Roundup

Does Sen. Fetterman's Depression Disclosure Signal Change in Mental Health Acceptance?

by Jonathan Sadowsky

51 years ago the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Senator Thomas Eagleton, was dropped from the ticket when it was revealed he had received treatment for depression. A historian of mental health says it's too simple to declare progress without acknowledging ongoing stigma. 

Russia's Invasion Threatens Soviet Secret Police Archives in Ukraine—and Families' History

by Megan Buskey

During a brief recent window of time, records of Soviet secret police activities in Ukraine, including voluminous files kept on ordinary civilians, have become available to researchers. While pro-Russian politicians once kept them classified, Russian munitions now threaten their physical existence. 

AHA's "New" Standards for "Scholarship" are Too Little, Too Late for the Profession

by Donald Earl Collins

The move to recognize forms of knowledge dissemination beyond the scholarly monograph follow the establishment's failure for years to recognize the need for public engagement that has recently been taken up by journalists, novelists, and other creatives. 

When the Public University is a Corporate Landlord

by Charmaine Chua, Desiree Fields and David Stein

During negotiations with graduate student workers, UCLA administrators claimed that increasing stipends would effectively subsidize local landlords through higher rents and squeeze the poor in the Los Angeles housing market. The reality is that the university is an investor in a huge real estate trust that is hiking rents itself. 

Is it Time to Rethink the Term "Indigenous"?

by Manvir Singh

The concept of indigenous peoples was developed to describe political relationships formed by European colonialism. Does it aptly describe complex ethnic relationships today? And can it be disrupted by archaeological discoveries of migration and habitation? 

Ford's Pardon of Nixon and Leads Americans to Doubt Accountability, Democracy

by Garrett M. Graff

Democracy won't be secure unless those who hold positions of power can be assured of being held to account if they break the law or abuse the public's trust. 

The Carter Presidency Wasn't How we Remember It

by Kai Bird

While he was pessimistic about the moral quality of politics, a biographer says that the 39th president was capable of ruthless pragmatism that helped him achieve more than he is credited for, though it cost him reelection. 

One Historian's Journey Comes Full Circle in Her Hometown

by Annette Gordon-Reed

After Brown v. Board of Education, the schools in Conroe, Texas preserved segregation under the guise of "freedom of choice"—backed by custom and a history of racist violence. In 1964, Alfred and Bettye Jean Gordon enrolled their daughter in a previously all-white school. This year, the town named a new school for her. 

Who's Afraid of Black History?

by Henry Louis Gates

The protestations of Ron DeSantis aside, American schools today carry the legacy of a massive neoconfederate indoctrination campaign that distorted the meaning of the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, justified racist terrorism, and erased ongoing debates—including among Black Americans—about the meaning of freedom and democracy. 

What the Rejection of African American History Means for Students

by Monica Washington

When a state decides to minimize African American history and thought in its curriculum, it marks that history as "other" and denies all students the opportunity to understand the national past and the prospects for realizing democratic values in the future.

The Roundup Top Ten for February 17, 2023

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

Nikki Haley's Confederate Flag Revisionism

by Kevin M. Levin

"Hopefully, Haley understands that a presidential bid means that she is no longer sitting in a room with the Sons of Confederate Veterans."

Temple Revives Old-Time Union Busting against Grad Students

by Heather Ann Thompson

Temple's decision to revoke the tuition remission of striking grad students (and threaten their ability to complete degrees) is the kind of hardball tactic that bodes ill for workers in every workplace in America, and a reminder of the need to understand the country's labor history. 

The Specter of Woke Corporate Communism Haunts the Republican Mind

by Steve Fraser

How do you run a politically useful Cold War without any actual Communism? Just declare that the organs of global capitalism are, in fact, red—borrowing some anti-Semitic tropes along the way. 

The Threat of Christian Nationalism

by Kristin Du Mez

"Because Christian nationalists believe that God is on their side and that the fate of Christian America is at stake, among staunch adherents there is no space for compromise."

What's the Point of Nikki Haley's Campaign?

by Tom Nichols

No candidate is going to "restore sanity" to the Republican Party, even if any want to. 

We Don't Need to Pretend Clarence Thomas Can Read the Founders' Minds

by Heidi Li Feldman and Dahlia Lithwick

The approach to "original intent" laid out in recent gun control rulings imagines the founders as capable only of the most cramped and limited understanding of the function of law in a society, argue a legal scholar and veteran court reporter. 

Even In Death, Black Americans Denied Dignified Rest

by Greg Melville

Lacking legal protection, historic African American cemeteries face serious threats from neglect and redevelopment. 

DeSantis Knows Path to Victory Runs Through Right-Wing Churches

by Katherine Stewart

Ron DeSantis's efforts to outflank Donald Trump to win the allegiance of Christian nationalists will determine whether he can become the GOP nominee. The lengths he's gone to already to court that constituency should scare supporters of democracy. 

Drop "Culture War" Description: Banning Books and Restricting Ideas is Fascism

by Jason Stanley

Conflicting cultural values are a normal part of democracy. What leaders like Ron DeSantis want is to make sure only one set of values has a place in the public square.