Roundup

Why Meat and Masculinity are a New Culture War Front

by Jan Dutkiewicz and Gabriel N. Rosenberg

The recent embrace of conspiracy theories around food consumption—liberals want to make us eat insects!—show how a sense of imperiled masculinity is being used to stop necessary conversations about making the food system safe, sustainable, and humane. 

Teaching the History Wars

by Megan Threlkeld

Teaching first-year undergraduates about the recurrent conflicts over their curriculum takes them from not knowing what the "history wars" are to asking challenging questions about what counts as history. 

Preserving the Public History of the Fort Pillow Massacre

by Erin L. Thompson

On April 12, 1864 Confederates under the command of Nathan Bedford Forrest slaughtered members of the US Colored Troops after they had surrendered. Until recently, the state of Tennessee has neglected the site, making it difficult for the public to explore that history.

Child Labor is Back; History Says Don't be Surprised

by Beth English

In an effort to attract investment from key industries, state governments in the south actively rescinded existing laws banning child labor, showing that there has been no straight line of progress on the issue. 

The Scandal isn't in Clarence Thomas's Corruption, but His Jurisprudence

by Corey Robin

It's a mistake to ask if receiving gifts from a wealthy benefactor has shaped the Justice's rulings. His rulings have paved the way for the power of money in America. 

Zora Neal Hurston's Town is one of Many Imperiled Historic Sites

by Nick Tabor

Eatonville has temporarily prevented a large development that many residents feared would lead to gentrification and the erasure of Black history in the Florida town, but it is just one example of the difficulty facing efforts to preserve sites of African American history. 

The Roundup Top Ten for April 12, 2023

The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week. 

The Pugilistic Pastor: Nigel Biggar and the Imperial History Wars

by Dane Kennedy

The recent "Colonialism" won’t win over many historians, but it isn’t meant to. Its target audience is right-wing ideologues, whose grievances and opinions it both echoes and enhances.

The Doomsday Clock and Me

by Frida Berrigan

The presence of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and its famous Doomsday Clock, on TikTok, presents an unsettling but hopeful reality that younger people are being made aware of the risk of nuclear war. 

The Inexcusable Silence of Florida's College Presidents

by Brian Rosenberg

Florida's public college presidents have made it clear that they intend to keep out of sight as the governor attacks the independence of the state's higher education system, even as the very idea of the universities they run is being undermined. 

Attacks on Education Echo Fascism

by Eden McLean

"Florida’s legislation represents only the latest in a long history of attempts to deplore knowledge, deride academic inquiry for its own sake, and discourage intellectual curiosity in our children and the American public."

Did Dobbs Return Abortion to the States and the People? LOL

by Leah Litman

The conservative legal movement has no intention of subjecting abortion to democratic processes. 

A Proponent of Technified, Skills-Based Higher Ed is Out, but His Soulless Vision Lives On

by François Furstenberg

Jason Wingard's presidency at Temple is over, but his vision of higher education shaped by the skills needs of business and the diminishment of the value of subject experts has enough backing among moneyed interests in tech and education reform to remain dangerous. 

There's a Precedent for Trump's Indictment: Spiro Agnew

by Zach Messitte, Charles Holden and Jerald Podair

Nixon's VP pioneered the right-wing politics of grievance against coastal elites and higher education familiar today. He also had a tendency to accept bribes that is familiar. But in 1973 the Republican Party was willing to cut him loose. 

After Dobbs, Women Have Been Pushed Out of the Legal Debate on Abortion

by Felicia Kornbluh

Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's recent ruling focused on his interpretation of the rights of fetuses and physicians, while ignoring the real-world health and reproductive concerns of women. Reproductive freedom advocates can learn from earlier generations of women who stressed the rights of women before Roe. 

Racist Interpretations of Human Evolution Remain Prevalent in Popular Culture, Museums, and Textbooks

by Rui Diogo

Science has never been immune from the prejudices and assumptions of the society around it. Much of the received wisdom about human origins and evolution rests on flawed assumptions about group hierarchies. 

"Woke" Indoctrination of Students is a Myth

by Glenn C. Altschuler and David Wippman

There is virtually no evidence that liberal professors are successfully indoctrinating students, or that they're even trying. But the myth is behind a host of measures that threaten higher education. 

The Real Story Behind the Expulsion of the Two Black Members of the "Tennessee Three"

by Jemar Tisby

The disproportionate response of the Tennessee House's majority—the expulsion of two Black members for the violation of decorum rules during a gun control protest—echoes the efforts of the so-called "Redeemers" of the Reconstruction era to reassert white supremacy through expulsions. 

Federal Judges Explain Things to Me

by Felicia Kornbluh

An ideological and fact-challeged ruling by a single judge to revoke the FDA's approval of mifepristone shows the danger of years of complacency about the security of reproductive freedom. 

The Tennessee Three's Ordeal Reflects Historic White Supremacy

by Elwood Watson

A Tennessee professor reflects on the recent events in the state capitol.