Tag Archives: Slavery

Alice Embree :
HISTORY | The original blueprint was white men.

The racist and sexist roots of the Electoral College. By Alice Embree | The Rag Blog | October 1, 2020 AUSTIN — Perhaps it is obvious, but it bears repeating. The Founding Fathers were men. They envisioned a democracy run … Continue reading

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Steve Rossignol :
A way station for the Underground Railroad in Blanco County?

Some may be surprised that there was an Underground Railroad network in Texas. By Steve Rossignol | The Rag Blog | February 13, 2020 We are all familiar with the tales of the Underground Railroad, how enslaved people in the … Continue reading

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Richard Jehn :
Violence, racism, and fundamentally changing
the United States

My specific proposal is to include explicit curriculum in our schools to teach the truth of our past. Seventy-seven years ago, civil rights activist and poet Langston Hughes wrote his chilling poem “Kids Who Die” to illuminate the horrors of … Continue reading

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vikki Bynum :
Racial violence, history, and the debate over
the Confederate flag

The Confederate flag symbolizes a sanitized and historically inaccurate version of the Civil War. By Vikki Bynum | The Rag Blog | July 6, 2015 Listen to Thorne Dreyer’s July 3, 2015, Rag Radio interview with Victoria Bynum about issues … Continue reading

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Thorne Dreyer :
PODCASTS | Listen to Rag Radio interviews with Chris Tomlinson and David Bacon

Award-winning journalist Tomlinson discusses his acclaimed new book, ‘Tomlinson Hill,’ and photojournalist Bacon addresses the role of U.S. policies in causing the current immigration crisis. Interviews by Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | August 11, 2014 Journalist and author … Continue reading

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

FILM / Jonah Raskin : ‘Django Unchained’ is Quentin Tarantino in Blackface

Django Unchained:Quentin Tarantino in Blackface At times, the movie seems like an advertisement for integration on the bounty hunting circuit, and for friendship between a black and a white man who both kill without compunction. By Jonah Raskin / The … Continue reading

Posted in Rag Bloggers | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lamar W. Hankins : Sanitizing Black History Every February

Rosa Parks, agitator. Image from Jezebel.Sanitizing Black history every February Rosa Parks had a life-long history of activism against injustice, but school children are seldom told the true story about her life of agitation and struggle against oppression. By Lamar … Continue reading

Posted in Rag Bloggers | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thom Hartmann : The Second Amendment Was Ratified to Preserve Slavery

Slave patrols, under the direction of commissioned militia officers, enforced discipline on slaves in the antebellum South. Image from America’s Black Holocaust Museum.The Second Amendment wasratified to preserve slavery Every Southerner of the era knew the simple answer: Well-regulated militias … Continue reading

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Harry Targ : The ‘Unfinished Revolution’ of the Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation from Freedmen’s viewpoint. Illustration from Harper’s Weekly, 1865. Image from Wikimedia Commons.The Emancipation Proclamation:The ‘Unfinished Revolution’ The candidacy of President Obama in 2012 offers a continuation of the struggle for political rights against the most sustained racist assaults by … Continue reading

Posted in Rag Bloggers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bob Feldman : The Confederate State of Texas, 1846-1860

Between 12,000 and 15,000 Texas lost their lives in the Civil War. Painting from the Texas Civil War Museum.The hidden history of Texas Part VI: The Confederate State of Texas, 1860-1865 By Bob Feldman / The Rag Blog / October … Continue reading

Posted in Rag Bloggers | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lamar W. Hankins : Free Speech and the Texas Confederate License Plate

Speciality license plate proposed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Image from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.Texas Confederate Battle Flag:License plates, racism, and free speech By Lamar W. Hankins / The Rag Blog / October 25, 2011 At first … Continue reading

Posted in Rag Bloggers | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Bob Feldman : The Slave State of Texas, 1846-1860

Newspaper notice of runaway slave jailed in Bastrop County, Texas, 1855. Image from AfroTexan.com.The hidden history of Texas Part V: The Slave State of Texas, 1846-1860 By Bob Feldman / The Rag Blog / October 5, 2011 [This is Part … Continue reading

Posted in Rag Bloggers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment