Roundup

Right In The Way: Generations Of Highway Impacts In Houston

by Kyle Shelton

Houston's characteristic sprawl is enabled by continually expanding highways, which historically and today run through Black and Latino communities. 

The Conservatism of My Teaching: Seven Elements

by Jonathan Wilson

Despite the frequent accusations of liberal indoctrination, many history teachers' work is, at a deep level, conservative: it respects the past, focuses on community, and is tethered to the current needs of students and the legacy of scholarship. 

The Long History of Members of Congress Talking Directly with U.S. Adversaries

by Richard A. Moss and Sergey Radchenko

New documents demonstrate that Senator Ted Kennedy had back-channel contact with the Brezhnev regime in the 1970s, which aimed both at resolving sticky diplomatic issues and at elevating Kennedy above Democratic party rivals. It's unclear if Kennedy was acting with or undercutting American intelligence agencies. 

Terminal Does Not Mean Dead: Why the History MA Deserves Our Attention

by Lauren Braun-Strumfels and Tim Herbert

Caught between the Bachelor's and the PhD, the Master's degree in history needs to get much more careful consideration as a part of the historical profession and as training for historians outside of higher education. 

Revisiting a 19th Century Medical Idea Could Help Address COVID-19

by Melanie A. Kiechle

Although the miasma theory of disease has been replaced by the germ theory, it's nevertheless the case that it drew attention to the connection between air quality and health, and the practical measures inspired by it can be useful in the COVID pandemic. 

Racism Has Always Been Part of the Asian American Experience

by Mae Ngai

Anti-Asian racism draws from different historical origins than Jim Crow, but their histories are part of the same conflict: whether White Americans are entitled to rule over other people, domestically or globally. 

There’s Hope for Racial Justice in America. But it Comes from the People – Not the Courts

by Simon Balto

The killing of Ma'Khia Bryant by Columbus Police on the day of Derek Chauvin's conviction in Minneapolis is a reminder that achieving justice will be product of a long popular struggle to create solutions to social problems outside the model of policing. 

Revolution is Illegal: Revisiting the Panther 21 at 50

by Orisanmi Burton

"To revisit the history of the BPP is to experience the rhyme of history. Yet, the refrain is not a pleasant one."

Caught in a Plague of Gun Violence (Letters from an American, April 19, 2021)

by Heather Cox Richardson

What explains the different reaction to two Valentine's Day massacres, in 1929 and 2018? Heather Cox Richardson examines the connections between a culture of individualism, desegregation, and guns. 

What the Rise and Fall of the Cinderella Fairy Tale Means for Real Women Today

by Carol Dyhouse

"Cinderella dreams an impossible dream: she isn’t a helpful role model for today’s young girls thinking about their future, and is unlikely to regain the intense hold over the female imagination that was evident in the 1950s."

Why the Amazon Workers Never Stood a Chance

by Erik Loomis

"We may be in a period where economic justice concerns are more central to our politics than any time since the mid-20th century. But without a new round of labor law reform, organized labor cannot succeed."

American Journalism’s Role in Promoting Racist Terror

by Channing Gerard Joseph

American journalism profited from the sale of advertisements for the slave trade and stirred up lynch mobs. When will the industry acknowledge its role in American racism? 

All the President’s Historians

by Daniel N. Gullotta

Joe Biden's attraction to Jon Meacham's historical narratives of American ideals triumphant over adversity makes sense for a president dedicated to healing and reunification. 

The Derek Chauvin Verdict Won’t Stop Cops Murdering Black People. We Still Aren’t Safe

by Kellie Carter Jackson

Historical reflection shows that Derek Chauvin's killing of George Floyd was not an anomaly. His conviction won't purge policing of racial bias. 

How White Americans’ Refusal to Accept Busing has Kept Schools Segregated

by Matthew D. Lassiter

The legal distinction between "de facto" and "de jure" segregation has always been a convenient fiction allowing the perpetuation of segregation by obscuring the role of government in creating and sustaining a racially discriminatory housing market. 

The Men Who Turned Slavery Into Big Business

by Joshua D. Rothman

"We still live in the world that Franklin and Armfield’s profits helped build, and with the enduring inequalities that they and their industry entrenched."

Is America’s Longest Forever War Really Coming To An End?

by Adam Weinstein and Stephen Wertheim

The authors argue that Joe Biden has recognized that the US faces the choice of absolute withdrawal from Afghanistan or permanent entanglement. His resolve will be tested by inevitable bad news, but the time is now to move on from the policy of perpetual war. 

Adam Toledo's Killing is Part of a Brutal Pattern of Child Killings in America

by Keisha N. Blain

Repeated acts of police violence against children underscore the fundamentally racist roots of policing in the United States and demand a diversion of resources from police to social services. 

How To Make An Oligopoly

by Brittany McWilliams

A document from the Eli Lilly corporate archives shows how the pharmaceutical giant strategized to control the global market in insulin. 

Calls to Disarm the Police Won’t Stop Brutality and Killings

by Maryam Aziz

Calls to disarm police departments ignore the way that policing has used unarmed forms of violence in its efforts at social control, particularly of Black communities.