slavery

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2nd 'Underground Railroad' Ran South for 100 Years

Slaves fled southern states for Spanish-owned Florida

(Newser) - Turns out there was another Underground Railroad that helped Southern slaves escape their masters before the Civil War—only it ran the other way and relied partly on help from American Indians. Reporting on an upcoming conference in St. Augustine, Fla., the AP describes a lesser-known railroad that once shuttled...

PETA's Whale-Slaves Lawsuit Has Its Day in Court

But it's unlikely judge will free Willy from SeaWorld

(Newser) - PETA might think it's on "the next frontier of civil rights" with its lawsuit seeking to emancipate SeaWorld's "whale slaves," but a federal judge presiding over a hearing yesterday was a bit more skeptical, reports the LA Times . The animal-rights group, perhaps better known for...

Parents Incensed Over Slavery Word Problems

It was 'a poorly written question,' concedes spokesperson

(Newser) - Out of Georgia, an example of cross-curricular lesson-planning gone horribly wrong: Parents were furious when their third-graders came home with math homework asking about slavery and beatings. Read one problem, "Each tree had 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?" And...

Google Gives $11.5M to Fight Slavery

Move is a 'game-changing investment,' anti-trafficking group says

(Newser) - Google has made what is believed to be the biggest-ever corporate contribution to the fight against modern-day slavery. As part of $40 million in donations the search-engine king is making over the holiday season, Google coughed up $11.5 million to organizations working to end human trafficking, CNN reports. Up...

PETA Sues SeaWorld for Whale 'Slaves'

Says their treatment violates 13th amendment

(Newser) - Never known for half-measures , PETA is suing SeaWorld—for violating the 13th Amendment. You know, the one that outlawed slavery. In a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of killer whales Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasatka, and Ulises, the animal rights group contends that SeaWorld keeps its orcas in conditions that violate...

Time to End Myth About 'Stable' Slave Families

Bachmann's vow is part of a 'deliberate amnesia' on slavery

(Newser) - There’s a persistent myth in America that slavery was “an idyllic world of stable families headed by married parents," writes Tera Hunter—a myth that Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum’s endorsement of the “Marriage Vow” served to highlight. It’s time for us to understand...

'Marriage Vow' Slavery Quote Gets Bachmann in Hot Water

More hot water, that is

(Newser) - Michele Bachmann was already in hot water after signing a pledge that appears to maybe, sorta-kinda, call for a ban on porn . Now it turns out that same pledge included a controversial slavery-related clause in its preamble, forcing Bachmann to backpedal and the group behind the pledge to ultimately remove...

Bachmann: Let's 'Look at' Minimum Wage

Republican hopeful maintains founding fathers fought slavery

(Newser) - Michele Bachmann still thinks minimum wage needs a review—and she says John Quincy Adams was a founding father. Noting that Politifact says she’s gotten more “facts” wrong than any other GOP hopeful, George Stephanopoulos asked her if she wanted to “clear up” some past comments, like...

Colbert Catches Palin in History Gaffe

George Washington had a little help keeping his farm going

(Newser) - A new, stubble-sporting Stephen Colbert turned his wit on Sarah Palin’s bus tour last night, getting in some barbs in a short segment, the Huffington Post reports. After running a clip of the media questions surrounding the trip, Colbert quipped, “That’s the power of Sarah Palin. No...

Robert E. Lee Is No Hero
 Robert E. Lee Is No Hero 
OPINION

Robert E. Lee Is No Hero

It's time we honor the ones who were right: Richard Cohen

(Newser) - Robert E. Lee was a brilliant general, but he "commanded a vast army that, had it won, would have secured the independence of a nation dedicated to the proposition that white people could own black people and sell them off, husband from wife, child from parent, as the owner...

Another Teacher Blasted for Mock Slave Auction

And this time, all the black students told to play slaves

(Newser) - Note to teachers: Perhaps it would be a good idea to skip the mock slave auctions while covering the Civil War. Parents are in an uproar after yet another elementary school engaged in such a lesson, this time in Norfolk, Virginia, on April 1. Jessica Boyle told all the black...

How 'Washington' Became America's 'Blackest Name'

Were former slaves honoring George, embracing America?

(Newser) - George Washington’s name is synonymous with America—and of the people who bear his surname today, 90% of them are African-American, according to the 2000 census. How did “Washington” become, as Jesse Washington, writing for the AP calls it, the “blackest name" in America? It could be...

Beck: It Was 'Cowardly' to Skip Slaves in Constitution Reading

Beck wanted GOP to read the document 'scars' and all

(Newser) - Glenn Beck was not satisfied with Congress' constitutional read-along yesterday, because House leaders left out a couple of parts: namely, the three-fifths compromise, and the 18th Amendment, which declared prohibition. “They didn’t want to offend anybody ... which shows their cowardice for not reading it,” Beck fumed of...

Stop Denying It: the Civil War Was About Slavery

As anniversary approaches, EJ Dionne says we too often skirt slavery issue

(Newser) - We’re approaching the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s beginning, and at a time like this, we can’t afford to forget its real cause. “There remains enormous denial over the fact that the central cause of the war was our national disagreement about race and slavery,...

Civil War Sesquicentennial: South Will Celebrate Secession, Not Slavery, on 150th Anniversary
In South, How to Celebrate Secession, Not Slavery?
civil war sesquicentennial

In South, How to Celebrate Secession, Not Slavery?

150th anniversary events include mock swearing-in of Jefferson Davis

(Newser) - How do you celebrate the Confederacy and secession without implicitly celebrating slavery? The South is attempting to do just that, as it plans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the four-year-long Civil War over the next four years. Events include “secession balls,” re-enactments, a parade, and a mock...

Textbook Says Thousands of Slaves Fought for South

Author Joy Masoff read about it on the Internet

(Newser) - A Virginia 4th-grade textbook has come under fire for claiming that thousands of slaves fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War—something an overwhelming majority of historians say isn’t true. The book’s author, Joy Masoff, isn’t a trained historian, and says she did most of her...

Bachmann: Obama Has Created a 'Nation of Slaves'
Bachmann: Obama Has Created a 'Nation of Slaves'
BY REFORMING HEALTH CARE

Bachmann: Obama Has Created a 'Nation of Slaves'

Rep's running with health reform=slavery

(Newser) - Looks like the far right is running with this health care reform-as-slavery meme. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann accused President Obama of “turning our country into a nation of slaves,” this weekend at a conservative summit in Denver, Politico reports. She was riffing on a quote from Revolutionary War...

Ala. Tea Partier: Health Reform Is 'Slavery'

Candidate Rick Barber ups ante with even crazier ad

(Newser) - Tea party Republican Rick Barber has outdone himself. In a kind of sequel to his last crazy ad , the Alabama congressional candidate has released a new video in which a man dressed like Abraham Lincoln declares that paying taxes amounts to slavery. “Hey Abe,” Barber asks, “If...

Steele Fires Opening Salvo Against Kagan

Her crime? Quoting Thurgood Marshall against slavery

(Newser) - If you were hoping for a quick, bipartisan approval process for Elena Kagan, keep dreaming. Michael Steele has put out a statement leaving little doubt that Republicans intend to challenge Kagan any way they can. He criticizes her for trying to bar military recruiters from Harvard Law School's campus, “...

Miss. Gov: Proclamation Slave Diss Is 'Diddly'

Controversy over omission is 'just a nit'

(Newser) - Mississippi's governor defended the omission of slavery from a Virgina Confederate History Month proclamation, saying the oversight meant "diddly." Asked on CNN if Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's failure to mention slavery was a mistake, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour responded: "I don't think so. It's trying to make...

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