Court Might Make it Real

"Women were nonpersons in U.S. law for a lot longer than they have been persons. If we start overthrowing settled law using Justice Samuel Alito’s justifications, why not repeal votes for women?"

Dig Into the History of Baseball's Negro Leagues with a Quiz from the Library of Congress

by Mike Queen

Now that Major League Baseball is recognizing stats from Negro League competition as Major League achievements, it's time to learn about the top players and history of the league.

How the Government Aided and Abetted the Theft of Black-Owned Farmland

A group of scholars estimates more than 300 billion dollars in lost land wealth by Black farm families over the course of the 20th century, with less tangible but still significant losses in economic security and political influence. 

Why the End of Roe Isn't Likely to Energize the Democrats

by Natalie Shure

Until the Democratic Party and its pro-choice supporters decide to take action to fix the fact that abortion restrictions are already harming poor and working-class women, they are unlikely to win elections based on their nominal support for abortion rights. 

Smithsonian Announces Plans to Return Looted, Unethically Sourced Artifacts

Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III announced the museum's intention to be a world leading institution on repatriating artifacts and promoting reconciliation for colonialism through museums. 

Where Americans Agree and Disagree on Teaching Race in School

Polls show that 2/3 of Americans think schools need to change how much attention they give to race in the curriculum, but they are split, along party and racial lines, between those who want more and those who want less, making this likely to remain a political wedge issue.

Is Alito's Plan to Repeal the 20th Century?

Alito's invocation of Plessy v. Ferguson as a reason to discard precedent is galling because his opinion would destroy the kind of protection under law that Homer Plessy actually sought. 

Traveling Smithsonian Exhibition to Highlight 1968 Poor People's Campaign

Reflecting Dr. King's increased attention to matters of inequality and economic justice, the Poor People's Campaign was launched in his honor a month after his assassination. The exhibition will begin at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. 

Protest Can – And Should – Influence the Supreme Court

by Eric Stoner

Direct action is the only way to push the court's majority more into line with the will of the majority of the public. 

What Will Post-Roe Campuses Be Like?

Student life and mental health, gender equity, medical school curricula, and faculty recruitment are just some of the areas of change likely if some states are able to ban abortion. 

Despite Decades of Warnings, Lead Still Poisons Kids in the Midwest

Residual lead from paint and industry remains present in and around enough homes to make chronic, low-level poisoning an ongoing concern. 

After COVID Delay, Controversial Philip Guston Exhibit Opens in Boston

Guston's blunt imagery, including Ku Klux Klan figures, arguably interrogates his complicity as a white artist in ongoing racism. Is it offensive to contemporary museum audiences? 

Chicago Museum Expansion will Highlight Key Role of Pullman Porters in Black History

Lyn Hughes was shocked that the public history of Chicago's Pullman factory and surrounding neighborhood overlooked the role of African American workers – who became a key core of civil rights activism. 

"Gaslit" Recalls Martha Mitchell's Role in the Watergate Scandal

The outspoken and media-friendly wife of Attorney General John Mitchell had warned reporters of CREEP "dirty tricks" before the infamous burglary. After, keeping her from talking to reporters was the first battle of the coverup.