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Breaking News

This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    5/12/2021

    The U.S. Role in the El Mozote Massacre Echoes in Today’s Immigration

    by Nelson Rauda and John Washington

    Renewed efforts to prosecute the perpetrators of the 1981 El Mozote massacre of Salvadoran civilians during the civil war will further demonstrate American involvement in the perpetuation of inequality and violence in Central America and, the authors argue, the hypocrisy of US immigration policy. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    5/6/2021

    The Epic Journey to ‘The Underground Railroad’

    Director Barry Jenkins struggled with the ethical implications of making entertainment out of the brutal events narrated in Colson Whitehead's novel "Underground Railroad." He discusses how he decided to go ahead with the miniseries adaptation anyway. 

  • SOURCE: Jewish Currents
    5/11/2021

    Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return

    by Peter Beinart

    Peter Beinart argues that the history of the Jewish people and the events of 1948 compel Israeli political leaders and American and world Jewish organizations to recognize a right of return for displaced Palestinians as part of a resolution to the current crisis in East Jerusalem. 

  • SOURCE: The Conversation
    5/7/2021

    Warming is Clearly Visible in New US ‘Climate Normal’ Datasets

    by Russ Schumacher and Becky Bolinger

    Meteorologists and climatologists are already starting to incorporate these new normals into our work. But when you hear the term “normal,” keep in mind that it reflects a 30-year snapshot and represents a different reality today than it did 30, 60 or 100 years ago.

  • SOURCE: War on the Rocks
    5/12/2021

    Open Letter in Support of Free Inquiry and Discussion

    A group of interdisciplinary scholars and foreign policy practitioners argue that a recent prospective appointee to the National Security Council has been treated unfairly for challenging a hardline national security consensus in regard to Russia. 

  • SOURCE: 60 Minutes
    5/9/2021

    The Ritchie Boys

    Stories from members of the Ritchie Boys, a secret U.S. WWII intelligence unit bolstered by German-born Jews.

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    5/8/2021

    Alamo Renovation Gets Stuck over Arguments about Slavery

    Renovations to the Alamo have hit a predictable political snag, as conservative Texans insist that the site maintain its denial about the slaveholding of many of the Alamo's defenders or the pro-slavery ambitions of the Republic of Texas and threaten to block bills encouraging more historically informed exhibits. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    5/7/2021

    ‘One Oppressive Economy Begets Another’

    Slavery and Jim Crow deprived Black communities in Louisiana of wealth and power, and enabled contemporary environmental racism. But slavery-era cemeteries are becoming part of efforts by those communities to fight back against polluters. 

  • SOURCE: Insurrect: Radical Thinking in Early American Studies
    5/10/2021

    "Abolition Is...": A Roundtable

    Several young scholar/activists reflect on how historical analysis can inform the contemporary prison abolition movement and alternative approaches to justice. 

  • SOURCE: Vimeo
    5/8/2015

    The Fallen of World War II

    by Neil Halloran

    On the anniversary of V-E Day, an animated video from 2015 demonstrates the human toll of war.