From a physical standpoint, Alexander Stephens made a rather ironic spokesman for the superiority of the white race. Standing 5 feet 7 inches in height, Stephens wasn’t terribly short or tall by 19th century American standards, but he possessed a… Read More ›
Charleston
Our Hateful Inheritance: Dylann Roof & The Blood-Soaked Roots of The Charleston Massacre
Nearly a century after his death, the glowering visage of “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman still looks down upon the people of South Carolina from its perch outside the State House in Charleston. 8 feet tall and made of bronze that has… Read More ›
Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: Progressive Third Party Politics in West Virginia
It was all Nader’s fault. Never mind the butterfly ballots and the hanging chads. Forget about Palm Beach County’s sudden and accidental infatuation with Pat Buchanan(1) and Katherine Harris’s purging of thousands of legitimate black Floridians from the voter rolls… Read More ›
We Promise This Will Never Happen Again: Freedom Industries Spills More Waste In West Virginia’s Rivers
Sometimes, when I come across a story about a chemical spill or environmental disaster in West Virginia, my thoughts lead me to story of the Greek Titan Prometheus. In Greek Mythology, Prometheus was humanity’s architect and benefactor. He was the… Read More ›
Rage, Rage With West Virginia Against the Dying of Their Right to Clean Water
In May of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave the commencement address at the University of Michigan and first laid out the framework of what would become his vision for America’s “Great Society.” In the speech, LBJ reflected on the… Read More ›