How the Right Retired “Negrophile”—and Substituted “Woke”
Mother Jones illustration Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.On June 14, 1862, the New York Times published an editorial titled “The Mystery of Negrophilism.” The essay questioned the origins of white Americans’ “extraordinary interest in the negro” and called the “passion for the American…
Debunking Florida’s Argument That Slavery Could Benefit the Enslaved, in 120 Seconds
Mother Jones illustration Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.In my latest video, I tackle the controversy surrounding Florida’s teaching standards. These new guidelines, approved last month, sparked an avalanche of criticism by suggesting that enslaved Americans “developed skills which, in some instances, could be…
Atlanta Officials Push to Build Cop City Without a Public Vote
Alex Slitz/AP Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.Last Thursday, a federal judge upheld the First Amendment rights of residents living outside of Atlanta to collect signatures to force a vote on whether or not to build an infamous training center that has become known as…
Henrietta Lacks’ Family Reaches Settlement With Company Profiting Off Her Stolen Cells
Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.The HPV vaccine. Genetic mapping. The polio vaccine. All of these medical miracles were made possible by Henrietta Lacks, a Virginia woman whose cells were taken without her permission in the early 1950s and used for…
Biden Designates National Monuments Honoring Emmett Till
Bettman/ Getty Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.President Biden on Tuesday officially designated national monuments to honor Emmett Till, who was killed at the hands of white supremacists and galvanized the civil rights movement, and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley. The move comes as conservatives around the country…
Civil Rights Groups Challenge Harvard’s Legacy Admissions
Jose Luis Magana/ AP Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.Three Massachusetts-based civil rights groups are challenging donor and legacy admissions at Harvard University, arguing that the practice gives an unfair boost to mostly white students whose family members are either alumni or wealthy donors. The…