slavery

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Floridians Vent About Black History Policy

Education commissioner behind new standards skips public forum

(Newser) - Leaders of a forum on Florida's new standards for teaching Black history encouraged parents to let their discontent be heard by showing up at local school board meetings, sending feedback to the state's Department of Education, and voting. Hundreds of lawmakers, teachers, and parents crowded into Antioch Baptist...

Harris on Debate With DeSantis: Not Happening

VP tells Orlando crowd she won't accept Florida governor's invite to chat about curriculum, slavery

(Newser) - Last month, Kamala Harris visited Florida to speak up against the state's new educational standards. Those controversial guidelines mandate that public school students be taught how enslaved people developed skills that "in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." Now, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has...

College Board Speaks Out on Florida Slavery Lesson

Slavery was in no way 'a beneficial, productive, or useful experience for African Americans'

(Newser) - The College Board has spoken out against Florida's new African American history standards , which have been strongly criticized for suggesting some Black people benefited from being enslaved. "We resolutely disagree with the notion that enslavement was in any way a beneficial, productive, or useful experience for African Americans,...

Some Slaves Cited by Florida as Beneficiaries Weren't Slaves

Historic sources conflict with examples cited in defense of state's new school policy

(Newser) - The day after approving a new requirement that middle school students be taught that some enslaved people learned skills to their personal benefit, Florida's Board of Education issued a statement in its defense. The board listed the names of 16 historical figures it said were helped by the "...

In Florida, Harris Condemns Slavery Lesson

DeSantis says Democrats are lying

(Newser) - Vice President Kamala Harris went to Florida on Friday to denounce the state's new educational standards that mandate teaching middle school students that some Black people benefited from being enslaved . "It is not only misleading, it is false and pushing propaganda—pushing propaganda on our children," Harris...

Florida Students to Learn a 'Personal Benefit' of Slavery

New policy mandates teaching that enslaved people developed skills

(Newser) - Florida education officials have changed state standards, in keeping with Gov. Ron DeSantis' policies, to mandate teaching public school students that some Black people benefited from being enslaved because they learned useful skills. The state Board of Education immediately defended the policy, unanimously approved Wednesday, by saying lessons will still...

An Emotional King Apologizes for Dutch Role in Slave Trade

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands' ancestors got very rich off the trade

(Newser) - King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands apologized Saturday for his country's role in slavery and asked for forgiveness during a historic speech greeted by cheers and whoops at an event to commemorate the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Dutch colonies, per the AP . The king's speech followed...

Juneteenth Is in Full Swing. Do You Know What It Means?

An AP primer on the federal holiday's roots, meaning, and evolution

(Newser) - Many Americans are celebrating Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free. For generations, Black Americans have recognized the end of one of the darkest chapters in US history with joy, in the form of parades, street festivals, musical...

DeSantis Boycotts NBC Over Andrea Mitchell's 'Blatant Lie'

Florida governor's office says he won't work with NBC, affiliates until Andrea Mitchell apologizes

(Newser) - Ron DeSantis is fielding multiple apologies these days, but he's not buying at least one of them. The Florida governor has taken a lot of heat over his opposition to content in the College Board's new AP African-American course—and his threats to quash it , and all AP...

This Pompeii Home Stands Out From the Rest

House of the Vettii fully reopens to public after 20 years of restoration work

(Newser) - Two men freed from enslavement came to live a life of luxury in ancient Pompeii. Now their ornate home, dubbed "Pompeii's Sistine Chapel," has fully opened to the public for the first time in 20 years. The House of the Vettii—built in the second century BC,...

In 5 States, Slavery Was on the Ballot

And amendments to ban it and forced labor in prisons didn't pass everywhere

(Newser) - Voters in three states approved ballot measures that will change their state constitutions to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime, while those in a fourth state rejected the move. The measures approved Tuesday curtail the use of prison labor in Alabama, Tennessee, and Vermont. In Oregon, "...

Descendants of Man Behind Last Slave Ship Confront Legacy

Family calls actions of ancestor 'evil and unforgivable'

(Newser) - Descendants of the Alabama steamship owner responsible for illegally bringing 110 African captives to America aboard the last US slave ship have ended generations of public silence, calling his actions more than 160 years ago "evil and unforgivable." In a statement released to NBC News, members of Timothy...

America's 'Last Direct Link to Slavery' Has Died at 90

Civil rights activist Daniel Smith's father told family about the horrors of slavery

(Newser) - Daniel Smith, who may have been the last surviving child of an American born into slavery, has died at age 90 after a life so remarkable that a friend joked that he was the "Black Forrest Gump." Smith's father was born on a plantation in Virginia in...

Man Buys Home, Finds Out Ancestors Were Slaves There
Man Buys Old Virginia Home,
Makes 'Heart-Wrenching' Find
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 21, 2022 5:00 PM CDT

Man Buys Old Virginia Home, Makes 'Heart-Wrenching' Find

Frederick Miller discovered that his ancestors had been enslaved there in Virginia

(Newser) - A California resident who bought an old home in southern Virginia looked into its history and discovered that it was a property his ancestors would have been all too familiar with. Fredrick Miller found out the home he bought on a 10 1/2-acre property in Pittsylvania County was once on...

Harvard: We Benefited From 'Profoundly Immoral Practices'

University releases 130-page report on its connections with slavery

(Newser) - Harvard University set out to uncover and record "every discoverable connection between Harvard and slavery," reports the Boston Globe . The result—the product of three years of work by faculty and student researchers—is a 130-page report that makes clear that the connections were there, and persisted for...

Calif. Reparations Task Force: Not All Blacks Are Eligible

Group votes to limit reparations to slave descendants

(Newser) - California’s first-in-the-nation task force on reparations voted Tuesday to limit state compensation to the descendants of free and enslaved Black people who were in the US in the 19th century, narrowly rejecting a proposal to include all Black people. The vote was split 5-4, with those favoring a lineage...

A 'Stunning Revelation' About Wrecked Slave Ship

Clotilda has been buried for decades in a section of river that hasn't been dredged

(Newser) - Researchers studying the wreckage of the last US slave ship , buried in mud on the Alabama coast since it was scuttled in 1860, have made the surprising discovery that most of the wooden schooner remains intact, including the pen that was used to imprison African captives during the brutal journey...

MLB Announcer Apologizes for Apparent Slavery Reference

Jim Kaat made '40-acre field' remark about White Sox's Yoan Moncada during Friday playoff game

(Newser) - In the first inning during a playoff game Friday between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, Jim Kaat made an on-air remark about one of Chicago's players that he says was meant to be praise. By the fifth inning, the MLB Network announcer was offering up his apologies....

Nationwide Events Mark Juneteenth
Nationwide Events Mark
Juneteenth
photos
Jun 19, 2021 5:10 PM CDT

Nationwide Events Mark Juneteenth

Commemorations include joyful parades, solemn artwork

(Newser) - There were solemn moments during Juneteenth observances Saturday, as crowds across the country marked the holiday for first year it's had federal recognition . Terrence Floyd unveiled a statue of his brother George in Brooklyn, USA Today reports, telling the crowd, "My brother was the sacrifice, so I need...

White Woman on 40-Day Hunger Strike Over Reparations

'My silence has allowed the systemic racism to continue,' says Rachelle Zola of Chicago

(Newser) - Chicago resident Rachelle Zola believes so strongly in slavery reparations that she's willing to die for them. Did we mention she's a 73-year-old white woman who didn't have a Black friend until 2015? "Am I willing to die for my brothers and my sisters when there'...

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