Roundup

From Saigon to Kabul, American Leadership has Doubled Down on Ignorance

by Jim Sleeper

The American promise of exporting democracy and prosperity to Afghanistan was undermined not just by Afghan politics but by the failure of the United States to deliver those things at home.

Post-Vietnam Recriminations are a Preview of What will Follow in Afghan Debate

by Gregory A. Daddis

Already, political recrimination over the fall of Kabul echo the domestic political attacks that accompanied the failure of the US war in Vietnam. This battle may be more consequential at home.

The Afghanistan War Was Founded on Lies. Some People Are Still Telling Them

by Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

"It was a lie every time pundits and officials insisted that victory was around the corner."

The Slippery Matter of "Truth" in Patriotic Education

by Timothy Messer-Kruse

The history of patriotic education shows very little concern with facts as the basis of patriotic feeling. It's not clear that today's conservative claims to promote more "factual" history hold up to scrutiny. 

The Roundup Top Ten for August 13, 2021

by HNN Staff

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

Is the PATCO Era Ending?

by Joseph A. McCartin

Forty years ago, Ronald Reagan's handling of the air traffic controllers' strike enshrined the era of union-busting. Can labor start to recover now? 

The Long History of Vaccine Mandates

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

President Biden's recent call for mandatory vaccination for federal workers follows the precedent set by George Washington's order to inoculate the Continental Army for smallpox.

Why Tucker Carlson went to Hungary

by Nicole Hemmer

Tucker Carlson's PR visit to Orban's Hungary echoes the tribute paid by leaders of the American right to racist regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa in the 1970s, and reflect the ongoing fantasy of the right to rule free of constraints of law and democratic norms. 

How to Cure Colleges’ Adjunct Addiction

by Holly Brewer

"Rather than bring absurd administrative costs under control, administrators are going after the university’s core function by opting to hire the cheapest possible teachers." The solution is a government floor on instructor pay and a ceiling on the number of adjuncts a university can employ.

Did Last Summer's BLM Protests Change Anything?

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

A commission convened by the Mayor of Philadelphia exemplifies the American preference for symbolism over substance in recently proclaimed "racial reckonings." 

The Franklin Prophecy and Antisemitic Forgery for Profit

by Scott D. Seligman

Remarks attributed to Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention calling for the exclusion of Jews from the new nation were concocted by "lifetime anticommunist and antisemitic nutjob" Willam D. Pelley in the 1930s. 

Douthat's Criticism of Papal Restriction on Latin Mass: Fascinating, but Familiar and Ahistorical

by Massimo Faggioli

Recent criticisms of Pope Francis's Church reforms have drawn from a rhetorical script established by conservative Catholics since Vatican II, but repeat their historical misunderstandings.

In Praise of Possibility

by Michele Alacevich

Albert O. Hirschman's approach to development economics stressed the need to understand "hidden rationalities" of developing societies and use them to create change.

Can School Discipline Be Fixed?

by Campbell F. Scribner

"One might reasonably ask, 'By what right do schools punish students in the first place?' Unfortunately, Americans have never really been able to answer that question."

The Connection Between Conservative Christianity and Fast Food Franchises

by Marcia Chatelain

Many fast food chains have roots in two pillars of 20th-century conservatism: Christianity and free markets.

Equal School Facilities Should Be Part of "Infrastructure"

by Erika M. Kitzmiller and Akira Drake Rodriguez

A century of discriminatory policies have "set the stage for underinvestment in public education and the wide variance in school facilities that serve White and non-White youths today."

The Persistent Joy of Black Women

by Leah Wright-Rigueur

For Black women, claiming joy in motherhood is a rebellion against the historical subjection of "Black mothers’ private lives... to public surveillance, scrutiny, and judgment."

When They Fantasize About Killing You, Believe Them

by Hussein Ibish

A veteran Middle East scholar warns that the rising violence of right-wing rhetoric in the US is an indicator of violence not far behind. 

Black Amazon Workers Keep Finding Nooses on the Job. The Company Owes them Action

by Keisha N. Blain

The incidents are part of an old and familiar story of resentment against Black advancement. 

How the Far Right Weaponized America’s Democratic Roots

by Joe Lowndes

By steering away from overt white nationalism, the far right is able to engage a politics of white innocence and portray themselves as heirs to America's revolutionary heritage.