The Roundup Top Ten for December 4, 2020
The Enduring Disposability Of Latinx Workersby Natalia Molina"For over a century, we have excused systemic inequalities, justifying them by pointing to Mexicans’ difference from 'us'." |
History Reminds Us that Vaccines Alone Don't End Pandemicsby E. Thomas EwingPositive news about advances on a vaccine for the novel coronavirus should not be taken as a license to stop mask-wearing and social distancing argues a historian of viral pandemics. |
Governing in Prose: Realpolitik and Idealism in Obama’s First Termby Eric FonerEric Foner's review of the first volume of Obama's memoir focuses on the conflict between pragmatism and idealism, and concludes that the 45th President erred in offering bailouts to bankers and expecting cooperation from Republicans, mistakes that set the stage for Trump. |
Reckoning With Slavery: What A Revolt’s Archives Tell Us About Who Owns The Pastby Marjoleine KarsResearching the history of the 1763-1764 Berbice slave rebellion demonstrated that key records for understanding slavery in the Americas are held in archives in Europe and written in the language of colonial powers, making the history of enslaved people difficult to access for their present-day descendants. |
Minority Rule Cannot Last in America. It Never Hasby Kenneth OwenWhen parties commit themselves to minority rule, the backlash can be severe, as has been shown repeatedly when ruling parties stood in the way of popular will. |
Joe Biden’s Harshest Critics are Likely to be Some of His Fellow Catholicsby Theresa KeeleyAbortion is the most divisive issue for liberal and conservative Catholics in America today, but reflects a decades-long division in beliefs about how the Church should engage with the world. It may be tricky for Joe Biden to navigate as a faithful Catholic. |
What The Hitler Conspiracies Meanby Richard J. EvansAgainst evidence and common sense, theories persist that Adolf Hitler escaped Berlin to live in Argentina. An expert on the memory of the Third Reich argues that the conspiracy theories reflect a broad rejection of expertise and show the need for historians to engage the public. |
The Supreme Court Has to Choose Between Trump and the Nation’s Foundersby Amanda FrostThe Trump administration's efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the Census count is a test of whether the SCOTUS conservatives will sincerely follow originalism. |
Let Trump Try To Defend Racist, Traitorous Confederates. Congress Can Still Prevailby Ty Seidule"This nation should honor those who fought bravely to defend it, not its enemies." |
Cicely was Young, Black and Enslaved – Her Death During an Epidemic in 1714 Has Lessons that Resonate in Today's Pandemicby Nicole S. MaskiellThe gravestone of an enslaved teenage girl in Cambridge, Mass., points to gap between the importance of black women's labor to colonial society (especially in times of crisis like epidemics) and their remembrance in history. |