Voices of Color by Insider Profile picture
Apr 26, 2021 8 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Students growing up in the US learn about the California gold rush — the forty-niners and their hunt for gold.

But, the gold rush was actually the start of one of the bloodiest periods in US history. It’s a story that remained covered up for years.
Greed for gold in California was pushed through violent articles, advertisements, and cartoons. Some even depicted 49ers carrying knives while wielding mining tools.

About 300,000 heavily-armed individuals descended on California to hunt for gold.

insider.com/how-the-us-whi…
California settlers also spent $6 million dollars on knives and pistols between 1848 and 1852.

Benjamin Madley, an associate professor of Native American history at UCLA, said this paved the way for the “violence of genocide.”

insider.com/how-the-us-whi…
Ranches recruited hundreds of Native men for the mines, where they were treated as disposable workers, said Nicole Myers-Lim, executive director of the California Indian Museum.

When members of the Pomo tribe rebelled, the US Calvary murdered them.

insider.com/how-the-us-whi…
Governor Hardeman Burnett was the first governor of California.

In his first speech to the citizens of California, he waged "a war of extermination" on California Indians and said it was inevitable.

insider.com/how-the-us-whi…
California’s newly established government also passed an act that authorized the organization of ranger militias.

These volunteer groups, which included gold miners, were sent on 24 Native American killing campaigns in just 11 years, from 1850 to 1861.

insider.com/how-the-us-whi…
Madley estimates the US army and auxiliaries killed 9,000 to 16,000 people during the Gold Rush. But this is rarely cited in history.

“We’ve had a kind of institutionalized amnesia about the genocide of California Indians,” he said.

insider.com/how-the-us-whi…
So many of these details have remained hidden or ignored.

Holt McDougal, the publisher of the grade school social studies textbook, told Insider in a statement that they’re currently in the process of reviewing these omissions.

insider.com/how-the-us-whi…

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More from @insiderVOC

Oct 28, 2022
The Church of Latter-day Saints' Indian Placement Program has been accused of “cultural genocide.”

Experts said the Supreme Court's decision this term will have a huge impact on Native rights, @thisisinsider's Yoonji Han (@yoonji_han) writes. ⬇️

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The case has wound its way up to the highest court in America.

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Sep 27, 2022
“The Woman King” tells the story of the Agojie, the fierce women warriors in the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s.

But since its release, some fans have called for a boycott over what they allege are historical inaccuracies. 👇

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“The Woman King" stars @violadavis and is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit).

It’s a chronicle of Black female power that tells the story of the Agojie, or "Dahomey Amazons," as they battle enemies that threaten their way of life.

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While the "Dahomey Amazons" were symbols of strength and power, they were also complicit in the capture, creation, and sale of other African people.

insider.com/the-woman-king… A text graphic with a quote from Patrick Manning, professor
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Mar 27, 2022
The racial overtones on display during the confirmation proceedings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson have roots.

In 1916, it was used to stonewall the first Jewish man nominated to the court.

businessinsider.com/racist-history…
Jackson's confirmation hearing is the latest in nearly a century of incidents in which lawmakers used the process to cast doubt on nominees who didn't fit the historic mold of white, male justices, historians and judicial scholars told Insider.

The Senate judiciary committee held its first confirmation hearing in 1916. With one exception, only white, Protestant men served on the US Supreme Court until 1894.

President Woodrow Wilson nominated a Jewish lawyer: Louis Brandeis.
businessinsider.com/racist-history… Photo of Louis Brandeis.
Read 14 tweets
Feb 28, 2022
These are three US history textbooks used in classrooms across the country.

History professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries (@ProfJeffries) explored their depictions of Black history. This is what they omitted and overlooked.

First up: “America: History of our Nation,” published by Prentice Hall.

Jeffries said there is no mention that the founding fathers themselves were slave owners. This ignores the significance slavery played in the founding of America.

There is also little mention of systemic racism’s role in the making of American society. Thus, students never see how this continues when slavery is over, Jeffries said.

Read 10 tweets
Feb 26, 2022
Black-owned businesses saw a rise in interest in the aftermath of the summer of 2020, but since then, support has dipped.

@thisisinsider spoke with 29 Black business owners to gather their thoughts on the past and future of Black entrepreneurship. ⬇️

businessinsider.com/black-business… A picture of Jeannine A. Co...
From February 2020 to August 2021, the number of Black business owners in the US increased by 38%, making Black Americans the fastest-rising class of entrepreneurs in the country.

But since then, the increase in support has slowed.

businessinsider.com/black-business…
What's left, Black entrepreneurs say, is a community once again trying to build a fruitful future as their desires for equality put further pressure on the systems designed to hold them back.

businessinsider.com/black-business…
Read 12 tweets
Jan 25, 2022
Penn Law Professor Amy Wax called the dominance of the "Asian elite" in the US a "danger" in a December interview.

Students told Insider Wax has a record of making racist comments. But so far, she’s avoided sanctions by the school.

businessinsider.com/penn-law-stude…
In a 2018 interview, Wax said Black students never finished in the top quarter of Penn Law and "rarely, rarely" finished in the top half.

Penn Law banned Wax from teaching her mandatory first-year class, but didn’t take any action beyond that.

businessinsider.com/penn-law-stude…
Current and former Penn Law students said her behavior behind closed doors was just as bad, if not worse. These students described a pattern of discriminatory language and favoritism toward white students.

businessinsider.com/penn-law-stude…
Read 10 tweets

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