Roundup

Toward a Global History of White Supremacy

by Daniel Geary, Camilla Schofield, and Jennifer Sutton

We need to understand the history of global connections between white supremacists if we are to grasp what has sustained white nationalism despite global trends toward liberation and equality.

Right Wing Trolls Attacked Me. My Administration Buckled

by L.D. Burnett

"My college administrators were warned of what would come when Campus Reform came calling, and I was warned, and now I will warn you — warn you, and call you to courage."

The Roundup Top Ten for October 16, 2020

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

Why Historians are Very Worried About a Second Term of Trump

by Edward T. O'Donnell

"Many of us see President Trump and his right-wing allies steering this country towards an authoritarianism that will end American democracy as we know it. It’s on account of these dark visions of the near future that nearly every historian I know says they have not slept well in ages."

The Case Against Packing the Court

by Jeff Shesol

The main risk for Biden isn't that court packing would escalate partisan war over the courts. It's that it might destroy his own Democratic coalition. 

How Do Pandemics End? History Suggests Diseases Fade but are Never Truly Gone

by Nükhet Varlik

"Whether bacterial, viral or parasitic, virtually every disease pathogen that has affected people over the last several thousand years is still with us, because it is nearly impossible to fully eradicate them."

The Right's War on Universities

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

"From the fascist years in Europe, nearly a century ago, to our own times, right-wing leaders have accused universities of being incubators of left-wing ideologies and sought to mold them in the image of their own propaganda, policy, and policing aims."

America Has No Reason to Be So Powerful

by Stephen Wertheim

"There was a time when Americans believed that armed dominance obstructed and corrupted genuine engagement in the world, far from being its foundation."

The Real Black History? The Government Wants To Ban It

by Priyamvada Gopal

Tory attacks on "victim narratives" in the history curriculum defend entrenched power and ignore the fact that Black British histories are about the power of protest and activism to make social change. 

For 200 Years Courts Upheld Rules to Protect Americans’ Health. Until Now

by John Fabian Witt

"Now a new generation of judges, propelled by partisan energies, look to deprive states of the power to fight for the sick and dying in a pandemic in which the victims are disproportionately Black and brown."

Stop Othering Latinos

by Geraldo L. Cadava

When politicians see us as more than voters, we may give them our votes.

Republican Voter Suppression Efforts were Banned for Decades. Here's what Changed

by Kevin M. Kruse

In 2020, as in 1981, the realities of voter fraud don't matter. Republicans are insisting that their very real efforts at voter intimidation are warranted because they insist that Democrats have done or will do or possibly might do something much worse. 

Coney Barrett’s Moment of Truth

by Garrett Epps

"At the center of this moral swamp is St. Amy, a person whose life gives many real evidences of high morals and deep faith and good works. Why would such a person lend herself to such a tawdry charade?"  

An Open Letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci

by Martin Halpern

A history professor who also has a background in public health research urges Dr. Anthony Fauci to resign so that he can freely speak out about the Trump administration's response to the COVID pandemic. 

To Tame a Far-Right Supreme Court, Let’s Revive This Forgotten Proposal from 1922

by Leon Fink

Instead of court packing, a Democratic legislative majority should focus on reducing the absolute power of judicial review to check the undemocratic nature of the court's majority bloc. 

Ethnic Studies Can't Make Up for Whitewashed History in Classrooms

by Jonathan Zimmerman

"American history is ethnic studies. You simply can’t understand the United States without addressing its component races, ethnicities and religions. Sadly, the recent drive for ethnic studies demonstrates just how far we are from that ideal."

What Do We Do About Voter Intimidation?

by Nicholas Grossman

"Americans can vote for any candidate they want. But they should be able to do so absent intimidation, and every vote should count."  

The So-Called ‘Kidnapping Club’ Featured Cops Selling Free Black New Yorkers Into Slavery

by Jonathan Daniel Wells

"It often mattered little whether a black person was born free in New York or had in fact escaped bondage; the police, reinforced by judges like the notorious city recorder Richard Riker, sent the accused to southern plantations with little concern and often even less evidence."

Higher Ed’s Shameful Silence on Diversity

by Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Right-wing diatribes about diversity training often ended with a call for Trump to issue an executive order banning federal agencies from holding them. So it was not unexpected when, on September 22, Trump signed an executive order forbidding diversity training within the government.

How QAnon Crept Into the Mind of Donald Trump

by Jeff Sharlet

Jeff Sharlet has long examined the role of true believers in politics. As the influence of the QAnon conspiracy theory among Trump's base comes in for scrutiny, he asks what if "he isn’t selling a dream, he’s dreaming it?"