David Blight

Why A History Professor Says ‘Racist’ Emancipation Memorial Shouldn’t Come Down (audio)

Protesters want to remove the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C. NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with Yale history professor David Blight about why he thinks the memorial should stay up.

David Blight takes to the pages of the NYT to say we should look to Frederick Douglass in this moment of crisis

by David W. Blight

Douglass said black people had three tools: their voice, their pen and their vote. Today all three are under threat.

Eric Foner raves about David Blight’s new biography of Frederick Douglass

Foner begins his review with a personal note.

Is America Headed for a New Kind of Civil War?

The New Yorker surveyed the opinions of these prominent Civil War historians: David Blight, Eric Foner, Judith Giesberg, Gregory Downs.

Yale’s David Blight is asked if New Orleans should rewrite its Civil War legacy

"One thing that is always an answer is: To build new monuments rather than tear down old ones."

David Blight Says '12 Years' Is A Story The Nation Must Remember

"We love being the country that freed the slaves ... [but] we're not so fond of being the country that had the biggest slave system on the planet."

Historian Says '12 Years' Is A Story The Nation Must Remember

David Blight discusses how the movie 12 Years A Slave clashes with American's collective identity as a progressive country.