Roundup

Under Columbus, Georgia: What Folklore Erases

by Bryan Banks

Subterranean tunnels under Columbus, Georgia have been repurposed as part of dramatic stories of crime, emancipation, and war, tales which obscure the more prosaic and violent aspects of the town's history. 

Simone Biles is the Latest Olympian to Withhold Her Labor for Change

by Johanna Mellis

Simone Biles' decision not to compete in several gymnastic events is part of a legacy of athletes' refusal to compete dating back to Hungarian athletes' protests of Communist repression in 1956. 

Letters from an American: The Rising Appeal of Hungary on the US Right

by Heather Cox Richardson

Tucker Carlson's fawning visit to Viktor Orban's Hungary, at a time when the right is mobilizing to subvert future American elections, is an ominous signal of the growing contempt for democracy on the right. 

We've Begun to Confront Christian White Nationalism. But What About the Source Text?

by Dianne M. Stewart

Critics of emergent White Christian Nationalism too often stop short of a key point: the Bible's explicit endorsement of war, conquest and genocide back up an eliminationist political outlook on the right. 

Moral Injury and the Forever Wars

by Kelly Denton-Borhaug

"Andy’s story clarifies a reality Americans badly need to grasp: the destruction of war goes far beyond its intended targets. In the end, its violence is impossible to control."

The Roundup Top Ten for July 30, 2021

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

The Bloody, Ongoing Fight of Haitians to Maintain Independence

by Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall

Since an American military occupation begain in 1915, Haitians have struggled to maintain independence under the military and then economic domination of the United States. 

Why Is Critical Race Theory Being Banned in Public Schools?

by Leslie Ribovich and Charles McCrary

While much of the debate over so-called "critical race theory" in school curricula has revolved around whether the US is a racist society, it also reflects long struggles by Evangelicals to shape school curricula around a set of moral and spiritual values and against secularism.

The U.S. has Never Tried a Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Care

by Hannah Zeavin

"The United States has never redressed a massive shortage of mental health-care providers, and no unified national infrastructure is in place to assist the most vulnerable would-be patients with navigating the difficult process of finding competent care and paying for it."

It's Impossible to Separate Politics and the Olympics

by Michelle Sikes

The Supreme Council for Sport in Africa was a collaboration of 32 nations to pressure international sporting authorities to seek to bar the white supremacist regimes of South Africa and Rhodesia from major competition, most notably through a boycott of the 1976 Montreal games. 

Burning It All Down

by L.D. Burnett

Louis Trouillot's commentary on historiography and the slippage between history as fact and history as narrative shows how academic gatekeepers who resist revisionist challenges to their fields play into the hands of bad faith actors who would prefer to silence historians entirely. 

Addressing Gun Violence Means Looking Beyond Policing

by Menika Dirkson

Between 1969 and 1976, Philadelphia saw success with a program to connect youth to social services, education and work opportunity, but turned toward militarized policing in the 1970s. This history should guide urban leaders away from the "tough on crime" approach.

The Catholic Church has a Long History of Trying to Discipline Catholic Politicians (But Little Success)

by Christine Adams

From Henry VIII to Louis XIV, the Catholic Church has seen efforts to coerce political leaders to hew to doctrine backfire. Will the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' steps toward potentially denying communion to Joe Biden over abortion politics meet a similar fate?

The IOC May Not Like it, but the Games have Always Been a Forum for Protest

by Harry Blutstein

"Baron Pierre de Coubertin, believed that Olympiads were a way to communicate “love for concord and a respect for life.” So it was not surprising that activist athletes saw the Olympics as a legitimate forum to promote those values whenever they saw them violated."

America's Founding was Imperfect. Just Ask the Founders

by George Thomas

"The American founding was imperfect. America’s founders weren’t just aware of the point, they insisted on it."

The KKK was also a Bosses' Organization

by Chad Pearson

While the membership of the Reconstruction-era Klan was broad, its leadership was drawn from the Southern elite, whose vision of white supremacy was inseparable from the exploitation of Black labor. 

It’s Time for Police to Stop Using ShotSpotter

by Matthew Guariglia

Surveillance systems intended to detect the auditory signature of a gunshot are inaccurate, meaning "police officers routinely are deployed to neighborhoods expecting to encounter an armed shooter, and instead encounter innocent pedestrians and neighborhood residents."

Simone Biles has Courageously Exposed the Blurred Line between Medicine and Abuse

by Wendy Kline

Simone Biles has worked to ensure that Dr. Larry Nasser's abuse of gymnasts under his care is not forgotten. This abuse was enabled by the authoritarian culture of both medicine and sports which keep women from exercising bodily autonomy. 

Myles Horton, Highlander, and the Beloved Community

by Robert Hunt Ferguson

"Founded in 1932, the original Highlander Folk School served as an incubator for many of the important ideas that shaped twentieth-century social movements."

From Civil Rights to Math Education Equity, Bob Moses Led for Justice

by Hasan Kwame Jeffries

"Ella Baker was fond of saying, “Give light and people will find the way.” Few did that better than Bob Moses, who died on July 25, 2021."