What’s a Swastika Doing on the Cover of a 1916 Newspaper?

Changes in printing press technology and the history of the symbol may explain its presence in the Wyoming State Prison newspaper, J-A-B-S.
Reverse Freedom Riders in Hyannis, MA in 1962

The Reverse Freedom Rides

The White Citizens’ Councils used the transportation of Black Americans to Northern states as a way to embarrass liberal critics and rally segregationists.
Photograph: Chinese workers  on the Oregon and California Railroad, circa 1888.  

Source: Getty

The Chinese Exclusion Act: Annotated

The passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 marked the first time the United States prohibited immigration based on ethnicity and national origin.
74261436

Remembering Emmett Till in Song

The murder of Emmett Till has been memorialized in song by such artists as Langston Hughes and Bob Dylan.
Illustration depicting a family in their back yard underground bomb shelter, early 1960s.

Jim Crow’s Civil Defense Plans

The first head of the Federal Civil Defense Administration planned on maintaining segregation in bomb shelters, and in the post-nuclear future.
Derrick Bell by David Shankbone (2007)

What Is Critical Race Theory?

Critical race theory has become a focus of conservative legislation, often with little understanding of its meaning and history.
Beachgoers at Myrtle Beach, SC

How the Beaches of the South Got There

The government funded beach construction for private developers, which displaced Black farmers from their coastal lands.
Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

The Legacy of Racial Hatred in the January 6 Insurrection

The U.S.’s politics of racial hatred are sustained by a culture of making political compromises when bold action is required.
The end of the "White Man's Rally" on November 1, 1898 in Wilmington, NC

How Racist Cartoons Helped Ignite a Massacre

In 1898, a North Carolina newspaper cartoonist weaponized white fears and tropes of Black predation to stoke a coup d'etat.
Fred Astaire and his sister Adele playing Mah Jong, 1926

White Women and the Mahjong Craze

Travelers brought the Chinese game to American shores in the early 1920s. Why was it such a hit?