Roundup

Why Do Native People Disappear From Textbooks After the 1890s?

by Joshua Ward Jeffery

Failure to teach the ongoing history of Native people in the US validates the credo of the Carlisle Industrial School and other Indian residential schools to "kill the Indian, and save the man," perpetuating a view that consigns Natives to the past and erases them from the present. 

What Gloria Richardson Taught Me

by Joseph R. Fitzgerald

The late Gloria Richardson's career as an organizer, activist, and thinker in the Black Freedom movement hold lessons for how Congressional Democrats can and must advance new voting rights protections. 

By 2049, China Will be a Climate Disaster Zone, not a Global Superpower

by Michael Klare

Instead of inflating the military threat posed by the People's Republic, American policymakers should recognize that both nations face far more dire threats from climate change. 

Intellectual History as a Game of Password

by L.D. Burnett

"Do you have any idea how many works of history written since the 18th century use the word 'civilization' as if it were a natural category of thought not only for us but also for all who came before us?"

The Deeper Crisis Behind the Afghan Rout

by Walter Russell Mead

"Neither the past two decades nor the past two weeks demonstrate American wisdom or the efficacy of the byzantine bureaucratic ballet out of which U.S. policy emerges."

Charlie Watts Put Some Jazz in Rock and Roll

by Victor Coelho

"In an era when rock drummers were larger-than-life showmen with big kits and egos to match, Charlie Watts remained the quiet man behind a modest drum set. But Watts wasn’t your typical rock drummer."

Not Everyone Can Afford to ‘Learn to Live With’ COVID-19

by Kyle Harper

"This two-track recovery, where protection against the disease mirrors wealth and power, unfortunately reflects a historical pattern that is several centuries old. The world’s only hope lies in breaking it."

Free Rapid At-Home COVID Testing can Make Pandemic Life Easier

by David Perry

"Imagine if once a week, each student, teacher and staff member at your local school took a rapid test, with positive results meaning quick quarantines, isolation and more robust testing to identify and lock down infections before they spread wildly."

Liz Shuler's Leadership of AFL-CIO Comes at Critical Time for Women in the Workplace

by Katherine Turk

"As Shuler takes office, union women will look to her to champion their expansive visions and specific concerns; employers will continue to try to pit groups of workers against one another in their crusade to depress conditions for everyone."

There is No Precedent for the Politicization of the Pandemic

by Howard Markel

The COVID pandemic is going to be the future baseline case study for the social impact of pandemics, and is unfortunately likely to be a cautionary tale, says a medical historian. 

The Endless Shadow of the War on Terror

by Karen J. Greenberg

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan doesn't necessarily signal an end to the War on Terror; the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) remains in place, as does much of the architecture of forever war.

Liberal Democracy is Worth a Fight

by Anne Applebaum

"In the real world, the battle to defend liberal democracy is sometimes a real battle, a military battle, not merely an ideological battle."

Haiti's Disasters are Man-Made

by Emmanuela Douyon and Alyssa Sepinwall

Haitians' vulnerability to harm from natural disaster is conditioned by centuries of foreign interference and exploitation.

I Can’t Forget the Lessons of Vietnam. Neither Should You

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

For Afghan civilians, the war hasn't ended, and won't end for many years. The stories of Vietnamese refugees should inform American policy to aid Afghans seeking safety.

Bad Information: QAnon is a Social Problem, Not a Cognitive One

by Nicolas Guilhot

"The champions of debunking and the new information vigilantes are not interested in entertaining the possibility that the root cause of conspiracy theories may be located outside the mind and may require a reexamination of our economic and social arrangements."

After Encouraging Conservatism for Decades, LDS Leaders Struggle to Get Mormons Vaccinated

by Benjamin E. Park

"This matrix through which this conservative, religious coalition views the world enables them to summarily and efficiently dismiss arguments that don’t match their beliefs."

The Real Political Danger of Inflation

by Andrew Elrod

Democrats have not lost elections because of inflation, but because they have imagined austerity politics as the only solution to inflation. 

Nativism Has Thwarted American Refugee Resettlement Before

by E. Kyle Romero

Political hostility toward the Bolshevik revolution and anti-Asian racism were among the factors that prevented the resettlement of World War I refugees in the United States, leaving their care to Eurpoean nations wracked by war. 

What Connects 2021's "Stillwater" and 1979's "Norma Rae"?

by Aimee Loiselle

Both Amanda Knox, an American student accused of murder in Italy, and Crystal Lee Sutton, the southern labor organizer portrayed in "Norma Rae," have challenged the way that Hollywood films have reinterpreted their stories for commercial gain. 

The Roundup Top Ten for August 20, 2021

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