Roundup

Hopes for the American Experiment

by Annette Gordon-Reed

"Intellectually, I know there is no reason at all to believe in any particular direction of the American future. As we have seen, and been reminded daily to an absolutely exhausting degree, anything can happen. At the same time, in my heart, I have hoped."

How Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight Created a Sound for Working-Class Black America

by Mark Anthony Neal

"Claudine" offered refreshing insight into the humanity of those Black women, their children, and their struggles and joys. And the film’s soundtrack, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips, was a large part of its achievement.

The Roundup Top Ten for October 30, 2020

The top op eds by historians and about history from around the web this week. 

Republicans Were against the Electoral College before They Were for It

by Robert Alexander

Until quite recently, there was strong interest in the Republican Party for abolishing or dramatically revising the Electoral College system. 

We’re Better than This. Aren’t We?

by Max Boot

We certainly should be better than this.

The Historical Case for George W. Bush Endorsing Joe Biden

by Louis P. Masur

Hamilton demonstrated in 1800 something that matters today: being retired from politics isn’t the same as being retired from citizenship.

Trump as a Champion of ‘Bourgeois Values’? Not So Fast

by Ron Radosh

Ron Radosh argues that a longtime friend and intellectual compatriot makes an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" error in endorsing Donald Trump. 

Election Dread: David Duke, Halloween, and Premonitions of Our Political Moment

by Joe Lowndes

"There is a straight line from Buchanan to Trump, or rather from Duke to Trump, that stretches back to the fall of 1991, and before." 

The Transition Is Already Happening (And It’s Going Fine So Far)

by Kate Shaw and Michael Eric Herz

"The civil service—technocratic, objective, neutral, and around for the long haul—is an insurance policy in many ways, of which its central role in the transition is just one."

This is the Biggest Election in 160 Years

by Manisha Sinha

"The one underlying commonality that binds these two historic presidential elections is the conviction that it is American democracy -- rather than just opposing presidential candidates -- that is on the ballot."

The 1619 Project and Uses and Abuses of History

by Stephen Mintz

By focusing on narrow questions of fact and interpretive claims in the project in an effort to discredit it, critics of the 1619 Project have mostly failed to engage with big questions about how to do history. 

The Long Shadow of Racial Fascism

by Alberto Toscano

Black thinkers have long argued that racial slavery created its own unique form of American fascism.

Pack the Courts

by Larry Kramer

The former Dean of Stanford Law School argues "once cooperation breaks down, the only play to restore it is tit-for-tat. It’s the only way both sides can learn that neither side wins unless they cooperate."

It Shouldn’t Surprise Us To See A President Down In The Polls Lash Out

by Robert Fleegler

George H.W. Bush was no Donald Trump as his behavior was practically polite by comparison. But facing the loss of the world’s most powerful office can lead one to engage in more extreme rhetoric and behavior. 

Martha S. Jones on The Power of Black Women That Led to Kamala Harris' Nod for VP

by Martha S. Jones

Shut out from the white-led suffrage movement by the beginning of the 20th century, Black women built their own political movement. 

Peniel E. Joseph: Why Ice Cube's Political Logic is so Dangerous

by Peniel Joseph

As flawed as the modern-day Democratic Party is on race matters it is, for better and worse, the party of anti-racism and intersectional justice in contrast to the modern day GOP.

Pr*cks in Public: A Microhistory

by Gillian Frank

The recent controversy over a prominent writer's exposure on Zoom is part of a story of white men’s power to sexualize and control workplaces and public space through these same actions.

This 1841 Rebellion at Sea Freed More Than 100 Enslaved People

by Clifton E. Sorrell & Daina Ramey Berry

The rebellion of the enslaved on the Creole depended on the rebels escaping to the jurisdiction of the British and arguing that the British ban on the slave trade could legally seize the human property of Americans. 

Considering History: Voter Suppression and Racial Terrorism, the Twin Pillars of White Supremacy

by Ben Railton

Voter suppression has consistently gone hand in hand with racial terrorism to prop up white supremacy.

Our Undemocratic Constitution

by Julie C. Suk

"We should not misconstrue the success of the midcentury Court: the few bright moments of inclusive constitutionalism, from Brown to Roe, did not make our Constitution inclusive and democratic."