Roundup

Letters From an American, March 13, 2021

by Heather Cox Richardson

What are the historical underpinnings of the immigration system, and what do politicians really mean by invoking a "border crisis"? 

Settlement Houses: Sites of Service, Access, and Connection for Women

by Tamar Rabinowitz

"Progressive Era settlement houses fostered the activism and intellectual creativity, as well as the conflicts, that would profoundly shape American modernity in the 20th century."

History Reveals that Getting Rid of the Filibuster is the Only Option

by Nancy Beck Young

There's no evidence that the founders intended for anything like the filibuster, a way for a minority faction to obstruct legislation. 

Racism, White Supremacy and the British Royal Family

by Brooke Newman

The treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle by the royal family is a huge missed opportunity for leadership as denial of racism is growing in Britain. 

Congress May Have To Act To Punish Saudi Arabia

by David M. Wight

Political pressures have made US presidents less disposed than Congress to impose limits on the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. If arms sales are to be a lever for change in the kingdom, it will probably be up to Congress to make it happen. 

Neoliberalism with a Stick of Gum: The Meaning of the 1980s Baseball Card Boom

by Jason Tebbe

The baseball card craze of the late 1980s promised Gen X kids a repeat of the collectible windfall like the Boomers enjoyed with their surviving 1950s Topps cards. The reality proved quite different, giving a lens onto economic transformation. 

The Roundup Top Ten for March 12, 2021

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

Violence against Asian Americans is Part of a Troubling Pattern

by Stephanie Hinnershitz

Since the late 19th century when mobs of white workers attacked Chinese communities in the West, Asian Americans have taken the lead in documenting racist violence when public authorities have failed to do so.   

Meghan Markle, The Royal Family, Right Wing Media Animus and The Specter of Deeply Entrenched Racism!

by Elwood Watson

"Whatever potential shenanigans the public relations team at Buckingham Palace has, or rather had, planned to combat the Winfrey interview, it would certainly be wise for them to say nothing now."

The United States Is Picking Up Where The Great Society Left Off

by John Stoehr

Comparing the recent COVID relief bill to the 2009 bailout of the subprime crisis shows a rapid turn away from the Republican and New Democratic consensus that social welfare assistance must be tied to work and limited to people who are "deserving."

#OprahMeghanHarry

by Claire Potter

What, exactly, did we learn about racism from Meghan and Harry's Oprah interview? Perhaps the unspoken parts of the story are important. 

Democracy Doesn’t Happen By Accident: Black Americans Fought for the Voting Rights Act, and Joe Biden Wants it Back

by Heather Cox Richardson

The courage and sacrifice of voting rights activists in the 1960s requires that the federal government pass legislation to defend the franchise against restrictive laws being considered by 43 state legislatures in the absence of a functioning Voting Rights Act. 

On Shedding an Obsolete Past

by Andrew Bacevich

"Sadly, Joe Biden and his associates appear demonstrably incapable of exchanging the history that they know for a history on which our future may well depend. As a result, they will cling to an increasingly irrelevant past."

Joe Biden is Making Clear that Saudi Human Rights Violations Won’t be Ignored

by Nicholas DeAntonis

President Biden's recent affirmation of an American commitment to human rights in discussions with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud fell short of many demands for action against the Saudi regime. But it is a step in reforming a relationship in which human rights have not been an afterthought, but a non-thought. 

The Coronavirus Killed the Gospel of Small Government

by Zachary D. Carter

Revisiting the work of Keynes highlights the fact that struggles to deal with the pandemic are not only public health failures but economic failures — an inability to marshal resources to solve a problem. 

Tweeting To Find Community

by Varsha Venkatasubramanian

Don't fear Twitter, new historians. Use it for learning, networking, and fun.

When It Comes To a Bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, ‘The Cruelty Was the Point.’

by Kevin M. Levin

The Nathan Bedford Forrest bust placed in the Tennessee State Capitol in 1978 was not the work of people who could reasonably be said to have the values of another era. Its placement forces us to consider head-on the values of the Confederacy and people who celebrate it. 

Thucydides, Historical Solidarity, and Birth in the Pandemic

by Sarah Christine Teets

A classicist reflects on Thucydides' account of the Athenian plague, and concludes that the point of historical knowledge is to empathize, not to strategize. 

Lessons From All Democracies

by David Stasavage

The idea of the "torch" of democracy passing from one historical society to the present blinds us to understanding how popular sovereignty arises and why it's resilient. If we are concerned with protecting democracy, we must first understand it.

Including Women’s Wartime Stories Changes How We Understand Warfare

by Jeffrey H. Jackson

Despite extensive research, the popular view of the second world war remains largely one of men. As we celebrate women’s history month, it is worth remembering how many more untold stories remain.