Roundup

What Anna May Wong's History Tells us About Oscar's Asian and Asian American Moment

by Katie Gee Salisbury

The first Asian-American film star got her break when a film company cast ethnic actors in a 1922 film made to test out the new Technicolor technology. But Hollywood's racial politics and commercial imperatives kept other Asian actors from stardom. 

Eric Adams's Involuntary Commitment Plan for Mentally Ill has a Long, Cruel History (and Won't Help)

by Jeremy Peschard

The history of involuntary hospitalization is one of the removal of the most marginalized and vulnerable people from society, in increasingly cruel and inhumane conditions, with treatment and reintegration to society an afterthought. It's unclear the New York mayor's plans will be different. 

Oscar Documentary Winner "Navalny" Part of Long Protest Tradition

by Lynne Hartnett

Without traditional or legal support for dissent and free speech, Russian activists have long turned to martydom as the way to dramatize injustice and criticize power. The recent Best Documentary winner is part of this tradition. 

Neoliberalism: Why is the Market Involved in Your Hallway Hangout?

by John Patrick Leary

A guide for teens and others to start thinking about how the big political and economic systems we live under shape our lives. Hint: it's about the conflicts between capitalism and democracy.

Texas's Abortion Ban Can Never be Made Humane

by Mary Ziegler

When abortion access depends on establishing that a pregnant woman deserves an exception to a ban, the law will inevitably prevent doctors from serving patients with problem pregnancies. 

The Local Roots of Marjorie Taylor Greene's "National Divorce" Rhetoric

by Michan Connor

To understand her embrace of secessionist rhetoric, don't look to the Civil War; look to the political conflict that erupted in Atlanta's suburbs in the 1990s and 2000s. 

Tulsa's Black Wall Street Should be a National Monument

by Erik Loomis

Grassroots pressure to commemorate the site of the Tulsa massacre portends more public recognition of racial violence in American history. 

Is the Loss of Collegiality about Manners or Workloads?

by Paula Marantz Cohen

If the campus conversation is a lost art for both professors and students, a big part of the solution must be restoring the time – and security – to talk. 

Governor, Florida's Faculty are Doing Their Jobs. Let Them Continue

by Elizabeth Strom

Florida's higher education reform agenda imagines professors to are engaged in indoctrination, but will prevent them from doing their best research and teaching. 

Florida Higher Ed Bills Don't Fight Indoctrination, they Limit Freedom

by Jessica L. Adler

Florida legislation would write into law extensive power for politicians to control the content of education. The law also takes out important parts of existing law, making it easier for partisan politicians to turn public universities to their own ends. 

Brits Don't Need to Compare Refugee Policy to Nazis—British History is Cruel Enough

by Priyamvada Gopal

"As its government demonises undocumented people seeking shelter today, it is worth remembering that Britain has historically been more a refugee-making country than a refugee-taking one."

Welcome Corps is the Newest Idea for Welcoming Refugees, but it Has a Long History

by Emily Frazier and Laura E. Alexander

The proposal for a new refugee resettlement agency extends the mission of many religious settlement and humanitarian groups that have operated in the United States for more than 150 years. This has the potential and the peril of bringing resettlement more in line with the characteristics of local communities. 

Rearranging Deck Chairs at AHA?

by Jacob Bruggeman

"If professional history is history, it isn’t due to academic politics — it’s because of the sharp contraction and possible collapse of the job market." What are the profession's ostensible leaders going to do about it? 

The Anti-Populist Dilemma

by Jan-Werner Müller

From Turkey to Hungary to Israel, forming a lasting coalition of parties against a right-wing authoritarian populist has proven easier said than done. 

The History and Politics of the Right to Grieve

by Erik Baker

Grief isn't a personal psychological and emotional process; we experience it through the demands a capitalist economy makes on our time, energy and attention. It's time to make bereavement a matter of right, instead of a favor doled out at the whim of your boss. 

The Roundup Top Ten for March 10, 2023

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

Fox's Handling of the "Big Lie" was Cowardly, but Not Unusual

by Kathryn J. McGarr

News organizations' standards of objectivity have long allowed public figures and politicians to proclaim lies without pushback, leaving the public to be arbiters of truth and falsity. 

How Superman Became a Christ-Figure

by Roy Schwartz

How did the comic book creation of two American Jews, whose origin story incorporates Moses, come to be understood as a stand-in for Jesus? Mostly through the movies. 

Ignoring International Relations Scholars is Leading the US to Mistakes on Ukraine

by Max Abrahms

Punditry on the Ukraine-Russia war ignores a host of scholarship on international relations that suggests Russian apprehension about NATO is a legitimate influence on Putin's actions, and not just an excuse for aggression. 

The Left Should Reject an Alliance with the Far Right Against Ukraine

by Michael Kazin

The American left has always approached foreign policy with reluctance to impose America's will on the world. But that doesn't mean they should allow Russia to have its way in Ukraine.