racism

The Body Mass Index Grew out of White Supremacy, Eugenics and Anti-Blackness

by Sabrina Strings

Beneath the statistical and scientific imprimatur of the measurement lie a host of assumptions that the bodies of affluent white people are normal and those of others are deviant and deficient. 

In Memphis, Tyre Nichols's Killing Echoes 1866 Massacre

by Isaiah Stafford and Kathy Roberts Forde

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Memphis was a city in political upheaval in which policing became a method of reasserting white supremacy. 

Why We are Still Debating Birthright Citizenship

by Martha S. Jones

Opposition to birthright citizenship has, historically and today, reflected opposition to the idea of equal membership in the political community of the nation and has been inextricable from the idea that white Americans should be privileged citizens, argues the leading historian of the subject. 

After Brown v. Board, Segregationists also Attacked "Woke" Businesses

by Lawrence B. Glickman

When two TV networks decided in 1956 to no longer air racist lyrics to popular songs by Stephen Foster and other minstrelsy holdovers, some southern segregationists took the move as an attack on the very foundations of civilization. 

Macron's Statements on Police Killing Show France has Far to Go in Acknowledging Racism

by Crystal M. Fleming

Histories of official violence against nonwhite citizens confound the nation's official policy of universalism; President Macron's description of riots as "inexplicable" shows that official colorblindness won't help the French move toward justice. 

Health Researchers Show Segregation 100 Years Ago Harmed Black Health, and Effects Continue Today

Census data analysis by demographic historian J. David Hacker and health researcher J’Mag Karbeah correlate indexes of racial segregation with child mortality rates as a proxy for overall population health and conclude that the gap between black and white infant mortality grew the more segregated a city was. 

Michael Honey: Eig's MLK Bio Needed to Engage King's Belief in Labor Solidarity

A historian and editor of MLK's speeches praises Jonathan Eig's new biography, but says that the importance King placed on labor solidarity as a foundation of social justice is a part of the story that needs to be understood today. 

Medgar Evers's Memory Shows Us Unchecked Violent Rhetoric Will Yield Political Violence

by Claire Potter

"Medgar Evers died at the hands of people whose ideological (and, in some cases, actual) descendants threaten our democracy with violence today."

Cash Reparations to Japanese Internees Helped Rebuild Autonomy and Dignity

by Morgan Ome

Many recent proposals for African American reparations prescribe particular uses for compensation, such as securing housing. But the lesson of the $20,000 payments made to Japanese-American internees and their descendants is that restoring dignity and autonomy means letting recipients decide how to spend any payment for themselves. 

Major Genealogical Group Apologizes for Past Associations with Eugenics and White Supremacy

The National Genealogical Society acknowledged that its founding in 1903 accompanied the rise of the eugenics movement, and that early leaders viewed genealogical study as  way of demonstrating and protecting racial purity. 

Latin American Historians, Diplomats Slam The Economist for Racist Description

Historians Alex Aviña and Ignacio Sánchez Prado say the magazine blamed the quality of workers for Latin America's slower economic development, echoing centuries-old tropes rooted in racism. 

Understanding Latino White Supremacy

by Geraldo Cadava

"In fact, Latino white supremacy isn’t an oxymoron, and carrying out a premeditated mass shooting in the United States is one of the more American things a Latino could do."

Commemoration of the Tulsa Massacre Has Put Symbolism Over Justice for the Victims

by Victor Luckerson

"The neighborhood’s historical fame has become a kind of albatross slung over Black Tulsans’ necks, as efforts at building concrete pathways toward justice are buried under hollow symbolism."

New Evidence: Rehnquist Pretty Much OK with Plessy v. Ferguson

by Richard Hasen and Dahlia Lithwick

A 1952 memo that Rehnquist wrote defending "separate but equal" was raised during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings and dismissed as work-for-hire. It is now clear that he supported the narrow interpretation of the 14th Amendment that the current court majority hopes to use to undermine civil rights. 

The Tulsa Race Massacre was an Attack on Black People; Rebuilding Policies were an Attack on Black Wealth

by Brentin Mock

Victor Luckerson looks to the aftermath of the deadly attacks on the Greenwood district to argue that Tulsa's white leadership, in combination with federal highway and urban renewal programs, thwarted the efforts of Black Tulsans who were determined to rebuild. 

The Biden Administration Wants to Undo the Damage of Urban Highways. It Won't be Simple

In cities across the nation, highway projects blighted working class communities, especially nonwhite ones. Is it possible for new policies to heal that damage? 

George Yancy and Joe Feagin on How to Fight Back Against Book Bans

The sociologist, whose books on racism have been banned, argues "U.S. book banning has been widespread and routinely targeted books with diverse ideas and perspectives for centuries now, especially those challenging white conservative sociopolitical ideas, norms and values."

Big Win for Victims of Restrictive Covenants

by James Gregory

Restrictive covenants and other housing policies created a housing market defined by racial segregation and locked generations of Black Americans out of wealth-building. Now courts frown on race-aware remedies for past discrimination. Has the state of Washington figured out a way around that to deliver reparations? 

Texas Shooting Highlights Long History of Anti-Black Violence in Latino Communities

by Cecilia Márquez

History shows that there have long been strains of anti-black racism in Latino communities, and that the categories "white" and "latino" are not mutually exclusive. Understanding today's far right requires attention to those details. 

I'm Headed to Florida to Teach-In Against DeSantis's Education Policies

by Kellie Carter Jackson

This May 17 saw a 24-hour teach-in by historians in St. Petersburg, Florida, to protest the restrictions on curriculum, books and ideas pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis and his allies. As a historian of abolition, the author stresses that denying people the pen may influence them to pick up the sword.