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WASHINGTON (AP) — The debate over reparations catapulted from the campaign trail to Congress on Wednesday as lawmakers heard impassioned testimony for and against the idea of providing compensation for America’s history of slavery and racial discrimination. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, the sponsor of a resolution to study reparations, put a fine point on […]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — After more than a decade’s absence, the case for reparations is returning to Capitol Hill, this time amid a growing discussion in the Democratic Party about what the country might owe to the descendants of slaves in the United States. Actor and activist Danny Glover and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates are among the […]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A holiday that is spreading across the U.S. and beyond, Juneteenth is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. It was originally celebrated on June 19, the day that Union soldiers in 1865 told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had […]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The topic of reparations for slavery is headed to Capitol Hill for its first hearing in more than a decade with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover set to testify before a House panel. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is scheduled to hold the […]

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The old wooden ship hull didn’t look like much when researchers first saw it: just broken, waterlogged boards and a few pieces of rusted metal, all stuck in the muddy bottom of a bug-infested Alabama bayou where an alligator and poisonous water moccasins swam nearby. RELATED: Researchers Confirm The Discovery Of […]

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Researchers working in the murky waters of the northern Gulf Coast have located the wreck of the last ship known to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States, historical officials said Wednesday. Remains of the Gulf schooner Clotilda were identified and verified near Mobile after months of assessment, a […]

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SHOREWOOD, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin middle school gym teacher has been placed on indefinite leave while district officials look into claims that she separated students in one class by race and assigned the black children to research games that enslaved children played. The Shorewood Intermediate School teacher was instructing seventh-graders about games from around […]

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NEW YORK (AP) — On the opening day of a gathering of black leaders and voters in New York, two Texans seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination delved into the issue of reparations for African Americans over slavery. Speaking at the four-day conference of the National Action Network, the civil rights organization founded by the […]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A record percentage of Americans — including growing percentages of whites, blacks, independents, Democrats and Republicans — say they believe the U.S. government doesn’t spend enough on improving the condition of African-Americans, a U.S. survey shows. According to the General Social Survey, a trends poll that has measured attitudes about race in […]

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A principal of an elementary school in Virginia is now apologizing after students were told during a gym exercise to act like runaway slaves for Black History Month.

Little Known Black History Facts

White abolitionists took great risks in speaking out against slavery, often at the cost of their lives. Elijah P. Lovejoy, a journalist and abolitionist, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob because he would not discontinue railing against the racist practice in his newspaper. Elijah Paris Lovejoy was born November 9, 1802 in Albion, Maine. In […]

“If I reach back far enough I can touch my own family slavery in a very personal way.” – Bishop T.D. Jakes DALLAS – Inside a provocative exhibit about Thomas Jefferson and slavery, Bishop T.D. Jakes was reminded of his own enslaved ancestors. Jakes, who has visited Africa many times, proudly talked about his Nigerian […]