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Ed Markey’s Ahistorical Attack on the Filibuster?

According to the Post's Fact Check, Sen. Markey earns "Three Pinocchios" because, even though the filibuster became a prominent legislative tactic through the efforts of pro-slavery John C. Calhoun (and was prominently used by his ideological successors in th Jim Crow South), the South Carolina Senator didn't actually invent it. Three Pinocchios. 

Argentina’s Military Coup of 1976: What the U.S. Knew

Newly declassified documents demonstrate that the US government, including Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, were aware of the developing coup and evaluated policy as a balancing of the prospective military dictatorship's friendliness to the US against its likely willingness to commit human rights violations. 

There’s No Migrant ‘Surge’ at the U.S. Southern Border. Here’s the Data

Three political scientists argue that the recent media narrative of a "border crisis" is political hype and not supported by data about historical migration patterns. Looking at month-to-month fluctuations distorts the situation and leads to bad policy. 

Biden Met with Historians to Discuss Pace and Scope of Policy Agenda

Joe Biden has sought the counsel of historians as he calibrates his domestic policy agenda, explicitly comparing the current moment to the New Deal and Great Society. 

DeSantis Lashes out at ‘Critical Race Theory’ in Push to Overhaul Florida’s Civics Curriculum

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the latest official to attack "Critical Race Theory" based on an understanding that the ideas are corrupting civics education by overstating the extent of racism in the US. 

The Intellectual Case For Trump: A Debate

Vox's Sean Illing discusses the subject with Charles Kesler, Professor of Politics at Claremont McKenna College.

Letters Found In An Attic Reveal Eerie Similarities Between Adolf Hitler And His Father

A trove of letters discovered in an Austrian attic are a rare primary source about the parents of the Nazi leader. 

New Commission on Renaming Army Bases Gets Early Makeover

"A new commission created to relabel U.S. Army bases named for Confederate leaders has quietly undergone a major shakeup as the Biden administration has replaced last-minute Trump appointees with a diverse panel."

Nazi Anatomical Drawings are Donated in Effort to Address Ethical Quandary — and Spotlight a Dark History

The Pernkopf Atlas of anatomy was an unmatched documenting of the nervous and circulatory system. But it was created by Nazi doctors and partly based on the examination of the bodies of people executed by Nazis. A long effort to resolve the ethical dilemma inherent in its use has resulted in the donation of the illustrations to the Medical University of Vienna. 

Catholic Order Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Slave Labor and Sales

"The move by the leaders of the Jesuit conference of priests represents the largest effort by the Roman Catholic Church to make amends for the buying, selling and enslavement of Black people, church officials and historians said."

The Victims of Agent Orange the U.S. Has Never Acknowledged

"The use of the herbicide in the neutral nation of Laos by the United States — secretly, illegally and in large amounts — remains one of the last untold stories of the American war in Southeast Asia."

John Singleton Saw a Tenderness in Black L.A. that the World Refused to Look At

John Singleton's films showed the fullness of life in South Central Los Angeles during the tumultuous 1990s that the news media didn't always portray.

New Study: 5 Ways Racist 1930s Housing Policies Still Haunt Schools

Past discriminatory housing policies have been determined to be a major factor in the black-white wealth gap. A new report has linked redlining to present-day inequalities in education. 

The Senate’s ‘Talking Filibuster’ Might Rise Again

An overview of the history and prospects of the talking filibuster as some Senators signal openness to reforming the rules that currently require a 60-vote supermajority to move legislation. 

‘This Is Jim Crow in New Clothes’: Raphael Warnock's First Senate Speech

by Jamelle Bouie

Raphael Warnock's debut speech in the Senate connected the passage of voting rights legislation today and the climate of debate over the Reconstruction era Civil Rights Act of 1875. 

Rage and Retribution

The bungled police statements after the Atlanta shootings reflect the way that moral panics about sexuality have historically worked to make Asian immigrant women the targets, rather than the protectees, of law enforcement. 

How to Think About Classic Hollywood’s “Problematic” Movies

by Richard Brody

Critic Richard Brody asks whether efforts to put problematic Hollywood movies into context is adequate; there is a systematic lack of attention to characters of color in classic Hollywood that is much tougher to fix. 

In ‘Genius: Aretha,’ Respecting the Mind, Not Just the Soul

"The full scale of Franklin’s contributions to her own music has long been obscured. She was a gifted songwriter and a superb pianist. In the studio, she was a taskmaster, pushing herself and her collaborators until they captured the exact sound she heard in her head — not easy for a Black female musician of her time."

The Deep American Roots of the Atlanta Shootings

Emerging facts about the Atlanta shootings last week suggests that the incident reflects the sexualized portrayal of Asian women that grew out of colonialism and American military involvement in Asia.

A Grandson's Gift — A Spotlight — For His Grandfather's WWII Band

Jason Burt, a middle school history teacher and historian, believes this album is the only known recording of a front line band from WWII to have surfaced.