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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Some Exhibits to Come – One Hundred Years of Jim Crow
Mammy Statue JC Museum Ferris
Bibliography – One Hundred Years Of Jim Crow
Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.
Freedom’s Heroes During Jim Crow: Flossie Bailey and the Deeters
Souvenir Portrait of the Lynching of Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp, August 7, 1930, by studio photographer Lawrence Beitler. Courtesy of the Indiana Hisorical Society.
An Iconic Lynching in the North
Lynching Quilt
Claxton Dekle – Prosperous Farmer, Husband & Father of Two
Joshua Glover Plaque
Some Exhibits to Come – Three Centuries Of Enslavement
Harriet Tubman, "The Conductor," with fugitive slaves in Underground Railroad station
Bibliography – Three Centuries of Enslavement
Ancient manuscripts about mathematics and astronomy from Timbuktu, Mali
Some Exhibits to Come – African Peoples Before Captivity
Shackles for Adults & Children from the Henrietta Marie
Some Exhibits to Come – The Middle Passage
Slaveship Stowage Plan
What I Saw Aboard a Slave Ship in 1829
Arno Michaels
Life After Hate: A Former White Power Leader Redeems Himself

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A coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 caused the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in China before spreading worldwide in 2020. This global pandemic was not equally destructive, however. The virus itself was more harmful to elderly people and those with pre-existing health conditions. However, economic and racial inequalities prevented some people from accessing necessary screening, treatment, or vaccines or following medical advice such as social distancing or quarantining. Medical racism also played a role during COVID-19, and some Black patients formed support groups after the medical system ignored them.  The pandemic also highlighted how some medical equipment worked poorly for Black patients.

Nearly 7 million people died of COVID globally, with millions more surviving the disease that raged for multiple years. In the United States, Black people remained at risk while others decreased their concern, which was entirely warranted. African Americans experienced a higher death rate due to COVID-19 than other races, and many struggle with the effects of long COVID. Lingering illness and disability have removed some people from the workforce, while others struggle financially under the weight of caring for or losing others in their households. Funding intended for Black Americans to help mitigate these harms resulted in lawsuits. Similarly, money intended for COVID-19 support was rerouted to prisons, which had already contributed to the rapid-fire spread of COVID-19.

The pandemic prompted a shift to virtual learning, working, and communication. While some welcomed this shift, it further highlighted economic disparities for others. This also resulted in learning setbacks for students. Meanwhile, COVID-19 resurfaced distrust between the Black community and the medical establishment that stems, in part, from the Tuskegee experiment.

COVID-19 was also the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew after video of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer surfaced online.

As COVID Precautions Drop, Black Americans Remain More Affected — and More Concerned

March 7, 2022

Surveys show that Black people have more lingering concerns about COVID-19 than white people, despite more relaxed guidelines for prevention.

Author Alice Sebold apologizes to Anthony Broadwater, wrongfully convicted of raping her

December 1, 2021

Broadwater’s 1982 conviction was overturned last week after authorities determined there were serious flaws in his prosecution.

LeBron James Enters NBA’s COVID-19 Protocols, Could Miss Multiple Games

December 1, 2021

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will be sidelined indefinitely after entering the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols.

Opioid crisis hitting Black communities at alarming rates amid pandemic

November 23, 2021

In the thick of the COVID pandemic, deaths among Black Americans soar due to the opioid addiction crisis.

Black Girls and Women Killed At Rate of 4 Per Day In 2020 As Homicides Increased

October 7, 2021

The FBI and CDC found that Black girls and women were the most often killed among female demographics last year.

Hate crimes rise to highest level in 12 years amid increasing attacks on Black and Asian people, FBI says

August 30, 2021

The number of hate crimes in the United States rose in 2020 to the highest level in 12 years, propelled by increasing assaults targeting Black and Asian people, the FBI reported Monday.

‘Bring More Black Farmer Voices Together’: How the Black Farmers Collective Is Growing a Black-Led Food System Rooted in Black Liberation

June 29, 2021

Black farmers make up less than 2 percent of the overall farming population in the US and have been stripped of millions of acres of land in the last century. Even the USDA itself played a major role in financially bankrupting Black farm families. The US Dept. of Agriculture was to offer a multibillion dollar loan forgiveness program for farmers of color as part of COVID relief, but is on hold now due to white farmers’ claim of “reverse discrimination.”

The Racial Gap in U.S. Vaccinations Is Shrinking, but Work Remains

May 14, 2021

This article looks at differences in access to the Covid- 19 vaccine, based on race. There has been progress in accessibility to the vaccine, but there are still people in need.

Milwaukee helping shape a national conversation on racism as a public health crisis

April 16, 2021

Inequality can be deadly.

Milwaukee was among the first counties to reveal how deadly when the coronavirus pandemic struck just over a year ago. By tracking and publicly sharing demographic data, officials here quickly recognized what soon became a troubling national trend: COVID-19 was devastating Black and Latino communities. Milwaukee County was one of the very first in the country to explicitly track this data based on race.The data has helped determine where resources would be directed, including when it came to testing and vaccinations.

Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – CDC Director Declares Racism A ‘Serious Public Health Threat’

April 8, 2021

“Racism is a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans,” declared the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “As a result, it affects the health of our entire nation. Racism is not just the discrimination against one group based on the color of their skin or their race or ethnicity, but the structural barriers that impact racial and ethnic groups differently to influence where a person lives, where they work, where their children play, and where they worship and gather in community. These social determinants of health have life-long negative effects on the mental and physical health of individuals in communities of color.