Roundup

Making Revisionism Great Again: The Trouble with Trump’s Rewriting of American History

by James Loewen

"We already have the education that the commission recommends. Our textbooks are nationalist and ethnocentric, rather than critical. That’s why we’re in trouble."

The Trump Administration's Thinly-Veiled Rebuke of 'The 1619 Project' is a Sloppy, Racist Mess

by Kevin M. Kruse

The Commission report selectively quotes from Martin Luther King and ignores massive white resistance to paint a picture of the Civil Rights movement as a national consensus, in order to bash contemporary demands for racial justice. 

On the Way Out, Trump Trashes History: Why the 1776 Project is so Damaging

by James Grossman and Jacqueline Jones

The 1776 Commission report is a propagandistic attack on the role of expertise in government and demands for racial justice, butchering the historical record for the sake of inflaming the deadly resentments that erupted this year against BLM and COVID lockdowns.

Biden Rescinding the 1776 Commission Doesn't End the Fight over History

by Nicole Hemmer

"In dissolving the 1776 Commission on his first day in office, President Biden helped end one source of misinformation about our past, a reminder that, as we work to restore democracy, we will need to restore honest inquiry and accurate history as well."

The Dying Art of Political Persuasion

by David Bromwich

"The work of changing people’s minds may succeed best when it recalls the affinity of political argument with morals and manners that have become second nature."

The Sheer Absurdity of Trump’s “1776 Commission” Report Is Hard to Overstate

by Timothy Messer-Kruse

"If American education was organized according to its blueprint it would look strikingly like the schoolrooms common in 1776, complete with rulers used primarily to rap the knuckles of students who answered their questions the wrong way."

Hamilton and Lincoln Warned of a Mobocracy. Trump Brought Their Fears to Life

by Andrew F. Lang

Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln both feared demagogues who might corrupt the body politic and turn a free citizenry against the democratic institutions that safeguarded their liberty.

Why It’s Time to Take Secessionist Talk Seriously

by Richard Kreitner

"The Confederate flags the insurgents carried through the Capitol weren’t about the past, but the future." (note: Subscription required to read source article.)

Why is Charles Curtis's Legacy So Complicated?

by Kiara M. Vigil

VP Charles Curtis advocated for policies toward Native American nations that today seem steeped in paternalist and assimilationist values, but in the context of the 1920s his legacy should be seen as part of debate among Native leaders about the tension between preservation and incorporation of modern American society.

The Worst President in History

by Tim Naftali

Previously condemned presidents have failed in some aspect of their oaths of office, whether by abusing power, failing to confront national crises, or putting self-interest over the nation. Trump has done all of this, argues the first director of the Nixon Library.

France Knows How This Ends

by James McAuley

"What is especially useful to remember about the Dreyfus affair now is the point of no return it represented, the repugnant embrace of lies by one half of society, educated people who were not ignorant but who had simply ceased to care."

Biden Inauguration amid Trump COVID Failure could End Republican Era of Bashing Government

by Seth Cotlar

Ronald Reagan's 1980 victory helped cement the popular notion of the futility of government action. Will four years of Trump capped by one year of the COVID-19 pandemic restore public demand for competent and active government? 

The Challenges of Teaching the Constitution in the Age of Trump

by Nikolas Bowie

The Constitution has long been used for antidemocratic purposes; the vigorous enforcement of the Reconstruction amendments' guarantees of multiracial democracy was the historical aberration. 

When Black Humanity is Denied

by Edna Bonhomme

Enlightenment institutions – the prison, science, and asylums – are organized through binaries that draw boundaries between people who are and are not able to exercise freedom. Black artistic work supports Black freedom by challenging those boundaries. 

Warnock’s Election Reminds Us that Black Churches are Vital to Democratic Success

by Robert Greene II

Democratic politicians must recognize the historical role of Black churches not just as gathering places where visiting politicians may speak to voters, but as organizing spaces where political agendas are formed. Dems who wish to emulate Rev. Warnock's victory need to embrace Black churches in a deep way.

What the Founders Would Have Done with Trump

by Frank O. Bowman III

"The impeachment mechanism written into the American Constitution owes its structure to a set of very specific lessons the Framers drew from British and classical history," writes a constitutional law scholar. Those lessons point to the validity of trying Trump in the Senate even after the end of his presidency.

The Next New Deal Must Be for Black Americans, Too

by Willow Lung-Amam

Those advocating for New Deal-type programs from the Biden-Harris administration must be profoundly aware of the way the first New Deal accommodated racial prejudice and deepened material inequality; any acceptable understanding of "build back better" must actively tackle racial inequality as well as protecting the existing middle class.

Immigrants, Trump, Pope Francis, and Two Films

by Walter G. Moss

Two recent films evoke Pope Francis's message opposing insular nationalism, a stance which echoes the inclusionary nationalism of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. 

No, the Constitution Does not Allow President Trump to Pardon Himself

by Dale Carpenter

The history of debate over the pardon power in the Constitiution strongly supports the claim that a president's pardon of themselves would be unconstitutional. 

What Will Trump's Presidency Mean to History?

by David Greenberg

Above all else, a pattern of rule-breaking and a determination not to be bound by rules are the characteristics of Trumpism, and inseparable from the policies the 45th president pursued.