Today marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. For whites in the south, the anniversary marks the start of a proud military engagement. For blacks in the south, the war led to the end of slavery and the start of the civil rights movement. And while celebrations for the event will be grand in scale and scope, this year’s commemoration will not reverberate nationally as it did during the centennial. How do the two anniversaries compare? There was a national commission set up for the anniversary, and the Kennedy administration was actively involved in the planning. By contrast, we talk about the significance the sesquicentennial with William Boone, professor of political science at Clark Atlanta University, and Jamie Malanowski, the lead writer for the Disunion blog for our partner The New York Times.
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