Breaking News

These Restrictions Wouldn't have Passed Muster Before the Roberts Court Destroyed the Voting Rights Act

Election law experts agree that a host of new state laws would have failed the Justice Department's preclearance requirements under the pre-Shelby Voting Rights Act. 

A Manhattan Dealer Sold Fake Antiquities for Decades

The Manhattan DA's Antiquities Trafficking Unit filed charges against Mehrdad Sadigh, charging him with running an assembly line of distressing new items to sell them as ancient artifacts. 

EBay Deletes the Queer Past

The online auction company's decision may make it difficult for historians of LGBTQ cultures and of sexuality to build archives of historically signicant erotica. 

Simone de Beauvoir's Lost Novel of Early Love

“I loved Zaza with an intensity which could not be accounted for by any established set of rules and conventions,” Beauvoir recalled in her memoirs, almost thirty years after her friend’s death. 

What White Colleges Owe Black Colleges

by Adam Harris

"Private money alone won’t save Black colleges, but, perhaps, money from predominantly white institutions can — and it might be those colleges’ responsibility to provide that aid."

"I Have Done Nothing Wrong": Suburban Dallas Principal on Leave After Parent Group Accuses Him of Promoting "Critical Race Theory"

" I am the first African American to assume the role of Principal at my current school in its 25-year history, and I am keenly aware of how much fear this strikes in the hearts of a small minority who would much rather things go back to the way they used to be,” James Whitfield wrote.

The Globe's Last Supply of Leaded Gasoline is Gone, Ending a Toxic Era

Despite knowledge of the toxicity of lead, gasoline refiners added lead compounds to gasoline beginning in the 1920s, launching an era of massive low-grade lead poisoning. 

"Where Else are Our Children?": Paiute Children Believed Buried Under Utah School

"The bodies of Paiute children are likely buried below summer grasses at the site of an Indigenous boarding school they were forced to attend in Panguitch, Utah tribal leaders and history experts say."

French Documentary Video: British Tory Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg at Age 12 Loved Money and Thatcher, Feared Future Alimony

A French interviewer and documentary crew interviewed the future Tory leader about his precocious interests in the stock market and his love of Margaret Thatcher.

A Century After Blair Mountain, the Right to Organize is as Vital as Ever

by Dave Kamper

"In many mining regions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mine companies for all practical purposes were the government."

Texas Teachers: How We Actually Teach About Racism

Some teachers say Critical Race Theory actually informs their efforts to counter racism in the curriculum and classroom, even though they don't teach it directly to students.

He Blew the Whistle on Catholic Church Abuse in 1985. Why Didn't Anyone Listen?

by Ben Proudfoot

Reporter Jason Berry reflects on the difficulties of exposing abuse and the Catholic hierarchy's coverup in the 1980s. 

Nevada Judge: Major Immigration Law is Too Racist to Remain in Force

The history of legislative debate over the Undesirable Aliens Act of 1929 was a factor in demonstrating that a law criminalizing reentering the US after being deported was intended to discriminate against ethnic Mexicans and violates the Constitution. 

Billie Jean King among those Named to Womens History Museum Board

The council is charged with advising the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents on the location, planning and design of the proposed museum and with helping the institution raise money from private donors.

Adam Harris on Historic Racial Inequalities in Colleges and Universities`

The Chronicle of Higher Ed's Katie Mangan interviews Adam Harris about his new book on the structural inequalities of American higher ed, where there's an inverse relationship between resources and the proportion of Black students an institution serves.

Spike Lee’s New Documentary Platforms a 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist [UPDATE: LEE TO EDIT DOC]

"There’s still time, though, before Episode 4 airs, for Lee to do the right thing by excising the 30-minute section from the film, which is totally unnecessary to the true and important story he tells in the rest of the episode."

Americans Never Understood Afghanistan Like the Taliban Did

by Shadi Hamid

"The hubris of Western powers saw Afghan traditions as an obstacle to be overcome when, it turns out, they were the lifeblood of the country’s political culture."

Finally, the Medal of Honor for the Harlem Hellfighters of World War I

"Unlike many Black soldiers who were limited to manual labor and custodial duties, the Harlem Hellfighters made it to the front lines. There were celebrated for their bravery, helping to change the perception of Black soldiers as inferior."

Both the Right and Left Need to Remember Demography is Not Destiny

by Adam Serwer

The 2020 Census has fueled optimism on the left and panic on the right about American demographics. But past periods of ethnic change have shown the fluidity of racial categories defies expectations.

Superweeds are Here

After a generation of use, agricultural herbicides have pushed weeds to evolve resistance. Industrial agriculture may be at risk.