Roundup

The Real Failures of January 6

by Karen J. Greenberg

Despite surface similarities, the attack on Brazil's government buildings earlier this month differed from January 6, 2021 in one key respect: the transfer of presidential power had already been accomplished. The contrast is sobering—for America. 

The Police Killing of Tyre Nichols Was Heinous, but not an Aberration

by Simon Balto

Americans must not continue to presume that violent incidents are external to the basic role and function of policing in society. 

Regina Twala's Stolen Life Work Highlights Colonialism Inside the Historical Profession

by Joel Cabrita

Regina Twala performed the intellectual labor that supported another intellectual's published work on African religious practices; her obscurity was the foundation of his fame. 

Fear of a Black Studies Planet

by Roderick A. Ferguson

A scholar whose work was named in Florida's decision not to support the AP African American Studies course discusses a long history of conservative efforts to control textbooks and teaching and, failing that, to create politically useful hysteria about indoctrination. 

The Roundup Top Ten for January 27, 2023

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

Some Escaped Slavery Without Escaping the South

by Viola Franziska Müller

The majority of people escaping slavery before Emancipation never crossed the Mason-Dixon line, finding a measure of freedom in southern cities. 

Bolsonaro's Long Shadow

by Nara Roberta Silva

The recently departed president is only the latest, and probably not the last, avatar of antidemocratic impulses in Brazilian politics, generally reflected by the elite recruiting the anxieties of the middle class to thwart broader social rights for the nation's poor. 

Nobody Has My Condition But Me

by Beverly Gage

Presenting with unusual autoimmune symptoms tied to a thus-far unique genetic mutation placed a reseacher and biographer on the other side of being studied. 

Miami-Dade has Lurched Right, but Still Loves "Obamacare"

by Catherine Mas

Even though conservative Latinos in Miami are generally suspicious of "socialism", the long history of local government support for medical access means that many carve out a big exception for the Affordable Care Act. 

What My Mother's Activism Before Roe Shows Us about the Upcoming Fights after Dobbs

by Felicia Kornbluh

"The first thing we’ve missed about Roe is that it was merely the final scene in a drama whose origins lay far from the U.S. Supreme Court... a movement that resembled the movement for abortion rights today, centered on policy change in individual states and localities."

Family Histories where Black Power Met Police Power

by Dan Berger

Fighting back against mass incarceration today means learning from the stories of Black Power activists who fought against the expansion of police power and surveillance since the 1960s. 

College Faculty: After K-12, Curriculum Laws are Coming For You

by James Grossman and Jeremy C. Young

State colleges involved with concurrent enrollment programs that allow high school students to take classes for credit are already susceptible to laws purporting to fight "indoctrination" in the secondary school curriculum. More intrusions on academic freedom are coming. 

Atlanta's BeltLine Project a Case Study in Park-Driven "Green Gentrification"

by Dan Immergluck

Although the ambitious combination of multiuse trails and apartment complexes "was designed to connect Atlantans and improve their quality of life, it has driven up housing costs on nearby land and pushed low-income households out to suburbs with fewer services than downtown neighborhoods."

Margaret Bingham Stillwell, Women Archivists, and the Problem of Archival Inclusivity

by Amanda E. Strauss and Karin Wulf

Two scholars who are the first women leaders of their institutions reflect on the ongoing lessons of a pioneering woman archivist and rare books librarian for understanding how archival practices can be made to include or exclude. 

Beyond Mythbusting, What Should Historians Tell the Public?

by Steven Mintz

The success of the new "Myth America" collection shows a public appetite for confronting historical myths, but historians have to offer the public more than debunking. 

The History of Mexican Americans in Austin

by Cynthia E. Orozco

A historian works to develop a chronicle of Mexican American community events in the city of Austin with a local community newspaper. 

Why I'm Not Afraid of ChatGPT

by Christopher Grobe

The limits of AI writing technology present writing teachers the opportunity to show students how to demand more of their writing than the bots can possibly provide. 

Why do Republicans Keep Calling it the "Democrat Party"?

by Lawrence B. Glickman

The odd rhetorical device isn't just trolling—it reflects 70 years of the Republican Party seeking to define itself against the opposition even as terms like "liberal" and "conservatism" had not yet taken on stable meaning. 

McCarthy Kicking Dems off Key Committees Isn't Just Retaliation, it's Enabling the GOP Agenda

by Josh Kluever

McCarthy's use of "anti-American" in his rhetorical objections to particular Democrats suggests he wants to eliminate prominent Democrats from positions where they can object to Republican policies in House committees and police the boundaries of acceptable political opinion. 

Why We Went to War on Iraq

by Melvyn P. Leffler`

One foreign policy historian argues that the decision to invade Iraq was made out of genuine concern for thwarting attacks on Americans and preserving the United States' ability to use military power in the Middle East.