Roundup

The Never Trumpers Have Already Won

by Samuel Moyn

Never Trump's historic role turns out to be not among Republicans so far, but within a Democratic Party whose members have chosen to convert enemies into friends, setting up a guardrail against the capture of their party by the left.

Renouncing White Privilege: A Left Critique of Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility”

by David Barber

"The dominant aspect of the contradiction of white supremacy for poor and working class whites is not that white supremacy advantages us, but that it ties us to our own oppression."

Missing in Action: Accountability Is Gone in America

by Karen J. Greenberg

A crucial part of the history of the neoconservative invasion of Iraq and the use of torture in the War on Terror is the utter lack of accountability or consequence for the people who made those decisions. 

What Tom Cotton Gets So Wrong About Slavery and the Constitution

by Sean Wilentz

"I have fundamental publicized objections to the project, but these in no way mitigate Cotton’s serious misrepresentations of the historical record for evident political gain."

How Has the Electoral College Survived for This Long?

by Alexander Keyssar

Long after the abolition of slavery, Southern political leaders continued to resist any attempts to replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote.

Time to Cancel 2020 Baseball Season: A Lesson for Colleges and Universities

by Michael T. Barry Jr.

It is clear the MLB in-person COVID experiment has been a failure. Colleges and universities should take note of this failure and act accordingly.

Stop Worrying about Protecting ‘Taxpayers.’ That Isn’t the Government’s Job.

by Lawrence B. Glickman

"Taxpayerism has perverted our political culture by denying the existence of a common good — or, perhaps, more accurately, by falsely defining that good, and even freedom itself, as low taxes for the rich and for corporations."

A Magazine Story Opened Eyes to Hiroshima’s Horror. White House Allies Plotted to Shut Them Again.

by Greg Mitchell

The Hersey article, with its unflinching account of what survivors witnessed in Hiroshima, threatened the official narrative of justification.

When Fascist Aggression in Ethiopia Sparked a Movement of Black Solidarity

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

The Italo-Ethiopian War may remain an obscure historical event to many Americans. Yet it shocked millions into action and fueled a reckoning with institutionalized racism and fascism.

Stokely Carmichael Didn’t Deserve Bill Clinton’s Swipe During John Lewis’s Funeral

by Hasan Kwame Jeffries

This mischaracterization of Carmichael serves a purpose. It allows people to dismiss his critique of America.

We Don’t Need Bill Clinton’s History Of Civil Rights

by Erik Loomis

Bill Clinton decided to use John Lewis’ funeral to take a shot at Stokely Carmichael. The last thing we need is whites to use such opportunities to tell histories of the civil rights movements that are used to make them feel comfortable.

The Last Days of the Tech Emperors?

by Margaret O'Mara

The mood of Congressional questioning of tech executives recalled the traffic safety debates of the mid-1960s that helped catalyze significantly more regulation for the auto industry.

The Roundup Top Ten for July 31, 2020

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

Tom Cotton Wants To Save American History. But He Gets It All Wrong.

by Malinda Maynor Lowery

Senator Cotton’s remarks and his proposal to revise history obscure the violence, death and displacement that slavery caused in both Black and Indigenous communities.

Playing College Football in 2020 Would Continue to Devalue Black Lives

by Eddie R. Cole

In many ways, the disproportionate number of black student-athletes preparing for their football seasons have become the figurative lab mice as some college leaders assess the feasibility of in-person classes.

Violence In Portland Exposes The Real Purpose Embedded In Law Enforcement

by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers

Policing in America traces its roots back to the institution of the slave patrol.

How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future

by Jill Lepore

Modern political campaigning can trace its origins to the desperation of the Democratic Party to target voters outside of its traditional stronghold in the South by targeting precise segments of the national electorate.

Africa's Medieval Golden Age

by François-Xavier Fauvelle

During the Middle Ages, while Europe fought, traded, explored and evolved, Africa was a continent in darkness, 'without history' – or so the traditional western narrative runs. In fact, as François-Xavier Fauvelle reveals, it was a shining period in which great African cultures flourished.

Social Media's Holocaust Denials Are No 'Mistake' — They're Hate Speech

by Greg Schneider

It’s long past time for all social media companies to reflect on their role in enabling the hate speech proliferating on their platforms.

How Trump Politicized Schools Reopening, Regardless of Safety

by Diane Ravitch

Amid this uncertainty and anxiety, President Trump has decided that the reopening of schools is essential to his prospects for reelection.