Roundup Top Ten for July 24, 2020
Trump Has Brought America’s Dirty Wars Homeby Stuart SchraderThe history of the Office of Public Safety, created to support counterinsurgency around the globe during the Cold War, demonstrates that Trump’s ardor for authoritarian force has long-standing, homegrown roots. |
Reimagining America’s Memorial Landscapeby David W. BlightAs we are witnessing, the problem of the 21st century in this country is some agonizingly enduring combination of legacies bleeding forward from conquest, slavery and color lines. Freedom in its infinite meanings remains humanity’s most universal aspiration. How America reimagines its memorial landscape may matter to the whole world. |
Historic Levels, but Not the Good Kindby Heather Cox RichardsonWarren G. Harding created an atmosphere in which the point of government was not to help ordinary Americans, but to see how much leaders could get out of it. |
How To Interpret Historical Analogiesby Moshik TemkinHistorical analogies, done in good faith, can make crucial points about the present and help to clarify where we stand on moral and political issues. The problem begins when we begin to substitute historical analogies for historical analysis – or, even more problematically, when we come to believe that history ‘repeats itself’. |
John Lewis’ Fight for Equality Was Never Limited to Just the United Statesby Keisha N. BlainBy linking national concerns to global ones, John Lewis compelled others to see that the problems of racism and white supremacy were not contained within U.S. borders. |
Trump’s Push To Skew The Census Builds On A Long History Of Politicizing The Countby Paul SchorThe Trump administration’s effort not to count undocumented immigrants is nothing less than an effort to redistribute political power, one that calls to mind a particularly fierce battle over the 1920 census that highlights the role of these broader fights. |
J.F.K.’s “Profiles in Courage” Has a Racism Problem. What Should We Do About It?by Nicholas LemannThe Senators chosen by John F. Kennedy as "Profiles in Courage" would not fare well if their actions were evaluated today. |
History Shows That We Can Solve The Child-Care Crisis — If We Want Toby Lisa LevensteinToday, in nearly two-thirds of households with children, the parents are employed. In 3 out of 5 states, the cost of day care for one infant is more than tuition and fees at four-year public universities. |
The Strange Defeat of the United Statesby Robert ZaretskyEighty years later, Bloch’s investigation casts useful light for those historians who, gripped by the white heat of their own moment, may seek to understand the once unthinkable defeat of the United States in its “war” against the new coronavirus. |
Tearing Down Black Americaby Brent CebulEnsuring that Black Lives Matter doesn't just require police reform. The history of urban renewal shows that governments have worked to dismantle and destabilize Black communities in the name of progress. |