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The Roundup Top Ten for May 14, 2021

Anti-Trans Legislation has Never been about Protecting Children

by Nikita Shepard

"Tracing the ugly history of conservative efforts to combat school desegregation, welfare, reproductive freedom and gay and lesbian rights by claiming threats to children helps us understand why politicians today think they can gain votes by brutalizing vulnerable children in the name of protecting them."

The Bloody History of Anti-Asian Violence in the West

by Kevin Waite

An 1871 massacre of Chinese residents in Los Angeles was the pinnacle of anti-Asian violence in the late 19th century west. 

Decolonising Museums isn’t Part of a ‘Culture War’. It’s about Keeping them Relevant

by Dan Hicks

"Britain’s museums sorely need such cultural revitalisation right now, and the question of human remains and artefacts offers a position from which to see debates around museums in a clearer light."

Solving Homelessness Requires Getting the Problem Right

by Ella Howard

American policy initiatives to reduce homelessness and aid homeless people have generally misunderstood the roots of homelessness and offered therapeutic or police solutions. Ironically, only recently have cities recognized providing housing as the vital central hub of homelessness programs. 

I Want My Mutually Assured Destruction – Teaching the Cold War with Classic Music Videos

by Tom Nichols

Rock videos from the early days of MTV are a surprisingly effective tool for explaining the nuclear fear of the Cold War era to students who never experienced it. 

Cliché and Caricature: Why January 6 Was Not Like a Banana Republic

by Dario A. Euraque

Describing the January 6 assault on the Capitol and Congress as fit for "banana republics" ignores the way that American businesses and politicians supported the same kind of antidemocratic violence in Latin America. 

It’s a Golden Age for Chinese Archaeology — And the West is Ignoring It

by Rowan K. Flad

Recent discoveries in Egypt have overshadowed more significant finds in China. This may reflect the romanticized popular culture image of colonial-era tomb-raiders, or the prevalent sense that Western civilization is derived from the Mediterranean world. It's time for a broader view of why the ancient world matters. 

Black Resistance from Augusta to BLM

by John Hayes and Nefertiti Robinson

Even among Black residents of Augusta, Georgia, an "official" story about an episode of civil unrest has become the dominant narrative and overshadowed historical and contemporary issues with police brutality. 

Women Asked for an Independence Day. They Got Mother’s Day Instead

by Kimberly A. Hamlin

Mother's Day was established by Woodrow Wilson to blunt demands by suffragist and feminist movements for policy changes that would make women "citizens in fact as well as in name." The burdens of domestic work experienced by women during COVID should inspire a return to these more radical proposals. 

The Filing Cabinet: A Material History

by Craig Robertson

The humble filing cabinet in fact tells the story of the rise of bureaucratic structures in capitalism and government, and the potential for information to be used efficiently – or weaponized.