National Geographic confesses to history of ‘racist’ coverage in special issue

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National Geographicย strives to deepen our understanding of the world and our role in it. Itโ€™s difficult to understand 21st-century America without exploring the issue of race. Itโ€™s the elephant in the room, permeating every aspect of our culture, neighborhoods, schools, businesses, politics, sports, arts, and relationships.

genetics code projected face african man crop adaptWhile science tells us thatย there is no such thing as race, society uses racial distinctionsย to divide us.ย Throughout history, groups of people have classified those who were different from them as the โ€œother.โ€ย On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leaderย Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., we decided to look deeply into these issues with a distinctย National Geographicย lens. Our stories reflect a view that is global, scientific, and cultural.

Editor Susan Goldberg writes aboutย National Geographicโ€™s complicated history in an essay, โ€œFor Decades,ย National Geographicโ€™s Coverage Was Racist. Itโ€™s Time We Acknowledged It.โ€

“It hurts to share the appalling stories from the magazineโ€™s past,โ€ she writes. “But itโ€™s important to examine our own history before reporting on others.”

Science defines you by your DNA. Society defines you by the color of your skin. Usingย #IDefineMe, we want people to share their stories with us. We hope to spark a global conversation about how race defines, separates, and unites us.

Read full, original post: Why Weโ€™re Devoting an Entire Issue of National Geographic to Race

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