;

Tweets by @myHNN

News at Home

7/18/2021

As Americans Hit the Road Again, It's Time to Revisit the Ideals of Liberty

by Heidi M. Ravven

Americans are contemplating travel as COVID gives way to greater freedom to move. There's no more apt place for a visit than the Statue of Liberty.

7/18/2021

The 1906 Decision in Hodges v. United States Shows the Error of Leaving Fundamental Rights to the States

by William H. Pruden III

The Court ruled that the 13th Amendment did not create a federal right to fairly contracted labor, and called for Black workers to "take their chances with other citizens in the states where they should make their homes," despite the plain determination of those citizens to oppress and expolit them.

7/18/2021

Can Sports Realize Frederick Douglass's Ideal of the Composite Nation?

by Walter G. Moss

From Jackie Robinson to Simone Biles and Shohei Otani, sports have been like the point of a knife piercing myths of white supremacy.

7/18/2021

The History of Systemic Racism that CRT Opponents Prefer to Hide

by Clyde W. Ford

The importation of African people to Virginia in 1619 spurred the process of establishing racial hierarchy through law, a historical reality the right seeks to deny.

7/18/2021

The Government's Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Doesn't Answer Many Questions

by David Marks

The minimal and inconclusive US Government report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena has not enlightened us about the nature of UFOs.

7/18/2021

Trump Cheated on His Taxes. What Happens Now?

by James D. Zirin

"When I was a federal prosecutor going after white collar criminals, I always looked for the accountant. He was the most likely witness for the government."

7/11/2021

The NFL Must Learn Lessons About Inclusion from Women's Sports

by John Howard

If the NFL is sincere in wanting to fight against entrenched homophobia, it should follow the example of women's sports (and be prepared to make partnerships and investments with LGBTQ organizations inside and outside of sports.

7/11/2021

How Historians Convinced SCOTUS that the NCAA's Idea of Amateurism is a Myth

by Ronald A. Smith

The Supreme Court was influenced by the work of a team of historians to reject the NCAA's arguments about amateurism and open the way for college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses – something history shows they did extensively before the NCAA's rules.

7/4/2021

The National Bicentennial Erased Antiwar Activism by Vietnam Veterans

by Elise Lemire

The United States Semiquincentennial Commission is preparing for July 4, 2026 as an opportunity for educating the public about the nation's history. It should avoid repeating the whitewash of recent history in the 1976 Bicentennial celebration.

7/4/2021

A Faulty Court Precedent on Selective Service Leaves the Last Legal Sex Discrimination in Place

by Kara Dixon Vuic

Since 1981, the Supreme Court has allowed the exclusion of women from Selective Service registration on the grounds that they were excluded from combat and thus not liable to be drafted. This position is out of date with the reality of women's military service, yet the current court declined to correct its error.

7/4/2021

Carl Nassib's Coming Out Will Save Lives; How Many Depends on the NFL's Support

by John Howard

Carl Nassib just became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. His personal courage shouldn't obscure the work of previous activists or the obligation of the league to take positive steps to fight homophobia.

6/20/2021

Powerline Politics in the 1970s and Today

by Tyler Priest

Environmental activists have forged anti-pipeline alliances with rural landowners using the issue of eminent domain. History shows that this might boomerang if farmers oppose the new electric transmission lines that will be needed to implement green electrification.

6/20/2021

Keep History Teachers Free to Teach, in Iowa and the Nation

by Wallace Hettle

"I’m not a lawyer, but it appears that the legislature has just passed a law against hurt feelings."

6/20/2021

50 Years Later, the Pentagon Papers Remain an Historic Landmark for Freedom of the Press

by Jared Schroeder

While democratic norms have, at times, seemed paper thin in recent years, the Court’s terse decision in the Pentagon Papers decision persists as a bulwark against government efforts to halt publication.

6/20/2021

Should Immigration Courts Operate under the Attorney General? History Says this is an Accident that Should be Undone

by Alison Peck

Franklin Roosevelt was pushed fear of a Nazi fifth column and big business's hostility toward foreign-born labor leaders to shift immigration courts from the Department of Labor to the Department of Justice, where they act as an extension of law enforcement. Legislation to make them independent is long overdue.

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.

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.

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.

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.