Category Archives: Race, History & American Society

Writing on race, Black history, slavery, segregation, civil rights, white supremacy, racial inequality, historical memory, and the continuing influence of American history on contemporary society.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Posted on January 27, 2021 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Today, January 27th, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. A Time magazine article, “‘Hate Never Disappears. It Just Takes a Break for a While.’ Why the U.S. Capitol Attack Makes Holocaust Remembrance Day More Important Than Ever,” reveals why we should … Continue reading →

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The Amazing Grace of Black People

Posted on January 20, 2021 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Just the other day on social media I posted that Black people in America embody amazing grace. That thought came to the forefront of my mind when Lori Marie Key, a Black nurse, sang Amazing Grace at the national COVID … Continue reading →

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A Brief History of How “Black History” is Seen

Posted on September 6, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

What is called “Black History” in the United States of America is American history.  In categorizing and cataloging “Black History” as such, and relegating it not only to one month of the year, February, but also the shortest month of … Continue reading →

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Chadwick Boseman: In Memoriam – Black Panther!

Posted on August 31, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Two years ago, in preparing to deliver a high school graduation commencement address at the Fedcap School in Orange, New Jersey, I researched a number of commencement addresses by pop culture characters and personalities. During my research, I came across … Continue reading →

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A Brief History of the Hayes-Tilden Compromise

Posted on August 4, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In order to understand the pathology of memorializing treasonous Confederates, look to the Hayes-Tilden Compromise (1876-77), which in effect ended the Reconstruction years (1865-1877), when Black people made tremendous strides, politically, economically, and socially, a mere 12 years after 246 … Continue reading →

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Old Confederate Soldiers Never Die

Posted on July 27, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Old Confederate soldiers never die,Never die, never die,Old Confederate soldiers never die,They simply become memorialized.

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A Comparison of New York State Laws and Regulations and Slave Codes

Posted on July 18, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In the mid-1980s, while doing research on an essay, which I would entitle, “From the Plantation to the Penitentiary,” I came across something startling.  I had already seen the connection between slavery and imprisonment, from the very beginning of the … Continue reading →

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Talladega Knights: The Ballad of Bubba Wallace, “Sweet Home Alabama,” and the Day of the Noose

Posted on June 22, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Headline: Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black driver who races full-time in NASCAR’s top three series – a noose was found in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway, “the biggest and baddest track.” NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from its … Continue reading →

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On this Day in American history – June 19, 1865 — Juneteenth (From the Equal Justice Initiative)

Posted on June 19, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Although President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved Black people in Confederate territories free, these locations were under Confederate control, which rejected the freedom of enslaved people on plantations throughout the South. The Proclamation did little to emancipate enslaved … Continue reading →

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The South Won the War of Northern Aggression?

Posted on June 13, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Imagine a visitor from another planet, say Mars, is touring the Southern states and is in modern day Virginia. The Martian makes its way to Jamestown, which he finds both interesting, and puzzling. It has familiarized itself with 200 years … Continue reading →

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