Roundup

The Atlanta Braves Represent the Best and Worst of Baseball

by Ben Railton

A lifelong fan feels frustration that the team of Hank Aaron still tolerates the Tomahawk Chop. Renaming the club the Hammers would be a good start. 

What Makes Laws Unjust?

by Randall L. Kennedy

In Dr. King's time, appraisals of his civil disobedience tactics hinged on how one defined an unjust law, an obstacle that inevitably confronts protest movements in polarized societies.

How the Resurgent Oil Industry is Driving the Politics and Reaping the Profits of Gas Prices

by Gregory Brew

Unlike past moments of high prices, American consumers and businesses today are facing no pressure to lower their consumption of oil and gas, even as the climate crisis grows increasingly dire. 

We Got a Great Big Convoy

by Dan Albert

The media obscured the reality of recent protests in Ottawa and Washington by unquestioningly adopting a mythology of the North American trucker drawn from the 1970s when independent truckers had real grievances.

Cuba and the US: Necessary Mirrors

by Geraldo Cadava

How much more could the 1619 Project have accomplished if it considered the broader connections of slavery, racism and power in the Caribbean? 

"Father Knows Best": Anti-LGBTQ Legislation and the Patriarchy

by Judith Levine

The elision of children’s interests and parents’ rights is not just bad grammar, however. It is an expression of conservative “pro-family” ideology, which posits the family as an indivisible unit where everyone’s interests are unanimous.

Leo Bersani: Contrarian Critic of Gay Desire

by Jack Parlett

"For Bersani, reading is meant to hurt a little or you’re not doing it right. A preface that preempts what you’ll take away, or paraphrases what is particular, can have, he suggests, a simplifying or even sanitizing effect."

Using DDT to Fight Polio was a Mistake, but Learning from it was Valuable

by Elena Conis

Recent Ivermectin mania echoes the moment in 1940s America when spurious science led American communities to demand to be sprayed with the noxious insecticide, believing it would prevent polio outbreaks; the episode underscores the need for patience in pursuing public health. 

Biden Was Right: De-Ukrainization is Genocide

by Francine Hirsch

Putin's calls for “de-Ukrainization” are an incitement to genocide: to “destroy, in whole or in part,” the Ukrainian nation.

James Baldwin's Essay "Negroes are Anti-Semitic Because they're Anti-White" 55 Years Later

by Jacques Berlinerblau and Terrence L. Johnson

"He appears to be attacking one thing (i.e., the Jews), yet his true targets lie elsewhere."

Bicycles and Women's Liberation in Victorian America

by Anya Jabour

The cycling craze of the 1890s was embraced with particular fervor by affluent white women, who seized opportunities for mobility and public sociability presented by the new technology of the "safety" bicycle.

"Is It Cake?" is Brain Candy for Pandemic-Weary, but also Part of Long History of Visual Illusion

by Maggie Cao

"At a time when we often don’t know if what we encounter on our screens can be trusted, it feels good to alleviate those anxieties with a show in which the only consequence of being fooled is cutting into a shoe that we assumed was a cake."

Disney Controversy Puts Right-Wing Children's Entertainment Industry in Spotlight

by Nicole Hemmer

A growing array of conservative children’s literature and programming coincides with right-wing attacks on schools and children’s entertainment that conservatives claim are sites of political and sexual indoctrination.

Trump Can't Just Erase History the Way Nixon Tried to Do

by Tim Naftali

"The newly reported Trumpian gap may actually be easier to fill in, and therefore less of a threat to the historical record than Nixon’s."

The Forgotten Story of the "Red Ball Express"

by Matthew Delmont

"From August through November 1944, 23,000 American truck drivers and cargo loaders – 70% of whom were Black – moved more than 400,000 tons of ammunition, gasoline, medical supplies and rations to battlefronts in France, Belgium and Germany."

I've Studied Child Protective Services for Decades – It Needs to be Abolished Now

by Dorothy E. Roberts

Commonly associated with the benevolent social reform movements of the late 19th century, child protective services are also rooted in the institutions that undermined Black parental rights under slavery and Jim Crow. 

The Roundup Top Ten for April 8, 2022

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

What's Happening in Ukraine Is Genocide. Period

by Eugene Finkel

"I am well aware of the need for caution, and in the past have criticized the governments of many post-Soviet states — including Ukraine, where I was born — for misusing the term. Not now."

Scars and Stripes

by Martha S. Jones

"With that backstory embedded in its lyrics, Key’s anthem and the flag it sought to honor share a symbolic potency that has endured over two centuries. They both carry the power to divide and to unite us."

Nationwide, Faculty Fight for Academic Freedom

by Ellen Schrecker

"When they act collectively, professors have the power to protect academic freedom and the desire to teach the truth. Let us hope they also have the will."