Roundup

Miracle ‘Coronavirus Cures’ Haven’t Changed in 700 Years

by Jennifer Wright

The many bizarre "cures" for the coronavirus circulating online are nothing new. Rather, they have a lineage that stretches back to the bubonic plague.

Americans Must Embrace Hope, Not Fear

by Kevin M. Schultz

Amid covid-19, it’s time to come together and recognize that diversity is an asset.

What the Civil War Can Teach Us About COVID-19

by Jason Phillips

"Like Civil War Americans, we will mourn loved ones who perished in the crisis and face the future with a more complicated view of time." writes Jason Phillips.

Lexington and Concord -- Where the Rubber Meets the Road

by Guy Chet

The Revolution was, first and foremost, a war.  The Revolution’s battles and campaigns thus offer sound insights as to the rebels’ motivation and aims. 

Christian Groups That Resist Public-Health Guidelines Are Forgetting a Key Part of the Religion's History

by Matthew Gabriele

Scholars have shown that a large part of Christianity’s attraction in the Roman world was that it cared for the welfare of the people who were suffering.

Governors Must Hold Firm on Stay-at-Home Orders

by Liz Covart

As covid-19 cases grow in each state, Americans may be forced to accept that the tradition of liberty first established in 1620 may not be compatible with 21st century health and security threats.

What Coronavirus Lockdown Protesters Don’t Get: Freedom Requires Limits

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Across America, the real lovers of freedom are staying home. They don’t like it, any more than the protesters do. But they’re willing to do it, so that more of us can stay free of the coronavirus.

Who are the Self-Styled Liberators? Looking More Deeply at those Protesting Coronavirus Shutdowns

by Betsy Gaines Quammen

The American militia movement — a network of armed people, some religiously motivated, some white supremacists, some neither, loosely organized to defend the Constitution, or at least their own version of it — have joined in protests of COVID closures.

Inequality and the Coronavirus

by Liz Theoharis

Here’s the simple truth of twenty-first-century America: all of us live in a time and in an economic system that values our lives relative to our ability to produce profits for the rich or in the context of the wealth we possess.

The Anti-Quarantine Protesters Aren’t Rosa Parks. They’re More Like Typhoid Mary.

by Max Boot

Trump adviser Stephen Moore even has the gall to call protesters “modern-day Rosa Parks” — as if the civil rights icon fought for the right to infect other people.

Policing The Automobile: “Private” Transit In “Public” Spaces?

by Sarah A. Seo

"As much as courts throughout the twentieth century sought to differentiate cars from houses, the automobile straddled the public/private divide in American life." argues professor Sarah A. Seo.

The Black Plague

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Public officials lament the way that the coronavirus is engulfing black communities. The question is, what are they prepared to do about it?

Trump’s ‘Liberate Michigan!’ Tweets Incite Insurrection. That’s Illegal.

by Mary McCord

President Trump incited insurrection Friday against the duly elected governors of the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia.

Roundup Top Ten for April 17, 2020

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

This Is Not the Time to Let the Market Decide

by Jamie Martin

When it comes to crucial medical supplies, cooperation, not competition, will save lives. History shows that it works.

The Woman who Opposed Equality with Men: Phyllis Schlafly and the Real History Behind "Mrs. America"

by Kimberly A. Hamlin

Phyllis Schlafly ignited a national movement by arguing that women were fundamentally different from men.

Despite the Risks, Letting Americans Vote by Mail in November is Good for Democracy

by Jonathan W. White

Today’s debate about broadening access to absentee ballots amid a pandemic should be less controversial than the Civil War era struggle over creating an entirely new system.  

During the Coronavirus, Academics Have Found Themselves in a Crisis of Their Work

by Rinaldo Walcott

I think now is the time for academics to be practicing a public pedagogy where humanists and social scientists engage the public beyond the university in what it means to be human.

Strengthening Public Trust in Higher Education: Generosity and Democracy in Challenging Times

by Scott St. Louis

There is an urgent civic need for scholars of the humanities to advance still more constructive reflection on their obligations to communities off campus.

Bernie Offered Us the Future. Why did He Fail—and What did We Forfeit?

by Moshik Temkin

Because his support is so concentrated among the young, and because the problems he vowed to fight will only get worse whether Trump or Biden wins, this movement is only likely to grow, and its next leaders might eventually succeed where he failed.