Historians in the News

Review: Two Books on the Recent History of Polarization

by Paul Starr

Historian Michael Kazin and journalist Dana Milbank approach the nation's dire politics from the perspective of the two respective parties, Kazin examining the long conflicts within the Democratic party to create a broad and stable populist coalition, and Milbank examining the GOP's increasingly nihilistic efforts to break it up.

Corey Robin on the Enigma of Clarence Thomas

The political scientist's 2019 biography of the Justice comes in for new attention with Thomas's controversial judicial opinions (and the alleged actions of his wife on January 6). 

Milbank: January 6 Roots Begin with Gingrich, Not Trump

While relatively little of Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America" became law, the House Speaker who rose to power in 1994 set the tone for the Republican Party's rigid partisanship and demonization of the opposition, a stance that justifies antidemocratic steps to keep power. 

Kathleen Wellman on How the Religious Right Hijacked History

"These textbooks, unlike the work of historians, dismisses much of human history and denigrates most human accomplishments. Only human efforts undertaken to support 'biblical truth,' meaning evangelical Protestantism, are godly and have any value; all others reflect sinful 'humanism'."

Review: Kelly Lytle Hernandez Shows There is No US History Without Mexican History

by Jonna Perrillo

The political upheaval of the Mexican revolution affected the politics of ethnic Mexicans on both sides of the border and transformed the political relations between both governments and the transnational working classes of the border region. 

Katherine Stewart Joins Jane Coaston to Discuss the Rise of Christian Nationalism

"This is not a new movement. It long preceded Trump. But the ideology is just becoming much more widespread as the movement has seized control, I believe, of the Republican Party."

Breaking Up With Marilynne Robinson Over the Dark Side of Puritanism

by Peter Laarman

A minister and activist argues that the novelist and essayist's defense of the New England Puritans as prototypical human rights heroes ignores the very clear limits that historians have identified for Puritanism's conceptions of social belonging. 

The Architecture of the Shopping Mall Shaped by Racism, Surveillance

The architects who envisioned early shopping malls as common spaces were overwhelmed by the imperatives of exclusion and surveillance in spaces made safe for mass consumption, argues architecture critic Alexandra Lange. 

Edward Miller on the Resurfacing of Bircher Conspiratorialism on the Right Today

Today, the society itself and its beliefs are growing. North Texas is the center of its resurgence. Welch’s legacy continues to live on in modern day conservatism.

Today's Racial Controversies over Curriculum aren't New

by Len Gutkin

Some critics have described today's battles over curriculum and inclusion as more focused on racism than the multicultural debates of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Are they, really? 

Historian Among Critics of Indiana U President's Weak Support for Ob-Gyn Faculty in Abortion Controversy

Marcia Bucur created a petition calling for the administration to publicly defend reproductive freedom and denounce the harassment of Dr. Caitlin Bernard after she described performing an abortion to aid a preteen rape victim.

Vivien Green Fryd Awarded Eldredge Prize for Book on Sexual Trauma in American Art

The prize jurors noted the publication stands out given its “academic rigor, historical understanding and contemporary relevance that characterize the highest achievements in our field.”

Mass. African American Museum Announces Book Prize Shortlist

The nominees reflect diverse scholarly approaches to Black history across time periods and subjects, including public health, slavery, public history, pedagogy, reproduction, and politics. 

For Decades, Whites Used "Colorblind" Rhetoric to Stall Equality. Now the Right Wing is Dropping the Charade

LA Times Columnist Jean Guerrero checks with legal historian Ian Haney López about the resurgence of openly white identity politics on the mainstream right as pundits and candidates abandon the idea of protecting a level playing field to say whites need protection.

Raymond Craib: Rich Tech Libertarians Have Fantasies of Escape, but a Desire for Power

by Jacob Bruggeman

The most striking lesson from the history of failed attempts to create societies without states is that the libertarian impulse to strip the state of its power to control capital has already profoundly reshaped every society on earth. 

The South African Community Destroyed for a Whites-Only Suburb

On 9 February 1955 apartheid South Africa forcibly evicted residents from Sophiatown, a multi-racial suburb in Johannesburg. 65,000 people were ‘removed’ and Sophiatown was demolished and turned into a whites-only neighbourhood called Triomf.

Alex Keyssar on the Need to Reform the Electoral Count Act

The Electoral Count Act imposed after the contested election of 1876 leaves potential loopholes for a minority faction to override the will of voters and hijack the electoral college. Is proposed bipartisan legislation enough to fix it? 

Review: Elizabeth Dore's Grassroots History of Socialism's Decline in Cuba

The loosening of state control over Cuba's economy has delivered most benefits to white Cubans with relatives sending remittances from the United States to start businesses in Cuba. Afro-Cubans and migrants from poorer provinces have suffered. 

A Century After the Elaine Massacre, Black Farmers in Arkansas Demand Justice

The Elaine Massacre was one incident a longer process of land theft from Black farmers in Arkansas, using instruments ranging from fraudulent records to mob violence. 

Law School Dean: Whose History is it at SCOTUS?

by Allison Orr Larsen

The Supreme Court's embrace of historical arguments for its decisions is dangerous, because motivated advocacy groups, not scholars, are the source of much of it.