Roundup

Memorial Day Was a Chance to Reflect on Hard Truths about Racism in the Military

by Thomas A. Guglielmo

The veneration of the surviving members of the Greatest Generation shouldn't hide the fact that discrimination in the WWII military and in postwar veterans' benefits shut many Black servicemembers out of American prosperity. 

Doug Mastriano and the White Christian Nationalist Cult of the AR-15

by Thomas Lecaque

The Pennsylvania Republican nominee for governor has connections to a church that merges radical Christian nationalism with the trappings of the militia movement and a fetishism of assault rifles. 

HBO's "We Own This City" and Baltimore's Long History of Police Brutality

by Mary Rizzo

A Baltimore historian notes that the Black community's efforts to fight police brutality are much older than the War on Drugs. 

The Back Channel Between Pius XII and Hitler

by David I. Kertzer

The Vatican has only just now released documents about secret and sensitive negotiations between the Nazi leader and the Holy See, in which the Vatican agreed to temper criticisms of Nazism's pagan elements in exchange for ceasing investigation of sex crimes by priests.

Pro-Life and Pro-Gun?

by Daniel K. Williams

Gun rights aren't intrinsic to evangelical Christian theology. But they are intrinsic to the individualism through which most white Evangelicals see the world and frame their political identity.

Rescuing Shirley Chisholm's Life from Symbolism

by Anastasia Curwood

Writing a biography of the Congresswoman and presidential candidate required working through the distinction between Shirley Chisholm the symbol and the much more complex reality of Shirley Chisholm the woman, to see how big trends in Black history unfolded at a human scale.

Another Tragic Eruption of "Great Replacement" Violence

by Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin

"While the specific targets and methods of spreading this theory may be new, White native-born Americans worrying about being replaced is not. And history demonstrates that the theory has been repeatedly used to legitimize discrimination and deadly violence."

Do Gay Men Need a Specific Monkeypox Warning?

by Jim Downs

The history of the HIV epidemic shows that the desire to avoid stigmatizing gay men should not override the imperative of identifying and advising populations about behavioral risk for contagious disease. 

Gun Violence is Rooted in Citizens United as Much as the Radical View of the Second Amendment

by Jim Sleeper

Our inundation with commerial "speech" and the Supreme Court's declaration of such messaging as a First Amendment freedom, contributes to the degradation of America's capacity to conceive of the common good. 

Why Do We Neglect MLK's Dream of a World Freed from Poverty?

by Jeffrey Nall

The modern veneration of Martin Luther King ignores the last incomplete mission of his life – the demand for economic justice and an end to poverty. 

The Roundup Top Ten for May 27, 2022

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

The Brief Life and Watery Death of a 1970s Libertarian Utopia

by Raymond Craib

The Republic of Minerva was a product of a postwar moment when the wealthy sought to exit from a society they viewed as overbearing and doomed. 

Teach Black History to Help Prevent Racist Violence

by David Barber

The state of Tennessee's efforts to restrict the teaching of African American history seek to prevent white students from developing a historical consciousness that would encourage them to reject white supremacy. 

The Arsenal of Autocracy

by William Hartung

If the current global situation is getting you down, think of the arms manufacturers: they're doing great. 

Make Progressive Politics Constitutional Again

by Joseph Fishkin and William E. Forbath

It is time to jettison the legal liberalism that holds constitutional interpretation separate from popular politics, or else the government's ability to legislate in the public interest will be destroyed. 

Facing the Truth in the Land of Lee

by Laura Brodie

The controversy over removing Robert E. Lee's portrait from diplomas at Washington and Lee University points to an uncomfortable truth: Lee's historical depiction as handsome has been a visual symbol of the Lost Cause that has contributed to acceptance of the pro-Confederate mythology. 

Biden's Remarks on Taiwan are Potentially Dangerous Provocation to China

by Stephen Wertheim

In itself, Biden's statement about defending Taiwan doesn't raise any possibilities that the Chinese military hasn't already considered. But it does threaten the American posture of "strategic ambiguity" that underlies diplomatic discussions. 

The CRT and "Don't Say Gay" Panics Aren't About Controlling Public Schools, but Destroying Them

by Adam Laats

In the 1920s, the KKK sought to strengthen and control the public schools as vehicles to teach their version of "100% Americanism"; today's culture warriors hope to undermine trust in schools as a way to defund and privatize them. 

White Replacement Theory is Fascism's New Name

by Jason Stanley and Federico Finchelstein

The global adoption of the idea of ethnic replacement by right-wing politicians is a repackaging of the themes of Jim Crow racism, eugenics and fascism. 

When the Constitution Was Written, Abortion was a Choice Left to Women

by Lara Friedenfelds

"Before the 19th century, civil society regarded abortion as a private medical matter for married women, and a problem in need of occasional discipline when it was a sign of extramarital sex."