Civil War

160 years since ‘Bloody Kansas’/The legacy of John Brown

May 9 marks the 220th anniversary of this great abolitionist’s birth. This article was originally published in Workers World on…

February 10, 2020

Open letter on racism, solidarity & ‘Confederate heritage’

My family lived in South Carolina before the Revolution. My great-grandfather and his kin wore gray. That flag offends me.…

July 8, 2015

On U.S. bases, schools, roads and parks – Symbols, names reinforce institutional racism

Following the June 17 racist massacre in South Carolina, a groundswell of activists has pushed to eliminate the glorification of…

July 7, 2015

Tribute to an anti-racist fighter and thinker

The first known celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S. came on June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers…

June 24, 2015

150 years after U.S. Civil War, anti-racist struggle continues

Confederate Army forces retreated from Richmond, Va., in early April 1865 in the face of advancing Union troops, many of…

April 9, 2015

A violent history: New report reveals extent of racist lynchings

The Equal Justice Initiative published a report entitled “Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror” on Feb. 10.…

February 20, 2015

Ferguson and the unfinished revolution

The great struggle for justice by the African-American people of Ferguson, Mo., comes after a white cop there gunned down…

August 20, 2014

After emancipation, ‘Sick from freedom’

Last year the U.S. commemorated the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which gave enslaved…

February 15, 2014

John Brown called her ‘General Tubman’

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland in 1820; her birth name was Araminta Harriet Ross. As a child,…

March 20, 2013

‘Free CeCe McDonald!’–The right to fight back

Part one At certain moments in history, the struggle of individuals to survive and organize against fascist attacks, police and…

December 7, 2012