Roundup

Could One Party Dominate America Again?

by Michael Kazin

A party that can offer a compelling explanation for a crisis and move the government to an effective response has a chance to cement its dominance. It's not clear that one will. 

What You Need to Know About Captain America's Secret Identity

by Roy Schwartz

"You know the story: a young, undersized, aspiring artist from New York’s Lower East Side who loves his country and hates bullies uses a superhero persona to take on the Nazis and becomes a war hero. It’s the origin of Captain America. It’s also the origin of Jack Kirby, his co-creator."

The Roundup Top Ten for March 31, 2023

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

Chicago's Mayoral Race isn't Red v. Blue, but Conflicting Visions of What a City Should Be

by Martha Bayne

Schools are the center of the Chicago mayoral election, specifically the question of whether the city will invest in them as community institutions or continue down a path of privatization started by candidate Paul Vallas in the 1990s when he ran the public schools. 

What Iraq Should Teach Advocates of Foreign Policy Restraint

by Joseph Stieb

Many advocates of a less assertive role for United States power in the world point to Iraq as an example of the folly of intervention. But if they want to make their views a reality, they need to understand why pro-war arguments succeeded by offering a solution to Americans' post-9/11 fears and anxieties. 

DeSantis's War on "Woke" Evokes Darkest Parts of Florida's History

by Carol Anderson

Calling DeSantis's agenda a "culture war" obscures the fact that is in fact a war against the marginalized, an effort to narrow the definition of who counts as a Floridian and whom the state will serve and protect, with the right to vote at the center. 

Gullah Geechee of Sea Islands Fight for their Post-Slavery Legacy

by DeNeen L Brown

The Gullah Geechee people were chosen for enslavement in the Sea Islands because of their experience cultivating rice in Africa, and maintained a distinctive culture with strong African elements through slavery and emancipation. Development and gentrification threaten that legacy today. 

Do Subtle Shifts in China's References to Divided Korea Signal Pragmatism on Taiwan?

by Hu Ping and Perry Link

In seeking to navigate Beijing's seeming intransigence on recognizing Taiwan, the United States can look to the PRC's subtle shift in rhetoric: it has stopped including divided Korea as a comparison to an unacceptable "two China" policy and categorized it as "one country, two governments," suggesting steps toward pragmatic acceptance. 

The Dangerous Delusion of the Big Data Utopia

by Jill Lepore

Why has "data" supplanted metaphysical inquiry, empirical observation, and even standard statistical analysis as the go-to source for understanding the world? Is data science the latest episode in a history of technological utopianism? 

Why Everyone Born in the US is a Citizen, and Why it Matters

by Amanda Frost

In upholding birthright citizenship in the case of US v. Wong Kim Ark, the court invoked English common law, rather than claims to citizenship rights and freedom by escaped slaves, as the foundation of the 14th Amendment's definition of citizenship. This makes the principle vulnerable when it should be unassailable. 

It's Time to Pivot to Socioeconomic Preferences in Admissions

by Richard D. Kahlenberg

Can admissions preferences to selective colleges for economically less advantaged applicants carry on the justice agenda of Martin Luther King while avoiding the wrath of the Roberts Court and a backlash by middle and working-class whites? 

Rep. Patricia Schroeder's Career Shows Real Effects of Electing More Women

by Sarah B. Rowley

Policymakers have too often ignored women's lived experiences in many areas when legislating. The late Congresswoman from Colorado showed how those experiences could be represented. 

Have Protests Stopped Netanyahu's Attack on Israeli Democracy?

by Bernard Avishai

It's unlikely either Netanyahu will abandon his plans for overhauling Israel's Basic Laws to expand his power or that protests will cease in the near future. Israelis will increasingly have to choose whether the state will be a religious one with trappings of democracy or a democratic one with a nominal religious identity. 

Teaching History Without Harsh Truths? Tennessee's Law Demands the Impossible

by David Barber

"When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or our own Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee’s legislature enact laws to prevent teaching Black history, they are defending white supremacy."

Will Ukraine be Remembered as the War of Surprises?

by Rajan Menon

Neither the perceived threat of NATO expansion nor Putin's alleged fears of liberalization explain the move to an all-out invasion. This uncertainty remains confounding, as has the progress of the war. 

The 2003 Iraq Invasion Was the Culmination of a Long Betrayal

by Noah Kulwin

Although the UK backed the US invasion of Iraq, that nation had been supplying weapons to Saddam Hussein since the 1980s to advance anti-Iranian policy in the middle east. Before the invasion, the government worked to cover those tracks. 

The Next Election Will Be a Fight over Our Memory of the Pandemic

by Jacob Steere-Williams and Gavin Yamey

Candidates seeking to claim either party's nomination in 2024 are going to try to convince the public that their COVID policies protected both health and freedom. Before they win the votes, they have to win the battle of how Americans remember the pandemic. 

How Will Trump Try to Spin an Indictment to His Advantage?

by Julian Zelizer

Trump's familiarity with commanding attention—even, or particularly, negative attention—and penchant for grievances mean that being indicted in any of the cases against him would put him in a comfortable role on the campaign stage. 

Trump's Choice of Waco is Waving the Bloody Shirt to the Far Right

by Nicole Hemmer

By rallying in Waco at the 30th anniversary of the Branch Davidian siege and killings, Trump has signaled to the far right and the militia movement that he's their candidate. 

Should the Census Consider Latinos a "Race"?

by Geraldo Cadava

Although major Latino civil rights organizations have endorsed a proposal to combine two census questions and make "Hispanic or Latino" a racial category. Afro-Latino/a advocates say that this would make it impossible to evaluate internal divisions around skin color and ancestry.