Roundup

Abolish Legacy Admissions

by Ronald J. Daniels

"Legacy preference is immobility written as policy, preserving for children the same advantages enjoyed by their parents. It embodies in stark and indefensible terms inherited privilege in higher education."

Never Mind Donor Influence. The Problem with "Grand Strategy" was Always Warmongering

by Aaron G. Jakes

"Invoking the transformative power of “big ideas” became a way of dismissing those who had devoted their lives to learning and teaching about the places the United States had, once again, decided to bomb and invade."

"Many Saints" Misses Chance to Tell Key Moment of Newark History

by Mary Rizzo and Whitney Strub

The Sopranos prequel misses the chance to tell a rich story about the ethnic rivalries in Newark's city politics that unfolded in the 1960s.

Columbus Day was a Battle in the 90's History Wars, Too

by Cynthia C. Prescott

"The History Wars of the 1990s can show us that compromise and accommodation can temporarily defuse controversy — but tempt us to postpone the harder work of seeking justice and truth."

Reframing Abortion as a Public Good

by Judith Levine

"States have a compelling interest—a profound obligation—to defend the right to abortion. Abortion is a public good. Why haven’t we linked abortion to the commonweal?"

How Our Hero Columbus Has Fallen

by Brian Regal

"Humans seem to need to have heroes, but we’re often not sure what to do with them. We want them to embody high ideals, but they rarely do."

The Roundup Top Ten for October 8, 2021

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

Teaching the Good and Bad of History Empowers Students to Build Just Communities

by Mirelsie Velázquez

Oklahoma's new law restricting teaching about past racial atrocities will make it hard to teach about how Black and Native Oklahomans have responded to discrimination and fought for racial justice. 

Don't Feel Guilty for Loving Football (Just Be Honest About It)

by Stephen T. Casper

"Football is not going away, so don’t feel guilty above loving the game. But do stop quibbling about whether football is dangerous—and be radically honest about how dangerous it is."

The "Critical Race Theory" Ban Makes Teaching Black History Illegal in Tennessee

by David Barber

"The real object here is to prevent educators from discussing nearly four centuries of white domination over Black people.­­"

The Tyranny of the Minority, from Calhoun to Trump

by Sean Wilentz

"The Trump Republican sedition has far from ended, and the worst may be yet to come."

New "Wonder Years" Revives a 1970s Tactic for Diversifying TV. Will it Work?

by Kate L. Flach

The technique of "racial inversion" was intended in the 1970s to encourage white viewers to empathize with Black characters. Today, as then, the results show that TV alone can't bridge the nation's racial divisions. 

The Appeal of Multilevel Marketing to Latter-Day Saints Women

by Janiece Johnson

A popular documentary on the LuLaRoe company highlights how the history and gender norms of the Mormon church have made LDS women particularly attracted and vulnerable to multilevel marketing schemes promising income without forsaking domestic obligation.

Black Women, Sanderson Farms, and the Strike for Better Conditions

by Derrion Arrington

200 Black women poultry processing workers in Mississippi led a 1979 strike for safer conditions and protection from arbitrary actions by their all-white supervisors; they won, but their story highlights issues of labor exploitation and racism that still characterize the industry. 

The Inescapable Dilemma of Infectious Disease

by Kyle Harper

Control of infectious diesase is arguably humanity's greatest triumph. Has that triumph changed our environment to make diseases tougher to control? Has our success stopped us from being able to think of how to thrive without control of infections? 

Lawrence Reddick and the Communal Acts of Black History

by Stephen G. Hall

"Rather than being ensconced in the ivory tower, Reddick’s life and work demonstrates that far from distortion, dilution or politicization, Black history’s communal nature has made it the most dynamic, engaged, and visionary project in the academy."

Never Having to Say You're Sorry

by Karen J. Greenberg

Numerous players with large and small roles in creating the expansive War on Terror have issued mea culpas; the major architects and the interests who profit from war have not. 

The Apocalypse Never Dies, It Just Gets Weirder

by Thomas Lecaque

"Not only has the apocalypticism of the last few years not died out, but things aren’t getting better." A historian considers the intensification of apocalyptic rhetoric in American evangelicalism, and its fusion with the Trumpist political movement.

MLB Passed on the Chance to Stop the Drain of African American Players from Baseball

by Lou Moore

Major League Baseball noticed that the trend of increased Black participation in the pro game was making a sharp U-turn as early as the mid-1970s. MLB ignored the advice of many Black players, managers and scouts to reach out to African American youth to protect the diversity and quality of the game. 

Why Hollywood Can't Change a Diaper

by Janet Golden

While Hollywood portrayals of motherhood have adapted to incorporate single and working mothers, popular culture images of fatherhood have remained stubbornly stuck in the past. Would supports for child care and parental leave in the budget reconciliation bill help bring movie dads up to date?