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New Commission on Renaming Army Bases Gets Early Makeover

"A new commission created to relabel U.S. Army bases named for Confederate leaders has quietly undergone a major shakeup as the Biden administration has replaced last-minute Trump appointees with a diverse panel."

The Senate’s ‘Talking Filibuster’ Might Rise Again

An overview of the history and prospects of the talking filibuster as some Senators signal openness to reforming the rules that currently require a 60-vote supermajority to move legislation. 

‘This Is Jim Crow in New Clothes’: Raphael Warnock's First Senate Speech

by Jamelle Bouie

Raphael Warnock's debut speech in the Senate connected the passage of voting rights legislation today and the climate of debate over the Reconstruction era Civil Rights Act of 1875. 

Rage and Retribution

The bungled police statements after the Atlanta shootings reflect the way that moral panics about sexuality have historically worked to make Asian immigrant women the targets, rather than the protectees, of law enforcement. 

In ‘Genius: Aretha,’ Respecting the Mind, Not Just the Soul

"The full scale of Franklin’s contributions to her own music has long been obscured. She was a gifted songwriter and a superb pianist. In the studio, she was a taskmaster, pushing herself and her collaborators until they captured the exact sound she heard in her head — not easy for a Black female musician of her time."

The Deep American Roots of the Atlanta Shootings

Emerging facts about the Atlanta shootings last week suggests that the incident reflects the sexualized portrayal of Asian women that grew out of colonialism and American military involvement in Asia.

DeSantis Lashes out at ‘Critical Race Theory’ in Push to Overhaul Florida’s Civics Curriculum

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the latest official to attack "Critical Race Theory" based on an understanding that the ideas are corrupting civics education by overstating the extent of racism in the US. 

The Long, Ugly History of Anti-Asian Racism and Violence in the U.S.

by Gillian Brockell

An overview of significant incidents of violence and discrimination against Asian people in the United States. 

John Singleton Saw a Tenderness in Black L.A. that the World Refused to Look At

John Singleton's films showed the fullness of life in South Central Los Angeles during the tumultuous 1990s that the news media didn't always portray.

Why This Wave of Anti-Asian Racism Feels Different

Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong discusses the status of Asian Americans in the US and the growing hostility inspired by the pandemic. 

Bill Would Remove all Members of Tennessee Historical Commission

Some conservative legislators are upset with the state Historical Commission's recent decision to remove a memorial to slave trader and Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee capitol. 

The South's Jim Crow Barriers to Voting Rights are Going National

Columnist Hayes Brown says that it's only fitting that new Jim Crow-style voting restrictions are a national phenomenon; Thomas Rice, the minstrelsy performer who invented the Jim Crow character was a New Yorker who successfully peddled anti-Black caricature across the nation. 

Visit the Library of Congress's Irish-American Resources

The Library of Congress has a dedicated page for documents related to Irish and Irish American history.   

Nazi Anatomical Drawings are Donated in Effort to Address Ethical Quandary — and Spotlight a Dark History

The Pernkopf Atlas of anatomy was an unmatched documenting of the nervous and circulatory system. But it was created by Nazi doctors and partly based on the examination of the bodies of people executed by Nazis. A long effort to resolve the ethical dilemma inherent in its use has resulted in the donation of the illustrations to the Medical University of Vienna. 

The Victims of Agent Orange the U.S. Has Never Acknowledged

"The use of the herbicide in the neutral nation of Laos by the United States — secretly, illegally and in large amounts — remains one of the last untold stories of the American war in Southeast Asia."

Iowa House Passes Controversial Bill to Ban ‘Divisive Concepts’ from School Training, Curriculum

“This bill is a denial of history,” Rep. Marti Anderson, D-Des Moines, said. “The bill doesn’t want our next generations to receive complete American history education that includes the facts of our darkest hours.” 

Israel Reveals Newly Discovered Fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls

These are the first new parchment fragments unearthed in Judea in 60 years. 

Catholic Order Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Slave Labor and Sales

"The move by the leaders of the Jesuit conference of priests represents the largest effort by the Roman Catholic Church to make amends for the buying, selling and enslavement of Black people, church officials and historians said."

France to Return Klimt Painting Sold under Duress during Nazi Era

French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot: "Eighty-three years after the forced sale of this painting by Nora Stiasny, this is the accomplishment of an act of justice."

A County Turns Against Its College

by Emma Pettit

"For years, locals have made bogeymen out of the faculty, characterizing them as radicals with leftist agendas, committed to indoctrinating students."