Roundup

History, Deliberation, and Civic Culture

by Jim Grossman

"Equating a mode of inquiry with a heinous crime should induce not only a private shudder but a public disavowal. No reasonable definition of patriotism can accommodate this despicable metaphor."

The Gonzo Constitutionalism of the American Right

by Corey Robin

"Conservatism has ceased to be a political project capable of creating hegemony through majoritarian means."

Disenfranchisement in Jails Weakens our Democracy

by Charlotte Rosen

Because the pretrial population is disproportionately non-White, this kind of “de facto disenfranchisement” constitutes an abhorrent form of racist voter suppression, despite rarely gaining the headlines and outrage that long voting lines do. 

The Forgotten Third Amendment Could Give Pandemic-Struck America a Way Forward

by Alexander Zhang

Could the Third Amendment's ban on quartering of troops in private homes be expanded to establish a right to protection against pandemics? The history of troop quartering shows objections to it were closely connected with fear of disease.

How Jimmy Carter Kept Me Sane

by Jonathan Alter

"I wrote my Carter biography during the toxic Trump years. The Georgian’s kindness and honesty are an inspiration for me and should be for America, too."

The Crimes of the Campus Police

by Grace Watkins

"The problems with the campus police are already apparent to anyone willing to look, and gender-based violence by campus officers is an important part of the case for abolition."

We All Think History Will Be on Our Side. Here's Why We Shouldn't

by Priya Satia

We would do better to listen to today’s historians in order to understand how we got here and recover other guides to conscience, not just look to future historians for consolation.

Republicans: The New Confederacy

by David W. Blight

"There is no Republican majority in America, except on election days. It all depends on who votes and who is allowed to vote."

Religious Identity And Supreme Court Justices – A Brief History

by Nomi Stolzenberg

In recent decades, religious influence on the Court has been shaped by conservatives of different faiths, construed as part of a mythical Judeo-Christian tradition, coalescing around a common agenda defined less by affiliation with a religious denomination than with opposition to liberalism and secularism.

Conservative Activists in Texas Have Shaped the History All American Children Learn

by Rob Alex Fitt

"Liberal groups such as People for the American Way were aghast at what was happening in Texas. They launched counter campaigns in the early 1970s to try to break conservative activists’ stranglehold on the textbook selection process, to no avail."

What Fans of "Herd Immunity" Don't Tell You

by John M. Barry

Prolonged isolation measures to fight COVID-19 do cause harm--social, emotional, and economic. But advocates of "herd immunity" are not offering a practical or safe plan to protect the vulnerable if the virus spreads on a mass scale. 

“If Anybody Says Election to Me, I Want to Fight”: The Messy Election of 1876

by Jon Grinspan

The election of 1876 was a disaster for American democracy. 

Where’s Louisiana Tech’s Loyalty to Professors whose Opinions Provoke Death Threats?

by Andrew C. McKevitt

"University leaders: Stand up for the people who stand up for you. If the outrage mob had its way, it would slash your budget to zero tomorrow, and it wouldn’t need a reason."

1619, Revisited

by Nicholas Guyatt

Argument isn’t an obstacle to the work of historians; it is the work of historians. Public interest in 1619 has suggested something truly profound: that Americans have the capacity to think differently about their history. 

Reframing America’s Role in the World: The Specter of Isolationism

by Andrew Bacevich

The release of Stephen Wertheim's book shoud prompt a reconsideration of American intervention abroad. 

US Fraternities Must be Required to Disavow Racist Roots

by Taulby Edmonson

Until university administrations launch an honest national conversation about the damaging ideals that rest behind the foundational figures and principles of many fraternities, students will continue to be uneasy about the role of Greek life on campus.

The Women Behind the Million Man March

by Natalie Hopkinson

Community archives such as the District of Columbia’s are critical interventions into the omissions of history. This one, like others, makes clear that behind every great feat in the public record lies an untold story of the unsung foot soldiers, architects, analysts and fixers — and these are often women.

There’s a Word for Why We Wear Masks, and Liberals Should Say It

by Michael Tomasky

"Say this: Freedom means the freedom not to get infected by the idiot who refuses to mask up. Even John Stuart Mill would have agreed."

The Framers of the Constitution Didn’t Worry about ‘Originalism’

by Jack Rakove

"Some of the key words and terms in our constitutional vocabulary were subject to pounding controversy and reconsideration. One has to engage these debates to understand how Americans were thinking about these issues at the time."

Let History, Not Partisans, Prosecute Trump

by Jill Lepore

Historian Jill Lepore argues that the conditions that have required Truth and Reconciliation ccommissions don't apply to the Trump administration; historians should be fighting to safeguard the preservation of records so that future researchers can tell the story of the Trump years.