Race and Ethnicity | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/race-and-ethnicity/RSS feed for Race and EthnicityenFri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000A Monumental 18th-Century Portrait of a Young Polynesian Man—a 'Supreme Work of Art'—Visits the U.S. for the First Timehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-monumental-18th-century-portrait-of-a-young-polynesian-man-a-supreme-work-of-art-visits-the-us-for-the-first-time-180989699/The massive "Portrait of Mai" depicts the first Pacific Islander to visit Britain, a young man who became a quasi-celebrity in the 1770s after joining the expedition of explorer James CookFri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-monumental-18th-century-portrait-of-a-young-polynesian-man-a-supreme-work-of-art-visits-the-us-for-the-first-time-180989699/Did Thomas Jefferson Father Sally Hemings' Children? After More Than a Decade of Research, the Answer Is Finally Firmly in Handhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/did-thomas-jefferson-father-sally-hemings-children-after-more-than-decade-research-answer-finally-firmly-hand-180989331/A lock of hair, advances in genetic science and a community of descendants all contributed to solving an American mysteryTue, 22 Sep 2026 04:01:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/did-thomas-jefferson-father-sally-hemings-children-after-more-than-decade-research-answer-finally-firmly-hand-180989331/What If Emmett Till Had Lived? A New Exhibition Imagines an Alternate Future for the Murdered Black Teenagerhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-if-emmett-till-had-lived-a-new-exhibition-imagines-an-alternate-future-for-the-murdered-black-teenager-180989498/Featuring photographs by more than 110 artists, the show honors Till’s memory by inviting viewers to contemplate the person he might have become had he made it to adulthoodTue, 15 Sep 2026 16:01:58 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-if-emmett-till-had-lived-a-new-exhibition-imagines-an-alternate-future-for-the-murdered-black-teenager-180989498/To Dismantle the Concept of Separate but Equal, Thurgood Marshall Methodically Devised a Winning Strategy: Divide and Conquerhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/dismantle-concept-separate-equal-thurgood-marshall-methodically-devised-winning-strategy-divide-conquer-180989278/While other activists aimed to take down Jim Crow in one fell swoop, the future Supreme Court justice compiled a series of wins that ultimately added up to an undeniable resolutionWed, 26 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/dismantle-concept-separate-equal-thurgood-marshall-methodically-devised-winning-strategy-divide-conquer-180989278/