Racism & Racial Identity Archives

May 23, 1914: Indian Migrants on the Komagata Maru Denied Entry Into Canada

Nearly 400 South Asian immigrants — many of whom were Sikh — steamed into Vancouver’s harbor on the Japanese ship Komagata Maru in search of a new home, but were blocked from docking and disembarking due to racist immigration policies.

Feb. 26, 1870: Wyatt Outlaw Murdered

Wyatt Outlaw, a Union veteran who became the first Black town commissioner of Graham, North Carolina, was seized from his home and lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan known as the White Brotherhood, which controlled the county.

Feb. 2, 1959: The Norfolk 17 Attend Formerly All-White Schools

In Norfolk, where schools had been closed for months rather than desegregate, 17 African American students began attending six previously all-white middle and high schools on February 2, 1959.

Trouble in Censorville: The Far Right’s Assault on Public Education and the Teachers Who are Fighting Back

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Nadine M. Kalin and Rebekah Modrak. 2024. 296 pages.
Gives readers a teacher’s-eye view of the radical right crusade to take down public education, coordinated by well-funded, well-connected far-right political interests.

Remembering 1882: Fighting for Civil Rights in the Shadow of the Chinese Exclusion Act

Digital collection. Primary documents, historical background, and more on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the history of Chinese American struggles for civil rights.

Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City

Book — Non-fiction. 2025. By Bench Ansfield. 368 pages.
Examines the arson wave that hit the Bronx and other U.S. cities in the 1970s — and its legacy today.

Visitors look at a memorial near the entrance of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin Wednesday, July 31, 2013, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Aug. 5, 2012: The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin Massacre

A white supremacist shot and killed seven members of the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

July 2, 1832: Ann Williams and Family Win Freedom Suit

Ann Williams experienced unimaginable pain due to her enslavement, but eventually she successfully sued for freedom for herself and her children.

Aug. 10, 1835: Destruction of Noyes Academy

Nearly 500 white men destroyed the integrated Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire.

Aug. 13, 1955: Lamar Smith Murdered

Lamar Smith, 63-year-old farmer and WWI veteran, was shot dead in Brookhaven, Mississippi, for urging African Americans to vote.

Aug. 16, 1955: Paul Robeson Lost Court Appeal

Paul Robeson lost his court appeal to have the U.S. State Department grant him a passport.

Aug. 14, 2017: Activists Topple Confederate Monument in Durham

Freedom fighter Takiyah Thompson looped a bright yellow strap around the neck of a Durham, North Carolina monument to Confederate soldiers, and a crowd of other activists pulled it down, inspiring other communities to take direct action in removing public symbols that glorify white supremacy, and to raise up new stories that celebrate all people.

No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice

Book — Non-fiction. By Karen L. Cox. 2021. 224 pages.
Tells the story of the efforts to raise, preserve, protest, and remove Confederate monuments across the United States.

Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital

Book — Non-fiction. By Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove. 2019. 624 pages.
Tells the tumultuous, four-century story of race and democracy in our nation’s capital.

Aug. 26, 2016: Quarterback Colin Kaepernick Kneels in Protest

Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, draws attention to his quiet protest against police brutality during an NFL pre-season game.

April 16, 1862: Compensated Emancipation Act

The federal government compensated the “owners” of enslaved people for their “loss of property.” The people whose labor, skills, knowledge, and families were stolen for generations were not compensated nor given any assistance for the transition to freedom.