John Oliver on Taking Down Confederate Monuments (Video)
The "Last Week Tonight" host argues that removing the racist symbols is a way to come to terms with American history.
In the video above, John Oliver provides some historical context for the ongoing debate over Confederate statues, and argues that taking down these racist symbols is actually a way to come to terms with American history, not erasing it.
The “Last Week Tonight” host also offers some “replacement monuments,” including a living one for Charleston, S.C., the city where the first free public library in the U.S. was erected and where fellow “Daily Show” veteran Stephen Colbert happened to have grown up.
— Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
Even some of the most outward-looking U.S. presidents presided over the erection of a deadly run of barriers separating the U.S. from Mexico.
In an age of alternative facts, this new edition of the classic "Lies My Teacher Told Me" is an essential cornerstone of historical literacy.
This year's top Truthdig Original pieces include stark warnings by several contributors and a peek into the possible future of U.S. banking.
Politics
For Native Americans, the white man's tale of noble settlement of an empty frontier in the second half of the 19th century masked a genocide.
In 1861-65, Americans waged a war among themselves that remains the bloodiest in U.S. history. It began as a fight to preserve the Union but morphed into an abolitionist war to free 4 million men, women and children from bondage.
Politics
On the heels of the War of 1812, society began to drastically change due to government action and technological innovation. As some Americans prospered, many were left to wither.