Roundup

Beware "Rising Crime" Rhetoric in Seattle Politics

by Dan Berger

Progressive prosecutor candidates like Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in Seattle reflect a growing social movement to reverse decades of failed "tough on crime" policies that have accomplished little but swell the ranks fo the incarcerated, says a historian of crime and punishment.

Piety, Patriotism, and Paranoia: What Today's Right Takes From the American Revolution

by Thomas Lecaque and J.L. Tomlin

"As much as we might like to think that these invocations of Revolutionary identity are a misappropriation, the truth is there is plenty of precedent in early American history for the disturbing ideas, intentions, and modes of thought seen on the far right today."

Chuck Sams's Nomination to Head Parks Service is Helping Correct a Big Lie of Western History

by Blaine Harden

Memorialized as a godly champion of manifest destiny, Marcus Whitman was in fact "a mediocre missionary whose most significant contribution to history was getting killed."

Among Other COVID Changes? The Role of Grandparents

by Sarah Stoller

"Just as they were in the 19th century, grandparents are now commonly expected to help, despite their own need for various kinds of support and assistance."

The Roundup Top Ten for October 15, 2021

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

Canada is Going through its Own History Wars

by Ian Rocksborough-Smith

"To what degree will well-established professional historians and scholars respond and engage with younger generations of activists, intellectuals and cultural workers adamant about centring the experiences of marginalized people?"

There's One Way to Save the Planet from Climate Armageddon

by Michael Klare

The only solution to the climate crisis is US-China agreement to eliminate fossil fuel use and boycott trade with nations that refuse to follow suit. 

Computer Space Launched the Video Game Industry 50 Years Ago. Why Haven't You Heard of It?

by Noah Wardrip-Fruin

The first effort at a commercial arcade video game didn't fail because it was too complicated. It couldn't deliver a quality game-playing experience because it relied on technology developed for television instead of the new, but expensive, processors for computers. 

Herd Immunity is Almost Here. What Next?

by John M. Barry

The best-case scenario for humanity's future with the Coronavirus, in which virus strains produce much fewer and much less dangerous cases of illness, requires reducing the number of unvaccinated people around the globe. 

Jack Johnson and Africa: Boxing and Race in Colonial Africa

by Abraham Tapiwa Seda

Jack Johnson's achievement as the world heavyweight champion had cultural significance far beyond the United States, as European colonial regimes that had used sports like boxing as instruments of social control found that they could also be instruments of rebellion and rejection of white supremacy.

Built on the Bodies of Slaves: How Africa Was Erased from the History of the Modern World

by Howard W. French

Popular understandings of history have generally ignored the significance of Africa and Africans in the establishment of the interconnected world and modernity. 

Gaming Elections is a Conservative Political Tradition

by John S. Huntington

"Conservatives have spent generations attempting to exploit arcane and anti-democratic electoral structures to carve a pathway for minoritarian rule."

Manhood, Madness, and Moonshine

by Dillon Carroll

Today's concern for "deaths of despair" among white Americans isn't unprecedented; a wave of alcoholism and temperance advocacy after the Civil War highlighted the relationship between social unsettlement, substance abuse and social reformism.

How Did the Senate Get Supermajority Gridlock?

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

The framers clearly intended for majority rule in the passage of legislation in the Senate. So how did we get to the point where a majority can't do anything? 

"The Chair" Creator: How to Fight Adjunctification

by Annie Julia Wyman

"The academic job market had collapsed -- indeed, it has been collapsing for more than a decade. Even L.A., where people famously go to get their dreams stomped on, seemed like a better bet."

The Lies of TV's Abortion Storylines

by Tanya Melendez

"Looking back on how abortion came into our living rooms starting in the 1960s and persisted into our audience-fragmented streaming era can teach us how these stories taught, shaped, and contributed to today’s public discourse about abortion."

The West's Centuries-Old Debt to Haiti

by Howard W. French

"Although Americans’ centuries-long debt to the Haitian people is untaught in our schools and unacknowledged in our public discourse, the indomitable spirit of the Haitian people created the United States we know today."

The US is Politically Bankrupt

by Rebecca L. Spang

By provoking crisis over the debt ceiling, Republicans are failing to heed lessons from pre-revolutionary France. 

The Electoral Count Act is Broken; History Shows it Always Has Been

by Erik B. Alexander and Rachel Shelden

Much of what we know about the Congressional resolution of the 1876 presidential election is wrong. Rather than a behind-the-scenes compromise, the election was decided in a context of severe vote suppression and partisanship.

Ted Lasso Isn't About What You Think

by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele

"As historians, we've spent the past 18 months of the pandemic not only watching "Ted Lasso" but also thinking deeply about the values communities need to weather difficult times."