As universities across the nation have been reckoning with their past over recent years, taking down statues and renaming halls that bore the names of former slave owners, one institution remained untouched: Johns Hopkins. The story, long repeated about the namesake of the Maryland hospital and university, was that his…
Tag: Slavery
Was Abraham Lincoln a Racist?
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s mention of Abraham Lincoln’s name during the third presidential debate on Thursday, Oct. 22, was one of the most memorable exchanges in the final presidential debate of 2020. It also caused Lincoln to become a trending topic over much of social media in the hours…
Black History Month Profiles: Martin Delany, Journalist, Author, Physician, Abolitionist, Soldier
During Black History Month, DiversityInc is honoring a series of Black innovators and history makers who are often overlooked in mainstream media coverage and history books. Check back throughout February to learn about more important figures. Related Story: Black History Month Profiles: Claudette Colvin, Civil Rights Activist Born: May 6,…
Colin Kaepernick Wears ‘Kunta Kinte’ Shirt to Public Workout After Skipping NFL Event
Colin Kaepernick, a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, wore a “Kunta Kinte” shirt to his public workout outside of Atlanta on Saturday. Kunta Kinte is the main character in the 1976 novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, by Alex Haley, which soon became a popular ABC miniseries called…
A Mother’s Warning: White Teen and Tween Boys Easily Propagandized by White Supremacists Online
California writer and mother Joanna Schroeder had a message to other moms of white teen boys in a tweet that went viral: White supremacists online are paying attention to young men’s social media use, even if you are not. Do you have white teenage sons? Listen up. I’ve been watching…
Plantation Tours Talking About History of Slavery Upsetting White People
Plantation tours across the south are finally including the ugly truth about the history of slavery on their properties––and some visitors are unhappy about it. At Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate in Virginia, where slaves built, planted and tended a terrace of vegetables, a white woman interrupted the tour guide’s explanation….
Civil Rights Attorney Benjamin Crump Demands Galveston, Texas Police Department Release Bodycam Footage of Mounted White Officers Leading Black Man With Rope
A photo of two mounted white Galveston, Texas police officers leading a handcuffed Black man with a rope evoked imagery of Antebellum-era slave catchers for many, sparking an outrage last week that led the Galveston Police Chief to issue a public apology to the suspect, Donald Neely, and his family….
Cyntoia Brown is Free After Spending 15 Years in Prison
After serving 15 years — half of her life — in prison of what would have been a life sentence, Cyntoia Brown is now free. She left the Tennessee Prison for Women on the morning of Aug. 7. The now 31-year-old was tried as an adult at 16 years old…
Galveston, Texas Police Chief Apologizes for Photo of Two Mounted White Officers Leading Black Man with Rope
A photo of two white Galveston, Texas mounted police officers leading a handcuffed Black man on a rope has prompted the city’s police chief to issue an apology. The photo an anonymous witness took and shared Aug. 3 has gone viral, sparking outrage for hearkening back to images of slavery…
Elite D.C. School Reveals Founding Nuns Sold Slaves, Not Taught Them
The elite Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., has had to face an ugly side of its past after research revealed that the founding nuns of the school didn’t teach slaves to read, as the legend goes – the nuns actually sold slaves. It was the 1820s and debt…