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The Roundup Top Ten for June 10, 2022

What Alito Got Wrong about the History of Abortion

by Leslie J. Reagan

"The logic that Alito uses in the draft opinion leans heavily on history — history that he gets egregiously wrong."

The Supreme Court Isn't Supposed to be this Powerful

by Nikolas Bowie and Daphna Renan

"Judicial supremacy is an institutional arrangement brought to cultural ascendancy by white people who wanted to undo Reconstruction and the rise of organized labor that had followed."

Previous Congressional Hearings Inform What to Expect from the Jan. 6 Committee

by Jennifer Selin

From KKK violence during Reconstruction to Watergate, high profile Congressional investigations have approached controversial issues. Partisanship is likely to be an obstacle to the goals of advancing transparency and public information. 

History Suggests Gun Control Will be an Uphill Fight

by Joanna Paxton Federico

The National Rifle Association has succeeded in blocking popular gun control legislation since it overcame strong public support in the 1930s for national handgun registration in FDR's "New Deal for Crime." 

Proud Boys Indictment Charges Attempt to Overthrow Government. Does it Matter?

by Heather Cox Richardson

The charge of seditious conspiracy by a paramilitary organization with close ties to the Trumpian Right is incredibly serious, but will it be met with a shrug?

Considering the Full Life of Wilma Mankiller

by Alaina E. Roberts

Wilma Mankiller's career as an activist included a stint as the first female head of the Cherokee Nation, but she must also be remembered for the mass disenrollment of the descendants of Cherokee Freedmen from the tribe's rolls and their exclusion from a share of new income to the tribe. 

The Second Destruction of Tulsa's Black Community

by Karlos K. Hill

Photographer Donald Thompson has set out to capture a visual history of Tulsa's Greenwood district, an African American community decimated first by the 1921 race massacre and then by urban renewal in the 1970s. Historian Karlos Hill interviews him about his work. 

A Marker Recognizing Fannie Lou Hamer in Mississippi is a Step Toward Justice

by Keisha N. Blain

As conservatives restrict the teaching of the history of racism in America, the town of Winona, Mississippi has taken a necessary step to memorialize the state-sanctioned jailhouse beating of Fannie Lou Hamer and other activists in 1963. 

Reading History for "Lessons" Misses the Point

by Daniel Immerwahr

"We read past authors as a sanity check. They reassure us that we’re not alone in what we see."

Ongoing US Territorial Possessions Perpetuate Colonialism and Racism

by Anders Bo Rasmussen

While much has changed over a century, the basic question of equal treatment for citizens in American territories has essentially remained the same.