David Hackett Fischer demonstrates the centrality of people of African descent in shaping this country’s regional cultures.
slavery
Posted inFeatured, Law and Justice, Political Animal
The War Over the 13th Amendment and Modern Day Slavery
Its “servitude” clause allows prisoners to be put to work and underpaid—i.e. unpaid. How Senator Jeff Merkley and a band of activists are fighting back.
Posted inFeatured, Law and Justice, Political Animal
How the 14th Amendment Can Bar Ex-Presidents from Office
A primer on Section 3, the Constitutional words everyone is talking about.
Posted inFeatured, Political Animal
The World That Made Lincoln
While progressives and conservatives argue over his legacy, a sprawling new biography explains “Abe” via the surprisingly rich culture that forged him.
Posted inMain, Political Animal, Politics
By Enfranchising Parolees, California Voters Notch Win for Justice
Passage of Prop 17, overlooked amid presidential race, is important step in fight against structural racism.
Posted inFeatured
The Real Housekeepers of Beirut
They come from Africa and Asia to work as domestics in Lebanon. There, many face domestic violence and virtual slavery. Here’s why the law doesn’t protect them.
Posted inPolitical Animal
How Racists Will Try To Smear Kamala Harris
Trumpists are saying she had an ancestor who owned slaves. If true, it doesn’t prove what they think it does.
Posted inBooks, Featured, Political Animal
Did Lincoln Take his Cues From Congress?
A new book argues boldly—though not altogether convincingly—that Republican lawmakers had a bigger role in ending slavery than the Great Emancipator himself.
Posted inPolitical Animal
‘Slavery Didn’t End in 1865. It Just Evolved.’
Bryan Stevenson explains the importance of the anti-lynching law that just passed in Congress.
Posted inMain, Political Animal
The Historical Precedent of Trotting Out the Bible to Justify Oppression
Attorney General Sessions aligned himself with a host of deplorably racist practices.
