The Roundup Top Ten for December 18, 2020
What Americans Don’t Know about Latino History Could Fill a Museumby Stephen Pitti"[Senator Mike] Lee’s exaggerations sidestepped every available fact about Latinos in the United States. They caricatured the views of the museum’s supporters, including historians, museum professionals, community leaders and business executives." |
The Founder of Johns Hopkins Owned Enslaved People. Our University Must Face a Reckoningby Martha S. Jones"This year, so many of us at Johns Hopkins have taken pride in being affiliated with our colleagues in medicine and public health who have brilliantly confronted the coronavirus pandemic. That pride, for me, now mixes with bitterness." |
Years of Medical Abuse Make Black Americans Less Likely to Trust the Coronavirus Vaccineby Dan RoylesThere is a long and continuous history of mistreatment of African Americans by the American medical establishment. This legacy is responsible for many Black Americans' mistrust of a coronavirus vaccine. Good public health practice in vulnerable communities requires addressing this history. |
Working With Death: The Experience of Feeling in the Archiveby Ruth LawlorA researcher of sexual assault against women by American troops in World War II confronted the problem that the archive captures only a traumatic event and leaves the human being affected in the shadows. |
What Obama Gets Wrong on 'Defund the Police'by Austin McCoy"If political budgets are moral documents, then divesting heavily from institutions that have the capacity to perpetuate harms is the moral thing to do." |
The Pandemic is Traumatic for Kids Like Mine. I Have No Idea How to Help Themby David PerryAdults' failure to handle the COVID pandemic will have profound effects on a generation of children, even those who seem do be doing OK with virtual schools and social isolation. |
That Op-Ed About Jill Biden Was Sexist. But the Real Problem Lies Deeperby Allison MillerBeyond its sexism and disregard for expertise, the notorious Wall Street Journal op ed highlights a culture of deference to hierarchy that limits the prospects of women and minorities in academic work. |
The Christmas Spirit is Powerful, Even in 2020by Nicole HemmerAnglo-American Christmas "traditions" date to the 19th century, when Germanic pagan customs of feasting and gift-giving were adopted as part of an effort to create a festival of abundance amid the gross inequalities of the industrial age. That's why so many Christmas stories, from Scrooge to the Grinch, speak to the current moment. |
Immigration Cruelty Didn’t Start With Trump. Will It End Under Biden?by Elliott YoungThere is a long and ignoble history of cruelty toward immigrants in the United States, and the end of the Trump presidency will not change it by itself. |
History Exposes the Problem with Biden’s Defense Secretary Nomineeby Grant GolubWorld War II demonstrated the need for strong civilian control over a military divided between multiple armed service branches, both to guide strategy and to ensure the ultimate authority of the President over the military. The nomination of a recently-retired Army general for Secretary of Defense departs from that tradition. |