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Political cartoon depicting contrabands carrying cannons, oblivious to their exploitation by the U.S. Army.

Racism and the Limits of Imagination in the United States and the Confederacy

Why did it take so long for the U.S. Army to authorize the enlistment of Black men as soldiers?
Painting of abstract lines obscuring faces on the cover of "Feeling Asian American" by Wen Liu.

Racial Hierarchies: Japanese American Immigrants in California

The belief of first-generation Japanese immigrants in their racial superiority over Filipinos was a by-product of the San Joaquin Delta's white hegemony.
Two horses and jockeys racing on a track.
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There Won’t Be Any Black Jockeys in the Kentucky Derby

Black jockeys dominated 19th-century American horse racing, but racism chased them away and undoing that damage has been slow going.
Panel of medieval-era paintings depicting humans and animals.

When Did Racism Begin?

The history of race has animated a highly contentious, sometimes fractious debate among scholars.
Rabbi Meir Kahane.

American, Racist, Jewish

The very American racism of the notorious late Rabbi Meir Kahane.
Image of a Black man wearing a black mask saying "I Can't Breathe"

A History of Anti-Black Racism In Medicine

This syllabus lays groundwork for making questions of race and racism central to studying the histories of medicine and science.
Map of Oregon

Oregon’s Racist Past

Until the mid-20th century, Oregon was perhaps the most racist place outside the southern states, possibly even of all the states.
W.E.B. Du Bois

The Soul of W. E. B. Du Bois

Reflecting on the tremendous impact of "The Souls of Black Folk," on the 150th anniversary of Du Bois' birth.

On Eve of Trump Visit, Mississippi African Americans Say He’s Brought Back Past Troubles

The president’s decision to attend the opening of a new civil rights museum in Jackson has sparked protests.

Trump Sounds Ignorant of History. But Racist Ideas Often Masquerade as Ignorance.

The White House's fumbling about slavery and the Civil War fits a long pattern in American politics.

Blaming 'Bad Dudes' Masks the Role of Women in the History of White Nationalism

Blaming “bad dudes”—ignores the role of women in the white nationalist movement.

Is Racism a Disease?

Is a psychological diagnosis a useful way to view racism-or does it merely absolve the racist of blame?

Is the Greatest Collection of Slave Narratives Tainted by Racism?

How Depression-Era racial dynamics may have shaped our understanding of antebellum enslaved life.
Jim Crow-era postcard with illustration of a black boy in the jaws of an alligator

How America Bought and Sold Racism, and Why It Still Matters

How the objects in the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia can help us understand today's prejudice and racial violence.
A person at a rally

An Open Letter to My Sister, Miss Angela Davis

Since we live in an age in which silence is not only criminal but suicidal, I have been making as much noise as I can.
The 1893 World's Fair.
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A Ghost from Kitchens Across the Nation

The 1893 World’s Fair and the origins of Aunt Jemima.
A white hand gives a key to another white hand, bypassing a Black hand.

What We Miss When We Talk About the Racial Wealth Gap

Six decades of civil-rights efforts haven’t budged the racial wealth gap, and the usual prescriptions—including reparations—offer no lasting solutions.
Frederic Remington painting of cowboys galloping through the desert, firing guns over their shoulders at their pursuers.

“Lord, Teach My Hands To War, My Fingers To Fight”

The cowboy apocalypse and American gun fandom.
Alligator

Why Do Fascists Dream Of Alligators?

Long before the new detention facility in Florida, the reptile has featured in the fantasies of Southern racists.
Wanto Company storefront with a sign that reads "I am an American."

Alien Enemies

The torturers have been revising, the gestapos have been busy, and the prisons have been full for generations.
Five men sharing a meal in Qing dynasty China.

Splitting Hairs

Chinese immigrants, the queue, and the boundaries of political citizenship.
A man walks down the street dressed as Uncle Sam and carries a large baby Donald Trump doll.

Cracked, Costly Fantasies

The legacy of right-wing ideologies in California.

The Heritage of Dylann Roof

Ten years after the Charleston massacre, reverence for the Confederacy that Roof idolized is going strong.
White South Africans who support Donald Trump in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, 2025.
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The History of White Refugee Narratives

The Trump Administration's reasons for resettling Afrikaners echo early U.S. debates about Haiti's independence.
William F. Buckley reclines behind a desk, glasses in hand, a bulletin board of National Review magazine material behind him.

The Conservative Intellectual Who Laid the Groundwork for Trump

The political vision that William F. Buckley helped forge was—and remains today—focused less on adhering to principles and more on ferreting out enemies.
Belle da Costa Greene at her desk in the Morgan library.

Ambition, Discipline, Nerve

The qualities that enabled Belle da Costa Greene to cross the color line also made her a formidable negotiator and collector for J.P. Morgan’s library.
Sam Francis

He’s a Key Thinker of the Radical Right, But Is He All That?

Where the rediscovery of Sam Francis goes wrong.
Josephine Baker and a soldier.

The Superstar Turned Spy Who Fought the Nazis and for Civil Rights

A new book highlights Josephine Baker’s wartime contribution, and how she used her fame to provide cover and promote equal rights.
Book Cover of "An Ordinary White."

Basic Stuff About Reality

On David Roediger’s “An Ordinary White: My Antiracist Education.”
“Jeffries Knock-Out,” photograph of the Jack Johnson vs. Jim Jeffries during the World Heavyweight Championship of 1910..

Jack London, Jack Johnson, and the Fight of the Century

In the 1910 World Heavyweight Championship, London cheered on Jim Jeffries as he faced off with Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champion.

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