Half of U.S. Public School Students Living in Poverty, Study Finds

BLANK Oct 17, 2013 A new study points up the links between poverty and school performance, as experts say punitive test score-based assessment programs miss the most crucial factor in student success: readiness to learn. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

With Auto Industry Recovery, UAW Comes Fighting Back

BLANK Oct 11, 2013 The United Auto Workers union has mounted significant efforts to do what seems the impossible: Organize two foreign-owned auto plants in the Deep South, the cradle of the nation's right-to-work movement. Their success could mean a rebirth for a major player in organized labor. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Garry Wills Calls Out Moderate Republicans as Cowards

BLANK Oct 10, 2013 The award-winning historian draws comparisons between tea party Republicans and pre-Civil War secessionists -- and criticizes the failure of Republicans to confront the extremism in their midst. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Study Finds Modern Race Attitudes Parallel Old Slavery Zones

BLANK Oct 8, 2013 Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York have discovered links between geographic areas of the South where slavery and the plantation economy dominated, and modern attitudes toward African-Americans and political conservatism. And it’s somewhat hereditary, with new generations reflecting the racial and social attitudes of their parents, according to the new study. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Bomb Blast That Still Echoes, a Half-Century Later

BLANK Sep 15, 2013 The bombing deaths of four Birmingham girls on this day 50 years ago changed the nation's outlook on civil rights. But did it lead to real change? Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Racist Election Tweets Mapped Out

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Nov 10, 2012 According to geography research group Floating Sheep, pinpointing the spike in Twitter hate speech is a "useful reminder that technology reflects the society in which it is based, both the good and the bad." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

America Does Not Share South Carolina’s Fondness for Gingrich

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Jan 24, 2012 Amid all the excitement, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that America has known Newt Gingrich for three decades -- and really doesn't like him. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Violence Dampens Southern Sudan’s Celebration

Staff / Truthdig Feb 11, 2011 It was just last month that Sudan’s southern half voted to secede from its northern neighbor, but bloody clashes between south Sudan’s army and fighters loyal to a renegade soldier have reportedly left almost 140 people dead, most of them civilians. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

South Sudan to Become World’s Newest Nation

Staff / Truthdig Jan 31, 2011 While the outcome may have been a foregone conclusion, the official results are finally in: South Sudan has voted, with 99.57 percent in favor, to secede from the north. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Let’s Not Spin the Civil War

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Dec 27, 2010 The Civil War is about to loom very large in the popular memory. We would do well to be candid about its causes and not allow the distortions of contemporary politics or long-standing myths to cloud our understanding of why the nation fell apart. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

From ‘Sons of Confederate Veterans’ to Children’s Ears

Staff / Truthdig Oct 21, 2010 A Virginia fourth-grade textbook falsely claims that "Thousands of Southern blacks fought in the Confederate ranks" during the Civil War. The author of the book relied heavily on a pro-Confederacy group she found on the Internet. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Confederacy Isn’t Something to Be Proud Of

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Apr 13, 2010 Slavery wasn't just "a bad thing," as Mississippi Gov Haley Barbour recently said in dismissing it Littering is a bad thing Slavery was this nation's Original Sin, and the revisionists behind Confederate History Month should be ashamed. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )