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Race and Ethnicity

Over 800 corten-steel monuments, one for each county in the United States where a racial terror lynching took place, on display at the National Memorial For Peace And Justice

Nearly 2,000 Black Americans Were Lynched During Reconstruction

A new report brings the number of victims of racial terror killings between 1865 and 1950 to almost 6,500

A display in Paris' Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, which houses hundreds of thousands of artifacts from non-European cultures

Activists Try to Remove African Artifact From Paris Museum

Protesters demanding the repatriation of looted objects seized a funeral pole on view at the Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac

This 3-D scan shows the locations of unmarked graves that once belonged to Zion Cemetery, an African American cemetery founded in Tampa in 1901 and rediscovered last year.

Lost African American Cemetery Found Under Florida Parking Lot

The discovery marks the fourth forgotten black graveyard identified in the Tampa Bay area in the past year

The planned memorial to victims of slavery will be located in the Tuileries Gardens in the center of Paris.

France Seeks Proposals for Memorial to Victims of Slavery

Currently, Paris is home to just one significant monument recognizing the country’s history of enslavement

From L to R: Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie

One Hundred Years Ago, a Lynch Mob Killed Three Men in Minnesota

The murders in Duluth offered yet another example that the North was no exception when it came to anti-black violence

Governor Ralph Northam has ordered the removal of Richmond's statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Confederate Monuments Are Coming Down Across the Country

As protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd continue, statues commemorating controversial historical figures are being removed from U.S. cities

Michael B. Jordan (left) and Jamie Foxx (right) star in Just Mercy as civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson and falsely accused death row inmate Walter McMillian, respectively.

‘Just Mercy’ Is Streaming for Free This Month to Educate Viewers on Systemic Racism

The 2019 film, which chronicles criminal justice reform in Alabama, stars Michael B. Jordan as lawyer Bryan Stevenson

A makeshift memorial and mural outside Cup Foods, where George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on Sunday, May 31

How Artists Are Responding to the Killing of George Floyd

Murals and portraits memorializing the 46-year-old black man and calling for societal change have appeared across the world

Protestors march through the streets of D.C. during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody.

Race in America

158 Resources for Understanding Systemic Racism in America

These articles, videos, podcasts and websites from the Smithsonian chronicle the history of anti-black violence and inequality in the United States

This photo shows part of the display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a memorial to honor thousands of African-Americans killed in lynchings.

Legislation Declaring Lynching a Federal Crime Hits New Roadblock

Sen. Rand Paul has stalled a measure passed by the House in February

Researchers found that the less likely a student’s gender and racial groups were to be represented in their field, the more likely they were to introduce novel conceptual linkages in their work.

Deep Biases Prevent Diverse Talent From Advancing

A new study indicates that underrepresented students in science-related fields are innovating at high rates—but not reaping commensurate rewards

Cousins Flaurience Sengstacke (left) and Roberta G. Thomas (right) regaled readers with tales of their travels in some 20 Chicago Defender columns published between July 1931 and August 1932.

Experience 1930s Europe Through the Words of Two African American Women

In the pages of the “Chicago Defender,” the cousins detailed their adventures traversing the continent while also observing signs of the changing tides

The Ten Best Science Books of 2019

New titles explore the workings of the human body, the lives of animals big and small, the past and future of planet earth and how it’s all connected

February II, 2019 by Devan Shimoyama

Unraveling the Tangled History of the Hoodie

Over the years, the oft-politicized garment has straddled the worlds of sports, street culture, Silicon Valley and high fashion

The newspapers on sale at this New York City newspaper stand likely contained some of the same comics and articles, thanks to the advent of syndication in the early 20th century.

How Syndicated Columns, Comics and Stories Forever Changed the News Media

For many Americans, their “local” paper would soon look much like the paper read halfway across the country

The tool is set to go offline this Friday, but it will remain accessible as a physical art installation at Milan’s Fondazione Prada Osservertario

Art Meets Science

Art Project Shows Racial Biases in Artificial Intelligence System

ImageNet Roulette reveals how little-explored classification methods are yielding ‘racist, misogynistic and cruel results’

No image of Henrietta Wood survives today, but her story is recorded in court filings, including the verdict slip above.

Women Who Shaped History

In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won

The $2,500 verdict, the largest ever of its kind, offers evidence of the generational impact such awards can have

Trending Today

To Remember the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, Commemoration Project Looks to Public Art

The Windy City was just one place that went up in flames that summer

A young Emmett Till wearing a hat.

Due to Repeated Vandalism, Emmett Till Memorial to Be Replaced With Bulletproof Sign

Most recently, three University of Mississippi students were suspended from their fraternity after posing in front of the sign with guns

Members of the 3rd Calvary arrive in D.C. to quash the racial unrest

One Hundred Years Ago, a Four-Day Race Riot Engulfed Washington, D.C.

Rumors ran wild as white mobs assaulted black residents who in turn fought back, refusing to be intimidated

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