Slavery

Does a video show Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking about his plan to "liberate" or "recolonize" Black people of Africa? No, that's not true: The clip cut off a sentence from his 2016 African Summit speech where he made it clear he was quoting a statement by a historical figure. On that occasion, Netanyahu said nothing about "recolonization." The…

Was a Black Friday video of a lone man entering a store empty of shoppers taken in the U.S. in 2023, reflecting the U.S. economy under President Joe Biden? No, that's not true: This video was shot in the United Kingdom in November 2017. A BBC News correspondent posted this video on what was then Twitter, now X, in 2017,…

Did today's Black Americans descend from Africans who inhabited North America before European colonizers arrived in the 15th century? No, that's not true: Paleontological, archaeological and genetic evidence all suggest that the original inhabitants of North America who were present on the continent when European explorers arrived were the ancestors of modern Indigenous people, an anthropologist told Lead Stories. Historical…

Does the idea that 1.4 percent of Americans owned slaves in 1860 represent the true extent of slavery at that time? No, that's not true: That statistic isn't meaningful. By 1860, slave ownership was concentrated in the southern U.S., making only the population in those states relevant to the issue of slave ownership. The population of the southern U.S. also…

Did a robot that experienced "wage slavery" for 15 minutes commit suicide after determining that was the logical choice rather than to continue working? No, that's not true: The video was posted by Agility Robotics, celebrating the 99-percent success rate of its live demos, while acknowledging that its Digit robot did have a couple of falls. This robot's accident happened…

Did KFC tweet for Black History Month a photo of a chicken drumstick in front of a drumstick shadow that looks like a raised fist? No, that's not true: KFC's U.S. corporate account never posted this image, which has been altered. The Instagram account for KFC Trinidad and Tobago, part of the restaurant's international franchise network, tweeted the image in…

Did the driver for John F. Kennedy, Secret Service Agent William Greer, turn around and shoot the former president when JFK was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963? No, that's not true: A video posted on social media that makes this claim provides no supporting evidence beyond its grainy images. There also is no proof elsewhere that Greer played a…

Did the Central Intelligence Agency say it killed former President John F. Kennedy? No, that's not true: A video posted on Facebook that makes this claim provides no supporting evidence. There is no evidence elsewhere that the CIA has ever said it played a role in the 1963 slaying of Kennedy. The claim appeared in a post and video on…

Did the Central Intelligence Agency come up with the term "conspiracy theorist" to discredit the views of those casting doubts on the results of the official investigation into the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy? No, that's not true: Archival materials show that the term was in use before November 22, 1963, when the 35th president of the United States…

Does the song "Jingle Bells" make a hidden reference to slaves forced to wear bells so they could be easily tracked if they tried to escape under the cover of night? No, that's not true: The song "Jingle Bells," originally named "One Horse Open Sleigh," is a song about the fun of a winter sleigh ride. The song is not…