Tag Archives: slavery

Washington DC’s NBC News affiliate reports: A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol for 111 years has been removed. The statue was removed from Statuary Hall overnight, the office of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced early Monday. A commission formed by the General Assembly decided that Lee was not a fitting symbol …

The Associated Press reports: A statewide referendum that would shorten Rhode Island’s official name was approved by voters on Election Day. With 100-percent of precincts reporting, nearly 53-percent of voters approved a ballot question to remove Providence Plantations from its name. Advocates say the word plantation evokes images of slavery in the state. Opponents argued that the word instead is …

CBS News reports: A crowd cheered Saturday as workers in Charlottesville removed a Confederate statue near the site of a violent white nationalist rally three years ago. The removal of a bronze figure of a Confederate soldier known as “At Ready” is seen in Charlottesville as a milestone in eliminating divisive symbols of the Civil War. The Washington Post reports …

“The 1619 Project is left-wing propaganda. It’s revisionist history at its worst. It won’t be much money. But even a penny is too much to go to the 1619 Project in our public schools. The New York Times should not be teaching American history to our kids. “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact …

Mediaite reports: CBS News’ Catherine Herridge spoke with the president Tuesday and pointed out that in 2015, when asked if he thinks the Confederate flag flying above the South Carolina state house needs to go, said, “I think it probably does, and I think they should put it in the museum.” “Do you still believe that?” Herridge asked. “All I …

The Associated Press reports: Mississippi has used the Confederate emblem in its flag since 1894, when white supremacists in state government adopted it after Reconstruction. Georgia put a large Confederate battle symbol on its state flag in 1956, during a backlash to the civil rights movement. That state purged the symbol from its banner in 2001 — the same year …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump announced Friday that he is rescheduling his first campaign rally in months following criticism that it was set for set for Juneteenth, the observance of the end of slavery in the United States, in a city that experienced one of the country’s worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. In a late-night tweet, …

From the military blog Task & Purpose: Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy is now “open” to renaming the service’s 10 bases and facilities that are named after Confederate leaders. “The Secretary of the Army is open to a bipartisan discussion on the topic,” Army spokesperson Col. Sunset Belinsky said Monday. The recent uproar over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis …

The Washington Post reports: In his upcoming memoir, newly appointed Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III describes the private tour he gave President Trump of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, recalling that Trump’s reaction to the Dutch role in the global slave trade was, “You know, they love me in the Netherlands.” Before the president-elect arrived, …

USA Today reports: A New Hampshire lawmaker came under fire this week for claiming American slavery was based on economics, not racism. Republican state Rep. Werner Horn stated his case in a now-deleted Facebook post, then reaffirmed his position in multiple interviews with media outlets. Horn initially drew attention for his comments in a Facebook post by former state House …

The Tennessean reports: Gov. Bill Lee has proclaimed Saturday as Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee, a day of observation to honor the former Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader whose bust is on display in the state Capitol. Per state law, the Tennessee governor is tasked with issuing proclamations for six separate days of special observation, three …

“I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea. We’ve tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation, we’ve elected an African-American president. “We’ve had waves of immigrants, as well, who have come …

“In the whole period of slavery, I think you had 600,000 people brought to the United States under involuntary servitude, or slavery, and 620,000 died in the Civil War. So, the expiation, I think, was done, you know. But I will say this, I mean, the whole idea of this — this will just rip the country apart. But before …

The Washington Post reports: More than two decades after the Southern Baptist Convention — the country’s second-largest faith group — apologized to African Americans for its active defense of slavery in the 1800s, its flagship seminary on Wednesday released a stark report further delineating its ties to institutionalized racism. The year-long study by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary found that …

The Miami New Times reports: Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis’ 2011 tome, Dreams From Our Founding Fathers, is terrible. It’s a book-long screed from the then-Tea Party candidate, in which DeSantis screams at President Barack Obama for 286 pages, implies he is a closet Marxist, and at one point writes that Obama has “Muslim roots.” The book sucks because it …

Yahoo News reports: Kanye West has been having a very Kanye West 24 hours. He performed as a giant Perrier bottle on Saturday Night Live, then was cut off at the end of the show during an impromptu pro-Trump speech to awkward silence and a scattered mixture of boos and applause. Which President Trump praised on Twitter. Head spinning yet? …

The Wrap reports: TMZ executive producer and host Charles Latibeaudiere called out Kanye West as “an under-medicated, mentally unstable megalomaniac” after the rapper said slavery was “a choice” in an interview on Tuesday. “Since so many of you asked,” Latibeaudiere wrote in a series of tweets. “Yes, I was pissed about a lot of Kanye’s comments… especially the s— about …

Via Mediaite: Kanye West appeared on TMZ for a live-streamed meltdown on Tuesday, ranting at the online tabloid’s staffers about his support for President Donald Trump, belief that slavery is “a choice,” and opioid abuse that followed a liposuction procedure. Brian Kilmeade noted the controversy surrounding West’s slavery remarks, and Steve Doocy quoted his comments that there is a “class …

Rolling Stone reports: The same day that Kanye West released a reflective two-hour interview with Charlamagne the God, he also visited TMZ for a live interview that appeared to be wildly different. The rapper drew tremendous ire for his flippant comments about the history of American slavery. “When you hear about slavery for 400 years: For 400 years, that sounds …

“He’s getting elected to the Senate. When he gets to the Senate, he’s going to have to vote on things. And slavery’s not going to be voted on in the Senate, and it’s not — neither is homosexuality. And here’s the thing. Let’s be clear because it’s such a slur against him. What he said was families still loved each …