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Family Demands University Return Donation From 1890s
Family Demands University
Return Donation From 1890s
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 18, 2023 1:00 PM CST

Family Demands University Return Donation From 1890s

Citing slavery, Richmond renamed its law school, and donor's descendants are livid

(Newser) - Last year, the University of Richmond removed the name of TC Williams from its law school because the wealthy Virginian allegedly owned slaves. Fine, say the descendants of Williams—but they are demanding that the school give them back $3.6 billion, reports the Washington Post . It seems that in...

Discovery Uncovers Look at Slaves' Life in Pompeii

Room used for sleep and storage gives 'very rare insight' into slaves' conditions, Italian officials say

(Newser) - Archeologists in Pompeii excavating a villa amid the ruins of the 79 AD volcanic eruption that destroyed the ancient city have discovered a cramped dormitory and storage room that offers "a very rare insight into the daily life of slaves," officials said Saturday. Italy's culture minister, Dario...

Jesuits Promise $100M for Slavery Reparations

Trust will benefit descendants of enslaved people, including those sold by Jesuits in 1838

(Newser) - The Catholic order of Jesuit priests has pledged to raise $100 million for descendants of the enslaved people it owned in what the New York Times reports is "one of the largest efforts by an institution to atone for slavery." The order relied on slave labor and sales...

Descendant of Slaves Loses Photo Fight With Harvard

Mass. judge rules university is rightful owner of photos of slaves taken for racist project

(Newser) - Photos of an enslaved father and daughter taken for a racist project at Harvard belong to the school, not the slaves' direct descendant, a Massachusetts judge has ruled. Tamara Lanier, who grew up hearing about great-great-great grandfather Renty, only learned about the 1850 daguerreotypes of himself and daughter Delia in...

New Home for Ugly Piece of Virginia History

Stone marking slavery auction site will go into museum, with newly scrawled graffiti

(Newser) - A 176-year-old stone block that was used for slave auctions in Virginia will go on display at the Fredericksburg Area Museum, with signs explaining the context of recent protests against racial injustice that left it covered in graffiti, per the AP . The stone block sat for nearly two centuries in...

Beto: I'm a Descendant of Slave Owners

2020 candidate writes about details, reiterates support for reparations

(Newser) - Beto O'Rourke has previously backed the idea of reparations for the descendants of slaves, and now the issue just got much more personal for him. In a Medium post , the 2020 candidate reveals that he and his wife, Amy Sanders, descend from slave owners. For example, O'Rourke writes...

Cookie Heiress Bragged of Her Wealth. Then She Made It Worse

Verena Bahlsen says she erred with remarks on Bahlsen's forced labor during Nazi era

(Newser) - "Oblivious," "arrogant," and "aloof" is how a cookie company heiress is being painted this week after comments on how her company used Nazi-era forced labor. The BBC reports 25-year-old Verena Bahlsen of the Bahlsen company joked about how rich she is at a marketing meeting...

Revealed: the Last African-Born Slave in US

Sally Smith, aka Redoshi, arrived on Clotilda slave ship as a child: researcher

(Newser) - The last known survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave ships lived out her final days on the Alabama plantation that had formerly been her prison. Sally Smith, kidnapped by slave traders from a village in what is now Benin in 1860, died in 1937—two years after the former slave previously...

Parent: My Son Was 'Humiliated' in Mock Slave Auction at School

Westchester teacher under fire for allegedly having white 5th-graders 'bid' on their black classmates

(Newser) - A homework assignment on slavery that left parents "flabbergasted," an apparent faux pas by Virginia's first lady on the same topic, and now another similar incident to add to the mix, this time out of Westchester County, NY. USA Today reports on an alleged social studies exercise...

8th-Grade Slavery Homework Leaves Folks 'Flabbergasted'
8th-Grade Slavery Homework 
Leaves Folks 'Flabbergasted'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 3, 2019 1:07 PM CST

8th-Grade Slavery Homework Leaves Folks 'Flabbergasted'

'Create a list of expectations for your family's slaves,' read Tenn. assignment

(Newser) - Thursday's headlines revolved around Virginia's first lady asking African-American students to imagine being slaves ; Friday's headlines center on asking students to imagine they were the slave owners themselves. Per the Tennessean , that ask came via an 8th-grade homework assignment at Sunset Middle School in Williamson County, Tenn....

Va. First Lady's Mansion Tour Leaves Some 'Deeply Offended'

Pam Northam handed cotton to African-American students on tour

(Newser) - Another Northam fumble has emerged, with a Virginia DOE rep citing a new "racially insensitive" incident—but this time it doesn't involve Ralph Northam . The Washington Post reports it's the governor's wife, Pam Northam, who's under fire following a tour of the governor's mansion....

Schools' Black History Lessons Made a 'Mockery' of Slavery

Districts in Virginia, SC, say changes will be made

(Newser) - A school district in northern Virginia has had to clarify that "slavery is not a game" after students were asked to pose as slaves while completing an obstacle course meant to symbolize the Underground Railroad. The lesson for Black History Month, given to third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at...

Georgetown Apologizes for 1838 Slave Sale

University has renamed buildings in honor of slaves

(Newser) - Georgetown University and the group of Catholic priests that founded the school in Washington, DC, have apologized for selling slaves in 1838 in order to raise money to pay off the college's debts. The school has renamed two buildings in honor of two of the 272 people sold, reports...

Ben Carson: Slaves Were 'Involuntary Immigrants'

'Immigrants???'

(Newser) - Newly confirmed Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson managed to cause controversy in his very first speech to HUD employees by describing slaves as "immigrants." His remarks on slavery came after he discussed photos of impoverished immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, the New York Times reports. "...

Under a Monticello Restroom, a Hidden Piece of History

Restoration to show bedroom of slave Sally Hemings

(Newser) - A $35 million restoration of Monticello is underway, but it's what's been buried under a restroom there for nearly 80 years that's been attracting the most attention of late: the bedroom of Sally Hemings, one of President Thomas Jefferson's slaves and the mother of six children...

John Legend: National Anthem Is 'Weak' Anyway

And it celebrates slavery, he tweets

(Newser) - John Legend is backing Colin Kaepernick in his national anthem protest : In fact, Legend says, the "Star-Spangled Banner" shouldn't even be our anthem. "For those defending the current anthem, do you really truly love that song? I don't and I'm very good at singing it....

Slave Descendants Go to Front of Georgetown Admissions Line

Slave descendants to receive preference

(Newser) - Georgetown University will give admissions preference to the descendants of slaves owned by the Maryland Jesuits as part of its effort to atone for profiting from the sale of enslaved people, the AP reports. Georgetown President John DeGioia told news outlets that the university in Washington, DC, will implement the...

Bill O'Reilly: Slaves Built White House, but Were 'Well Fed'

He fact-checks Michelle Obama's speech

(Newser) - In her convention speech Monday night, Michelle Obama told the crowd, "I wake up every morning in a house built by slaves." At Fox News, Bill O'Reilly provided a fact-check Tuesday and found that the first lady was correct—but he added a qualification that is raising...

UN: ISIS Has 3.5K Slaves in Iraq, Slaughtered Thousands More

Report documents 'staggering' death toll, murder of child soldiers

(Newser) - The United Nations released some disturbing numbers Tuesday related to ISIS activity in Iraq, noting that its actions may "amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide," CBS News reports. In the period from Jan. 1, 2014, to Oct. 31, 2015, more than 18,800 civilians...

Scholastic Pulls Kids Book on Washington Slaves, Cake

'Oh, how George Washington loves his cake!'

(Newser) - Scholastic is pulling a new picture book about George Washington and his slaves amid objections it sentimentalizes a brutal part of American history. A Birthday Cake for George Washington was released Jan. 5 and had been strongly criticized for its upbeat images and story of Washington's cook (the slave...

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