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The Roundup Top Ten for June 3, 2022

The Back Channel Between Pius XII and Hitler

by David I. Kertzer

The Vatican has only just now released documents about secret and sensitive negotiations between the Nazi leader and the Holy See, in which the Vatican agreed to temper criticisms of Nazism's pagan elements in exchange for ceasing investigation of sex crimes by priests.

Doug Mastriano and the White Christian Nationalist Cult of the AR-15

by Thomas Lecaque

The Pennsylvania Republican nominee for governor has connections to a church that merges radical Christian nationalism with the trappings of the militia movement and a fetishism of assault rifles. 

The Dunce Party

by Rachel Bryan

Tennessee's "Divisive Concepts" bill would make it virtually impossible to teach the history and culture of the state and the wider South. 

Rescuing Shirley Chisholm's Life from Symbolism

by Anastasia Curwood

Writing a biography of the Congresswoman and presidential candidate required working through the distinction between Shirley Chisholm the symbol and the much more complex reality of Shirley Chisholm the woman, to see how big trends in Black history unfolded at a human scale.

Another Tragic Eruption of "Great Replacement" Violence

by Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin

"While the specific targets and methods of spreading this theory may be new, White native-born Americans worrying about being replaced is not. And history demonstrates that the theory has been repeatedly used to legitimize discrimination and deadly violence."

Do Gay Men Need a Specific Monkeypox Warning?

by Jim Downs

The history of the HIV epidemic shows that the desire to avoid stigmatizing gay men should not override the imperative of identifying and advising populations about behavioral risk for contagious disease. 

Pro-Life and Pro-Gun?

by Daniel K. Williams

Gun rights aren't intrinsic to evangelical Christian theology. But they are intrinsic to the individualism through which most white Evangelicals see the world and frame their political identity.

The Monument Controversy We Aren't Discussing

by Cynthia C. Prescott

Outside of the former Confederacy, efforts to replace "Pioneer Mother" statues with depictions of Native American women have sparked a backlash including outright theft.

In one Family's Photo Album: A Wedding, An Anniversary, and a Lynching in Texas

by Jeffrey J. Littlejohn

The author set out to identify the victim of a lynching pictured in a family photoalbum. This project – pointing out the normalcy and pervasiveness of violence as a tool of white supremacy – could be illegal for a K-12 teacher in Texas today.

HBO's "We Own This City" and Baltimore's Long History of Police Brutality

by Mary Rizzo

A Baltimore historian notes that the Black community's efforts to fight police brutality are much older than the War on Drugs.