Latest news with #FugitiveSlaveActof1850
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why Protests Should Be Promises
African Americans boarding a newly integrated bus through the once-forbidden front door, following Supreme Court ruling ending successful 381 day boycott of segragated buses, Dec. 5 1956, Montgomery, AL. Credit - Don Cravens—Getty Images In a 1857 speech celebrating the 25th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Britain's Caribbean colonies, Frederick Douglass made one of his most famous statements: 'Power concedes nothing without a demand.' The force of the point was not lost on the largely Black crowd that had gathered in upstate New York to hear Douglass' speech—they had yet to win their struggle against slavery in the United States. In fact, Douglass was writing in the wake of significant setbacks for the abolitionist cause, including the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which denied people freed of slavery basic rights of trial by jury or habeas corpus while allowing them to be hunted across state lines. Douglass, however, was reminding his audience not to confuse 'outward and hollow seemings of humility and repentance' with the real target of social change: By concerted, protracted struggle, in whatever forms were necessary. Today's protesters and advocates against police brutality and structural racism are the inheritors of this same moral force. As in Douglass' day, activists are hoping to make major structural changes: to substantially reform or even totally abolish institutions like prisons and police. And as in Douglass' day, they face an uphill battle against entrenched political and financial interests. For them to succeed, they need to heed Douglass' warning: That for protests to succeed, they must be backed by movements with the ability to promise to withhold—labor, debt payments, rent payments, or consumer support—and to follow through if demands aren't met. Protests by such movements consequently morph into real, tangible promises: demonstrations of an ability to escalate, backed by strategic leverage. References to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his iconic 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech are ubiquitous in American politics, as are the images and moral legacy of the peaceful marches for justice associated with his approach to politics. We who protested in the summer of 2020 after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade lived up to this aspect of the legacy, drawing vast multitudes of people to demand an end to injustices. By one estimate, 15 to 26 million people participated in the protests that raged that summer. And, just as in Selma in 1965, demonstrators were confronted with violence: indiscriminate use of pepper spray, tear gas, and life-altering rubber bullets to stand up against police brutality under the banner of slogans like 'defund the police' and 'Black lives matter.' The protests weren't for nothing: 20 cities cut police funds in some form in at least a temporary fashion; protestors in Seattle were able to win tens of millions toward a grassroots effort to let the public decide directly what and how to spend its money on public safety. But despite mobilizing an unprecedented number of Americans to the cause, and a brief interlude filled with the symbolism of task forces on racism and shoring up of diversity commitments from corporations, the political landscape that has developed in the years since is antithetical to the chants and signs of the 2020 protest movement. Local police were not defunded; besides the 20 holdouts, police budgets generally increased the very next year after the protests, and the recent pivot of President Donald Trump's administration to a project of mass deportation has begun to draw local law enforcement into the '100 mile border zone' in which federal immigration enforcement agents are allowed to execute its full powers—a zone that encompasses fully two thirds of the American population. The Trump administration has also engaged in a full-scale assault on laws and executive orders that were key victories in the Civil Rights era struggle against segregation and discrimination. What's missing from the formula this time was a promise to withhold—a tactic that also proved successful, but perhaps less commonly heralded, in the civil rights movement::: For instance, the 'I Have A Dream' speech was made at a march for Jobs and Freedom—pairing a fight for fairness and inclusion with a fight over wealth and economic opportunity. Accordingly, the March for Jobs and Freedom was initiated by labor organizer and union founder A. Philip Randolph and organized by unionists in the Negro American Labor Council. In fact, the march itself was modeled off a plan Randolph and his co-workers had made back in 1941, the credible threat of which forced then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to concede the important anti-discrimination executive order to desegregate the war industry to avoid Randolph's promised strike (executive orders which Trump repealed in his very first days of his second term). For the 1963 version of the march, the Negro American Labor Council brought together an important group of organizational allies pairing King (representing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference) with support from organizations including the NAACP, the Urban League, and the United Auto Workers. What was key to the success of that march was also what the '63 march shared in common with the planned march in 1941: The credible threat of disrupting business as usual that the organizations behind it represented. Such mobilizations might start with marches, but could advance elsewhere—for instance, King's SCLC had itself been born out of the proven success of the Montgomery bus boycott, and the inclusion of the Negro American Labor Union alongside major unions like the UAW meant the possibility of major strike actions if the demands were not met, including the possibility of a 'general strike' across all workers, like the UAW has called for today. They were 'demonstrations' in the fullest sense of the word—proof of how many people these organizations could mobilize, and how militantly they could be mobilized. They were promises about the kind of escalation the powers that could be expected if demands were not met, not just performances of dissatisfaction. The 2020 protests involved a lot of commitment by brave citizens, but largely did not have this kind of organizational base––the kind that could potentially impose the costs of a concerted strike or boycott. This helps to explain why the protests got the 'the low-hanging fruit of symbolic transformation', as Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor wrote a year after the George Floyd protests, in response rather than loftier goals like, say, defunding the police. Those of us disappointed about the outcomes of the 2020 matches are not alone. As Vincent Bevins chronicles in his 2024 book If We Burn, many protest movements across the world in recent years have faced similar drawbacks, for similar reasons: decentralized, social media-based approaches were effective in harnessing attention and organizing street demonstrations. But they couldn't steer the response of the system in the protests' intended direction because there was no organizational support. All we got was black squares on Instagram. The very commitments that allowed the movements to garner attention and spectacle proved stumbling blocks once the cameras stopped rolling and only tanks and bullets remained. None of this means that we've run out of time to course correct. There are encouraging signs even amid the worsening political landscape: While the protests may not have swayed policymakers, history suggests that the initial conservative backlash of the public was followed eventually by a progressive shift in voting behavior. This evidence suggests that, as with the civil rights movement, the long run may favor the movement—at least those people and organizations that survive long enough to reap the benefits of a more favorable audience. The organizations that survive may be able to direct political conversation and set the agenda for course correction in the aftermath of continued overreach from the present administration. Above all, they can apply an approach to politics more like the one that succeeded in the civil rights movement or in Douglass' vision of abolition—protests that withhold and promise, rather than merely perform. This may prove indispensable in the years to come. Táíwò is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Climate and Community Institute. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations. This project was supported by funding from the Center for Policing Equity. Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
National Park Service restores Harriet Tubman feature on webpage after criticism over removal
A National Park Service webpage about the Underground Railroad has been restored to its original state months after it was changed to remove abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman from the top of the page. The "What is the Underground Railroad?" page featured a photo of and quote from Tubman as leading elements on the page, followed by text explaining the historical significance of the Underground Railroad in African American history. The page was altered to remove Tubman in early February, per data from the Wayback Machine, replacing the image with a collage of Postal Service Underground Railroad commemorative stamps highlighting "Black/White Cooperation." The change also removed Tubman's quote and altered the text to market the Underground Railroad as a bridge for "the divides of race, religion, sectional differences, and nationality" rather than "resistance to enslavement through escape and flight." Mentions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 were also deleted before the restoration, along with historical cards of enslaved peoples fighting to reach freedom and a mural of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first Black regiment made up of those raised in the North. All of these elements have since been added back in their original states. "The removal of Harriet Tubman's image and quote from the National Park Service's 'Underground Railroad' webpage is concerning," civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted on X while Tubman was still scrubbed from the page. "Tubman's legacy and the resistance of enslaved people must never be diminished. We must stand in the truth of our history!" Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., argued the removal was "an attack on truth, an attempt to erase history that would help us improve society today, a refusal to be uncomfortable and engaged in changing harmful policies and practices." MORE: Daughter of 1st Black Marine says it's 'unbelievable' to see 'my dad caught up in DEI' "Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service's website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content," the NPS said in a statement to ABC News. A Washington Post investigation published on Friday pointed out these changes and others from the NPS. Its analysis of thousands of NPS webpages found several changes in language to rebrand racially charged moments in American history or remove references to slavery entirely. A page on Benjamin Franklin's views on slavery was taken down, and some mentions of prominent figures such as Thomas Stone owning enslaved people were omitted. This comes amid a larger push against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from the Trump administration and an effort to purge DEI from government webpages. MORE: DOD says it 'mistakenly removed' Jackie Robinson, other content from website amid DEI purge Last month, the Department of Defense said it "mistakenly removed" Jackie Robinson's Army service as well as other content, including a page that honored the 60th anniversary of U.S. troops, in its effort to remove DEI from its sites. Actress Viola Davis, who is set to play Tubman in an untitled HBO biopic, took to Instagram on Monday to share comment on the situation, saying the edits were "downplaying Harriet Tubman and slavery." "Really?!! Harriet Tubman?!!" she wrote in the caption. "Elevating this icon of American History is being diminished?!!! Erased?! us STRENGTH!!!!" National Park Service restores Harriet Tubman feature on webpage after criticism over removal originally appeared on
CNN
08-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
After a backlash, National Park Service restores old Underground Railroad webpage that prominently features Harriet Tubman
The National Park Service on Monday returned an image of and quote from Harriet Tubman to a webpage about the Underground Railroad, following backlash after her presence on the page was dramatically reduced. The agency said the reduced mention of Tubman had been made without approval by top leadership. Until mid-February, the top of the NPS' 'What is the Underground Railroad?' page featured a large photo of Tubman, the railroad's most famous 'conductor,' records from the Wayback Machine show. Next to it was a quote from Tubman about her experience coordinating the clandestine network for slaves seeking freedom. But sometime in February it was changed, swapping the large image of Tubman for small commemorative stamps of a number of abolitionists – among them Tubman – a screen grab from the webpage on March 19 captured by the Wayback Machine shows. Tubman's quote was removed and the text amended significantly in the updated version. The Washington Post first reported on the change Sunday, which prompted backlash from historians and educators. Asked about the restoration of Tubman's image and quote to the page, an NPS spokesperson told CNN, 'Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service's website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.' The edited version – without Tubman's quote or image – had been live since at least February 21, the Wayback Machine shows. The edited webpage featured revised text that did not mention slavery until the third paragraph and cut a reference to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 entirely. The edited article had swapped a description of enslaved peoples' efforts to free themselves with two paragraphs that emphasized the 'American ideals of liberty and freedom.' The recent reduction of Tubman's presence on the webpage, coming after several other prominent changes to government websites as the administration enacts a sweeping anti-DEI agenda, incurred criticism from some who said the change minimized Tubman's crucial contributions to the Underground Railroad. The abolitionist is credited with helping free scores of enslaved people during the Civil War period. One historian, Fergus Bordewich, had called the edits 'both offensive and absurd' in an interview with CNN. Before the page was reverted Monday afternoon, an NPS spokesperson defended the changes, telling CNN 'the idea that a couple web edits somehow invalidate the National Park Service's commitment to telling complex and challenging historical narratives is completely false and belies the extensive websites, social media posts, and programs we offer about Harriet Tubman specifically and Black History as a whole.' The spokesperson highlighted the two national historical parks named for Tubman. 'The National Park Service recognizes Harriet Tubman as the Underground Railroad's best known conductor and we celebrate her as a deeply spiritual woman who lived her ideals and dedicated her life to freedom,' the NPS said. There is a separate National Park Service page dedicated to Tubman, who was born into slavery in Maryland before fleeing to Philadelphia. She returned to Maryland over a dozen times to help free other slaves, guiding them through the 'Underground Railroad,' a secret network of routes and safe houses. The park service webpage on Tubman does not seem to have been changed since January 28, 2025.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Harriet Tubman removed from the National Park Service's webpage for the ‘Underground Railroad'
Harriet Tubman's image and quote are the latest to be removed from government websites amid Trump's anti-DEI push. In 2025, it feels like history is being rewritten in real time—and not quietly. Recently, the National Park Service removed Harriet Tubman's photo and quote from its official 'Underground Railroad' webpage, marking the latest example of the federal government quietly revising public-facing information under President Donald Trump's anti-DEI mandate. Previously, the webpage prominently featured Tubman—arguably the most well-known figure associated with the 'Underground Railroad'—alongside her famous quote: 'I was the conductor of the 'Underground Railroad' for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say — I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.' That content has since been scrubbed. In its place is a collage of US Postal Service Underground Railroad commemorative stamps featuring abolitionists with words like 'Black/White cooperation.' The changes go beyond images. Language referencing 'enslaved people' and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 has been removed. The site's description of the Underground Railroad has also been altered. A January 2025 version of the page retrieved through the Wayback Machine described the movement as 'resistance to enslavement through escape and flight.' Now, the current version calls it one of the 'most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement,' emphasizing unity and patriotism over the realities of slavery. Fergus Bordewich, a historian and author of a book on the 'Underground Railroad,' criticized the edits in an interview with CNN. 'To oversimplify history is to distort it,' he said. 'Americans are not infants: they can handle complex and challenging historical narratives.' The edits come after Trump signed an executive order in January targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across federal agencies. Since then, departments, including the National Park Service and the Pentagon, have reportedly instructed staff to review and revise online content that might conflict with the administration's new policies. One NPS employee, speaking anonymously to The Washington Post, said many edits were made in a 'frenzy of fear.' 'You draw as broad a brush as possible,' the employee said, 'because the consequences of missing something are a lot more severe than the consequences of doing too much.' These website changes follow a broader effort by the Trump administration to influence how American history is taught, presented, and preserved. Last month, the Trump administration issued new orders targeting the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The executive order targets funding for programs the administration believes push 'divisive narratives' and 'improper ideology.' Trump says his executive orders are meant to stop efforts to rewrite American history — but in reality, they look more like an attempt to rewrite and erase Black history altogether. More must-reads: George M. Johnson's 'All Boys Aren't Blue' tops 2024 list of most 'challenged' US library books NY public schools tell Trump administration they won't comply with DEI order Trump says he's not backing down on tariffs, calls them 'medicine' as markets reel
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Harriet Tubman webpage targeted amid Trump-led anti-DEI efforts
The National Park Service has removed a quote and an image of US abolitionist Harriet Tubman from a webpage about the Underground Railroad network that helped enslaved people escape captivity – and instead, the page now emphasizes what it describes as 'Black/White Cooperation' as Donald Trump's presidential administration continues its effort to sanitize the country's history. Previously, the page in question led with a quote from Tubman, who was the most renowned Underground Railroad operative, along with a prominent image of her. However, the revised page no longer includes these elements, and several references to enslaved people and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 which Tubman as well as the Underground Railroad defied have also been removed. The revised webpage now starts with images of stamps depicting five Black and white abolitionists, including Tubman, with text overlaying the images that reads: 'Black/White Cooperation.' In the previous version of the page, the first sentences described the Underground Railroad as 'the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, through the end of the Civil War', adding that it 'refers to the efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage'. But now, the first paragraph no longer mentions slavery – which the US abolished in 1865 – and instead describes the Underground Railroad as 'one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement'. And the second paragraph states that the railroad 'bridged the divides of race, religion, sectional differences, and nationality' and 'joined the American ideals of liberty and freedom expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the extraordinary actions of ordinary men and women working in common purpose to free a people'. These changes were first reported by the Washington Post on Sunday. Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has actively worked to roll back initiatives and efforts it sees as related to DEI – diversity, equity, and inclusion – across the federal government. In February, the Pentagon sent out a memo ordering a 'digital content refresh' across all defense department public platforms. It involved removing any mentions that 'promote diversity, equity and inclusion' from the department's website postings, photos, news articles and videos. According to CNN, Pentagon officials were instructed to search for keywords like 'racism', 'ethnicity', 'LGBTQ', 'history', and 'first' when looking for articles and photos to remove from government-owned sites. And in recent weeks, according to the Associated Press, thousands of pages honoring contributions by women and minority groups have been removed in an effort to delete material the administration sees as promoting DEI. Two National Park Service employees also told the Washington Post that at the interior department, which oversees the park service, political appointees directed senior career officials there to identify webpages that may need to be changed. In February, the National Park Service removed references to transgender people from its Stonewall national monument webpage. In mid-March, the defense department made headlines after it removed a webpage honoring an army general who served in the Vietnam war and received the country's highest military decoration – and the letters 'DEI' were added to the site's address. The removal sparked backlash, and the page was restored. A spokesperson for the defense department said that the page was taken down mistakenly but defended efforts the administrations efforts to remove content promoting DEI. 'I think the president and the secretary have been very clear on this – that anybody that says in the department of defense that diversity is our strength is, is frankly, incorrect,' the spokesperson said. The Washington Post reported several additional recent changes it has spotted to government-owned webpages, including that a webpage which examined Benjamin Franklin's relationship with slavery was taken offline and now displays the message: 'This page is currently being worked on. Please check back later.' Additionally, a section on the Minute Man National Historical Park webpage about the unrecognized contributions of Black soldiers in the revolutionary war was deleted, the Post reported. Asked about the website changes, a park service spokesperson did not address any specific edits but told the Washington Post that the agency has 'been entrusted with preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, safeguarding special places and sharing stories of American experiences'. 'We take this role seriously and can point to many examples of how we tell nuanced and difficult stories about American history,' it added. In late March, Trump signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, asserting his administration's intention to eliminate what they consider to be 'improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology' from the prominent cultural and educational establishment, which holds the world's largest set of museums and research entities. The directive ignited backlash, with critics accusing the administration of attempting to erase diversity from US history.
