News at Home

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• 6/13/2021
  

  The Night Vietnam Veterans Stormed Bunker Hill

  by Elise Lemire

  The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 was a military defeat for the Continental Army but a coup for morale. In 1971, Vietnam Veterans Against the War won a nonviolent battle at the site for the allegiance of the working class residents of Charlestown. 

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• 6/20/2021
  

  Experts Beware: Is America Headed for a Scopes Moment over Critical Race Theory?

  by Charles J. Holden

  William Jennings Bryan wasn't trying to win a debate in the Scopes Trial. He tried – successfully – to draw cultural battle lines. The fact that today's opponents of "Critical Race Theory" are often poorly informed is similarly beside the point. 

• 
• 6/6/2021
  

  The New Meaning of "The Loyal Opposition"

  by Glenn C. Altschuler

  The concept of a loyal opposition depends on the deference of non-governing parties to the authority of democratic institutions and the normative framework in which they operate. That deference seems to be collapsing. 

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• 6/6/2021
  

  Whataboutism Didn't Get Nixon Off the Hook. It Shouldn't Stop Investigation of the Capitol Riots

  by James Robenalt

  There's a long and ignominious tradition of playing "whatabout" to thwart investigations into official misconduct, so it's no surprise the move was part of Republicans' rejection of a January 6 commission. 

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• 6/4/2021
  

  Understanding Gun and Police Violence Lies Between History and Power

  by Kwasi Konadu

  Dealing effectively with gun violence and police violence requires recognizing they are connected by the long history of America's culture of force in defense of the social order. The National Gun Violence Awareness Day observed today should reflect this connection.

• 
• 5/30/2021
  

  Politics Aside, Was Trump Even an Effective Leader?

  by George C. Edwards III

  Trump's supposed dealmaking genius amounted to playing to his base to the detriment of any policy agenda. 

• 
• 5/30/2021
  

  Disregard for the Electoral Process is New and Alarming

  by Donne Levy

  How did the nation reach the point where one party is openly rejecting the democratic process? 

• 
• 5/30/2021
  

  The Post-Trump GOP: Rebirth or Stillbirth?

  by Michael A. Genovese

  The Republicans are betting that sticking with Trump's MAGA posture will usher in a political realignment with a broader GOP base. History shows that with anger and resentment standing in for a substantive policy agenda that meets the challenges of the times such a realignment is unlikely.

• 
• 5/30/2021
  

  In 1844, Nativist Protestants Burned Churches in the Name of Religious Liberty

  by Zachary M. Schrag

  Rick Santorum's dismissive take on Native American history led to his ouster at CNN. But his remarks also glossed over a violent history of Protestant intolerance that should be a warning to us today about the danger of the idea that only one creed is truly American.

• 
• 5/23/2021
  

  Political Riots are an All-American Phenomenon (But Ignoring them Shouldn't Be)

  by Ron Steinman

  The partisan resistance to the formation of a commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol insurrection echoes the official indifference to the race riots that overthrew Reconstruction; the nation needs the truth and needs accountability.

• 
• 5/23/2021
  

  The Ethics of the "N-Word" in the Classroom

  by Alan Singer

  Neither censorious expungement nor free speech absolutism offer good practical guidelines for teaching historical sources that include racial slurs. A professor of history education explains his approach. 

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• 5/23/2021
  

  What's Controversial about California's Model Ethnic Studies Curriculum?

  by James Thornton Harris

  At its root, the controversy over California's ethnic studies model curriculum (which no school district is compelled to implement) is whether the lived everyday experiences of people, including Californians of color, are a worthy subject of study. 

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• 5/23/2021
  

  Cultures of Resentment among the Hitlerites and Trumpers

  by Walter G. Moss

  Recent essays have begun the work of understanding the resentments of Trump supporters. If this movement is to be stopped, proponents of liberal democracy need to address some of them, without necessarily condoning their motivations.

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• 5/16/2021
  

  Racial Epistemology and its Discontents: What Really Makes Concepts "Divisive"

  by Guy Lancaster

  American whiteness has always included a kind of epistemic closure, refusing testimony about the world from nonwhites. Today, it is this epistemic closure that makes some state legislatures legislate against "divisive" ideas. 

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• 5/16/2021
  

  Vaccine Skeptics Should Heed George Washington’s Example

  by Robert Brent Toplin

  With the American Revolution hanging in the balance, Washington ordered the mass inoculation of the Continental Army against a smallpox pandemic. Would today's vaccine skeptics accuse him of trampling freedom? 

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• 5/16/2021
  

  Historians' Perspective on Media Bias: Where it Came from, and What Can be Done?

  by Walter G. Moss

  Historical perspective shows that media bias is nothing new, but the stakes for democracy are high today. Can historians teach and practice better ways of reading and debating to fight polarization and misinformation?

• 
• 5/9/2021
  

  Are Campus Bookstores Undermining Student Learning?

  by Elizabeth Stice

  Today’s undergraduates are increasingly being cornered into ongoing financial commitments for everything, while they never take possession of anything. Rejecting digital book programs run by campus bookstores outsourced to third parties could help reverse this trend.

• 
• 5/2/2021
  

  FDR's Court Packing Plan Backfired in the South. Will Biden Repeat The Error?

  by James C. Cobb

  FDR's court packing efforts were based in a miscalculation of the president's political capital, especially with southern Democrats. It seems like Joe Biden is working to avoid similar overreach.

• 
• 5/2/2021
  

  Remember The Essential Workers After COVID: They Deserve Better

  by Joshua B. Freeman

  All of us literally owe our lives to our essential workers.  Let’s not forget it.  Giving them a fair shake is not only a moral obligation, it will make a better city for all of us.

• 
• 4/25/2021
  

  “Not Your Fetish”: Protesting Racism and Misogyny Against Asian American Women

  by Hao Zou

  The Atlanta massage parlor killings reflect a century and a half of history in which racist and misogynistic stereotypes of Asian women have been normalized in American culture. Protests are demanding change.