Slavery is built into the American landscape

+ Super Bowl poet Amanda Gorman ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Debates about compensating Black Americans for slavery began after the Civil War, with unfulfilled promises of “40 acres and a mule.” A century and a half later, some modern critics of reparations dismiss slavery as too long ago to merit recompense. Yet many products of enslaved people continue to play a role in the U.S. economy today.

“American cities from Atlanta to New York City still use buildings, roads, ports and rail lines built by enslaved people,” write Penn State geographer Joshua Inwood and University of California, Berkeley urban planner Anna Livia Brand. Their work documenting this infrastructure demonstrates how slavery continues to generate wealth today.

This week we also liked articles about the young poet Amanda Gorman, amateur and volunteer scientists and white allies in the workplace.

Catesby Holmes

International Editor | Politics Editor

The Port of Savannah used to export cotton picked by enslaved laborers and brought from Alabama to Georgia on slave-built railways. Cotton is still a top product processed through this port. Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Slave-built infrastructure still creates wealth in US, suggesting reparations should cover past harms and current value of slavery

Joshua F.J. Inwood, Penn State; Anna Livia Brand, University of California, Berkeley

Geographers are documenting slave-built infrastructure, from railroads to ports, in use today. Such work could influence the reparations debate by showing how slavery still props up the US economy.

A volunteer looks for waterbirds at Point Reyes National Seashore in California during the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count. Kerry W/Flickr

Citizen scientists are filling research gaps created by the pandemic

Theresa Crimmins, University of Arizona; Erin Posthumus, University of Arizona; Kathleen Prudic, University of Arizona

COVID-19 kept many scientists from doing field research in 2020, which means that important records will have data gaps. But volunteers are helping to plug some of those holes.

American poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021. Patrick Semansky/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Amanda Gorman’s poetry shows why spoken word belongs in school

Kathleen M. Alley, Mississippi State University; Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Cornell University; Wendy R. Williams, Arizona State University

The rise in the popularity of Amanda Gorman, the nation's first National Youth Poet Laureate, represents a prime opportunity for educators to use spoken word poetry in the classroom.


3 ways Black people say their white co-workers and managers can support them and be an antidote to systemic racism Jennifer R. Joe, University of Delaware; Wendy K. Smith, University of Delaware Some people wonder what they can do to support Black colleagues and junior employees who face institutional discrimination at work and elsewhere.


How the National Prayer Breakfast became an opportunity for presidents and faith leaders alike to push their political agendas Deborah Whitehead, University of Colorado Boulder Joe Biden used the National Prayer Breakfast to call for unity amid 'dark, dark times.' The event has been attended by every president since Dwight Eisenhower in 1953.


Do you see red like I see red? Bevil R. Conway, National Institutes of Health; Danny Garside, National Institutes of Health Neuroscientists tackling the age-old question of whether perceptions of color hold from one person to the next are coming up with some interesting answers.


Trump impeachment trial: Decades of research show language can incite violence


Living with natural gas pipelines: Appalachian landowners describe fear, anxiety and loss


How food banks help Americans who have trouble getting enough to eat


Why disputes between Congress and the White House so often end up in court

A newspaper boy hawks copies of the Chicago Defender. Library of Congress

Slavery is built into the American landscape

Slave-built infrastructure still creates wealth in US, suggesting reparations should cover past harms and current value of slavery

Citizen scientists are filling research gaps created by the pandemic

Amanda Gorman’s poetry shows why spoken word belongs in school

3 ways Black people say their white co-workers and managers can support them and be an antidote to systemic racism

How the National Prayer Breakfast became an opportunity for presidents and faith leaders alike to push their political agendas

Do you see red like I see red?

Trump impeachment trial: Decades of research show language can incite violence

Living with natural gas pipelines: Appalachian landowners describe fear, anxiety and loss

How food banks help Americans who have trouble getting enough to eat

Why disputes between Congress and the White House so often end up in court

When Black kids – shut out from the whitewashed world of children’s literature – took matters into their own hands

Older messages

Wall Street isn't a casino – it's way too important

A reversal on policies that drove foreign students away

The reasons people may resist getting the COVID-19 vaccine

Death threats a by-product of Trump's autocratic legacy

Did COVID-19 kill the city?

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