Breaking News

This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.

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• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  7/1/2020
  

  Do American Indians Celebrate the 4th of July?

  The history of American Indian people's relationships with the federal government has shaped complex traditions of observing (or not) July 4th. 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  7/1/2020
  

  Trump Vows To Veto Defense Bill If It Removes Confederate Names From Military Bases

  Trump stood up for the honor of Confederate leaders while also lobbing a racist insult at Senator Elizabeth Warren and native Americans. 

• 
• SOURCE: San Jose Mercury-News
  7/1/2020
  

  Fourth of July: Beer’s Patriotic Connection to the Founding Fathers

  As you plan your weekend celebrations, remember this quip by founding father Samuel Adams, who lent his name to a Boston brewery: “Let no man thirst for good beer.”

• 
• SOURCE: Classic FM
  7/1/2020
  

  Calls for ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ to be Replaced With a New US National Anthem

  Musicians and historians suggest the anthem, which was written by a 19th-century slave owner, has run its course as America’s national song.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  7/1/2020
  

  As Young People Drive Infection Spikes, College Faculty Members Fight For The Right To Teach Remotely

  Many schools are giving students the option to take classes remotely while expecting faculty to teach classes in person.

• 
• SOURCE: Florida Phoenix
  7/1/2020
  

  A Push to Make Black History Classes a College Graduation Requirement in FL is Mostly Talk but no Action

  Right now, Florida law requires African American history to be taught at K-12 public schools, though some schools may not be teaching it.

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  6/30/2020
  

  As Palmdale Grapples With A Hanging Death, Locals Recall The Area's Racist History

  Because of the area's troubled past, it's easy for locals to think the worst happened to Fuller.

• 
• SOURCE: The New York Times
  6/29/2020
  

  A Surprising Role Model Emerges for Boris Johnson: F.D.R.

  The British prime minister, trying to regroup in the coronavirus pandemic, wants to bury Thatcherism and embark on a program of ambitious public works.

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  6/26/2020
  

  We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence

  Like music itself, this spirit of resistance takes many shapes, but has never been silenced.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  6/30/2020
  

  The Scars of Being Policed While Black (video)

  by Laurence Ralph

  Anthropologist and police violence researcher Laurence Ralph made the film above to explain exactly what it means to be policed in America today. It moves from my own experiences with racial profiling as a teenager to the horrific history of police torture in Chicago.

• 
• SOURCE: Arts Fuse
  6/29/2020
  

  Book Reconsideration: “A Confederacy of Dunces” — Still an American Comic Masterpiece?

  A reassessment on the 40th anniversary of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, a novel that many consider one of the funniest ever written by an American.

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  6/30/2020
  

  Mississippi Governor Signs Law Removing Confederate Design From State Flag

  "People who wanted to keep the flag couldn't ignore what it meant anymore," says Democratic state Rep. Robert Johnson, the minority leader in the Mississippi House.

• 
• SOURCE: The Hill
  6/29/2020
  

  Trump Doubles Down on 'Heritage' Defense of Confederate Statues

  In response, the President said, "We have a heritage, we have a history and we should learn from the history, and if you don’t understand your history, you will go back to it again. You will go right back to it. You have to learn. Think of it, you take away that whole era and you’re going to go back to it sometime."

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  6/30/2020
  

  Leave Lincoln Out of It

  Andrew Ferguson argues that the Lincoln Project's anti-Trump ads follow Abe Lincoln's lead in one respect: they echo the young Lincoln's talent for partisan attacks and inflammatory rhetoric. They inflame and agitate, but don't persuade. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  6/28/2020
  

  Mississippi House and Senate Vote to Remove Confederate Icon from State Flag

  “In the name of history, I stand for my two sons who are 1 and 6 years old,” said Sen. Derrick Simmons (D), who is black. “Who should be educated in schools, be able to frequent businesses and express their black voices in public spaces that all fly a symbol of love, not hate. A symbol of unity, not division. A symbol that represents all Mississippians, not some.”

• 
• SOURCE: History.com
  6/29/2020
  

  Why Thomas Jefferson's Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of Independence

  To call slavery a “cruel war against human nature itself” may have accurately reflected the values of many of the founders, but it also underscored the paradox between what they said and what they did.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  6/29/2020
  

  Disputed African Artifacts Sell at Auction

  Chika Okeke-Agulu’s voice is one of many calling for the repatriation of African artworks in European and American collections that are thought to have been acquired through colonial exploitation or illegal looting.

• 
• SOURCE: WBUR
  6/29/2020
  

  Family Of Woman Who Portrayed Aunt Jemima Speaks Out About Quaker Oats's Rebranding Decision

  To keep her aunt’s legacy alive, Harris says her family hopes Quaker Oats comes out with a commemorative box to recognize the many women who portrayed Aunt Jemima over the years.

• 
• SOURCE: Mother Jones
  6/26/2020
  

  There’s Another Confederate Monument in the US Capitol: Jefferson Davis’ Old Desk

  Once a symbol of treachery, his former Senate seat has become a tribute to his memory.

• 
• SOURCE: St. Louis American
  6/27/2020
  

  Catholics, Alt Right Clash With Protesters over Louis IX Statue

  One group demanded that its anchoring sculpture, a statue of King Louis IX, come down as a token of reconciliation against the generations of hate they feel the statue represents. A collective of other groups, including individuals who said they belonged to The Catholic Church and white supremacists, stood in defense of the statue of the city’s namesake.