Roundup

The Immovable AMLO

by Humberto Beck, Carlos Bravo Regidor and Patrick Iber

"AMLO continues to decry the faults of neoliberalism, but his government is, for the most part, failing to build an effective alternative to it."

Letters From an American: March 23, 2021

by Heather Cox Richardson

Beginning in the 1970s, the National Rifle Assocaition evolved into a political lobbying organization increasingly enmeshed with the conservative movement. Two recent mass shootings are a tribute to the organization's success. Congratulations. 

The Greater the Disaster, the Greater the Profits

by Todd Miller

Believe me, the forces that shaped our southern border over the decades have been far more powerful than Donald Trump or any individual politician.

The Dehumanizing Logic of All the ‘Happy Ending’ Jokes

by Anne Anlin Cheng

"The figure of the eroticized-yet-degraded Asian woman can be readily found in movies and onstage. One of the most visibly racist, sexist, and inhuman tropes to emerge out of Western imperial history, this woman nonetheless hardly registers in the public consciousness as someone who has suffered discrimination.

Pay Attention When They Tell You To Forget

by Christina Proenza-Coles

Writing across genres and time periods, the books of poet and memorist (and former Poet Laureate of the United States) Natasha Trethewey, historian Martha S. Jones, and poet-playwright-essayist Claudia Rankine constitute a conversation about Black women's work to remember history that is subjected to public suppression. 

How the U.S. Tax Code Privileges White Families

by Dorothy A. Brown

The history of the married-filing-jointly tax return is one of affluent white families securing advantages through the tax code that working class families, including most Black taxpayers, were unable to realize. After the expansion of income taxation during World War II, this disparity became a significant source of inequality. 

Is the Two-Century Battle for D.C. Statehood Finally Near an End?

by Robinson Woodward-Burns

"D.C. residents have gained rights in fits and starts, often running into both constitutional and congressional hurdles. In recent decades, members of Congress have raised new impediments, driven by partisanship tinged with racism."

Does Biden Really Want to End the Forever Wars?

by Jack Goldsmith and Samuel Moyn

Recent presidents, including Joe Biden, have relied on an expansive view of presidential powers under Article II of the Constitution to conduct military action outside of the framework of declared war. 

Medical Racism has Shaped U.S. Policies for Centuries

by Dierdre Cooper Owens

Medical racism is as old as America, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception in terms of unequal vulnerability to disease. 

Washington’s Delusion of Endless World Dominion

by Alfred McCoy

"While Washington had been pouring blood and treasure into desert sands, Beijing was making itself into the world’s workshop."

I Don’t Want My Role Models Erased

by Elizabeth Becker

The work of women journalists covering the war in Vietnam has been obscured in remembrance of the war and its place in American history and culture. The author seeks to recover the stories of Frances FitzGerald, Kate Webb and Catherine Leroy.

We Need Social Science, Not Just Medical Science, to Beat the Pandemic

by Nicholas Dirks

"In order to ensure that scientific advances work not just to create new medicines but to help lead to a healthier and more just world, we need to ensure that science and social science work hand in hand as well."

Your Home’s Value Is Based on Racism

by Dorothy A. Brown

The real estate market isn't "free" – it is shaped by the preferences of white buyers who prefer much less racial integration than black buyers do. Consequently, the market is a machine for expanding racial inequality through home equity. 

We Can’t Address Systemic Racism if We Can’t Discuss it Without Backlash

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Is an adjunct law professor caught on tape bemoaning the academic performance of her Black students taking the symbolic fall for a failure to reckon with a systemic problem of racism in legal education? 

The Triangle Fire and the Fight for $15

by Christopher C. Gorham

The Triangle Shirtwaist fire inspired workplace safety regulation and advanced the cause of organized labor. It's time to remember the victims with a commitment to a federal living wage law.

The Roundup Top Ten for March 19, 2021

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

The Nazi-Fighting Women of the Jewish Resistance

by Judy Batalion

"I was raised in a community of Holocaust survivors and had earned a doctorate in women’s history. Why had I never heard these stories?"

When Academic Bullies Claim the Mantle of Free Speech

by Jennifer Ruth

It's past time to look at controversies over "woke" campus culture by considering the frequency with which faculty harassment follows from the exposure of alleged left-wing excess in the outrage-driven news media. 

The Sports Pages of Death

by Tom Engelhardt

The developing effort to control and contain the COVID pandemic raise the question of why governments and industry are not doing more to avoid the worst case scenarios of climate change. 

Napoleon Isn’t a Hero to Celebrate

by Marlene Daut

The veneration of Napoleon on the 200th anniversary of his death reflects a systemic problem in French education, which touts the color-blind universality of French republicanism (which Napoleon destroyed) without acknowedging his policy of attempted genocide in the effort to retake control of Haiti.