North Carolina

North Carolina Introduces its own History Bill; Historians Call Foul

State legislators say they are ensuring that students at North Carolina colleges are taught core concepts in American history. Historians Jay Smith and William Sturkey argue that, since the legislature would determine the content of a mandatory course it amounts to indoctrination and token coverage of Black history. 

North Carolina Legislature Insults State's Students and Teachers with "Heritage Act"

by Kathleen DuVal

A new bill claims to fix a void in college students' understanding of America's "constitutional heritage." But if the state is enforcing its K-12 standards, there should be no problem to fix. A professor of early American history wonders what else is driving the legislature. 

How Black Landowners in North Carolina are Working to Recover Generational Wealth

Parts of eastern North Carolina are a living historical counterfactual: Black families there have been more successful than elsewhere in holding title to farm land against the encroachment of industry and discriminatory credit. 

Black Mountain: The People Who Fed Me

by Cynthia Greenlee

Food and place intersect in the author's efforts to preserve the history of Black Appalachia as tourism-driven gentrification changes western North Carolina. 

Mill Mother's Lament: The Legacy of Ella May Wiggins

by Karen Sieber

The city of Gastonia has struggled to agree on the commemoration of the bloody 1929 Loray Mill strike, including how to account for the murder of pregnant union activist Ella May Wiggins. 

NC Elections Board Affirms it has Power to Bar Rep. Cawthorn from Ballot over Jan. 6 Actions

Without stating whether such action would proceed, North Carolina's elections authority affirmed that it has the power to bar Rep. Madison Cawthorn from seeking reelection if his actions on January 6 are determined to amount to support for insurrection. 

NC GOP Carrying on Tradition of Muting the Black Vote

North Carolina's gerrymandered legislative and Congressional district maps were drawn without consideration to race, say state Republicans. But it's difficult to miss the parallel between the 1890s and today: a conservative bloc of white voters subverting the will of Black and progressive coalition, say James Leloudis and Robert Korstad.

Searching for Descendants of Racist Terrorism

Wilmington, North Carolina resident Tim Pinnick has partnered with the Equal Justice Initiative and numerous volunteers to try to locate every living descendant of the victims of the white supremacist coup that overthrew the city's biracial government in 1898. 

Can This Group Bring Political Interference Under Control at UNC?

 “I worry that we are going to have some of our best and brightest faculty just take the attitude that, well, gosh, I don’t need to put up with this. I don’t need to put up with people who seem to want to tamper with my ability to do my job.”

NC Teacher: Don't Give In to GOP Politics of Fear

by Anne P. Beatty

"To retreat from open, honest discussions about race and history is the last thing we should do. To retreat is to give into the fear mongering of this bill. Its goal is our silence."

The Moral Panic Over Critical Race Theory Is Coming for a North Carolina Teacher of the Year

Rodney Pierce won honors for going beyond a teach-the-test approach to middle school social studies by pushing his students to understand the history of their local community, including racism. He fears making white parents uncomfortable may jeopardize his job.

Far-Right Activists Protest with Confederate Flags at UNC’s Unsung Founders Memorial

Two white supremacists picketed the University of North Carolina's memorial to the free and enslaved Black workers who built the university, the latest incident of racial tension on the campus. 

“This Is Our Community” With Help From its Historic Black University, Elizabeth City Confronts the Tragedy it Tried to Prevent

Historian Melissa Stuckey of Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina has researched and taught about the town's history of racism and civil rights protest, knowledge that has been made tragically relevant by the police killing of Andrew Brown, Jr. 

'The Truth is, Our Elections are Very, Very Secure': Winthrop Professor Debunks Basis for Restrictive Voting Laws

Political scientist Scott Huffman says that despite claims of fraudulent voting, democracy has historically and recently been threatened more by efforts to restrict the vote. 

‘This is Environmental Racism’: How a Protest in a North Carolina Farming Town Sparked a National Movement

After decades of struggle with little access to resources or power, activists in the environmental justice movement have placed racial equity at the center of the President's environmental agenda.   

This U.S. Governor was Impeached—For Cracking Down on the KKK

Governor William Woods Holden responded to a brazen campaign of KKK terrorism with a declaration of martial law in two North Carolina counties. The backlash led to his impeachment. 

The Campaign to Free the Wilmington 10 Holds the Key to Successful Activism Today

by Kenneth Janken

A campaign to free 10 racial justice protesters in 1972 worked because it connected the cause to the problems with police, poverty, and racism experienced by a broad cross section of the community, and "recognize[d] racism not as separate from history but as part of historical processes and political economy."

Why a Shootout Between Black Panthers and Law Enforcement 50 Years Ago Matters Today

by Paul Ringel

A 50 year-old police attack on members of the High Point chapter of the Black Panther Party has been largely forgotten, but it shows the historical development of a pattern of law enforcement that targets Black militants and allows white supremacist radicals free rein. 

How to Teach History in a Community Still Reckoning With Its Past

"For the African American community, it was still this large, looming scar, and the white community literally didn’t even know what had happened. It had just been erased. There was this disconnect in the community."

Controversial NC Social Studies Guidelines Strike A Nerve With Public And Officials

"Members of the state Board of Education say they’ve gotten thousands of emails about proposed new social studies standards just since last week’s special meeting. The debate over how to address racism, oppression and gender identity is clearly striking a nerve."