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Let Us Now Remove Famous Men

by Calvin Schermerhorn

Should the statues remain up, doing the quiet work of reinforcing white supremacy while we get to work dismantling the interlocking components of structural racism? Or are the statues part of a 400-year history of violence against African-descended people that needs urgent attention and rectification?

What the Faithless Electors Decision Says about SCOTUS and Originalism

by Ray Raphael

The outcome of the "faithless electors" case shows that judicial "originalists" use that principle pragmatically and selectively. 

Can Martin Luther King’s Spiritual Vision Kindle a New Progressivism?

by Walter G. Moss

Advocates for a broader social democratic political agenda should consider the spiritual roots of Martin Luther King's activism, which have historically engaged a broad range of political views to reform movements. 

One of the Chicago 7 Reflects on Dissident Politics Then and Now

by Lee Weiner

A veteran of dissident politics in the 1960s warns that while today's broad coalition of activists for a more just and democratic America are on the right track, they must learn from the mistakes of an older generation and find ways to keep united despite difference. 

A Historian's Reflections on American Dissent

by Ralph Young

At a time like this one longs for a Gandhi or a King to come along and show us the way. Or a Lincoln or a Roosevelt who took up the challenge of leading the United States through existential crises. But I don't see that happening. Not in 2020. Not on the federal level.

Monumental Folly

by Pete Daniel

Change is on the front foot, and this is no time to allow wealth and ignorance to gain ground.  Achiever exhibits and sculpture gardens seem pathetic sideshows to the powerful history of the country.

Trump Made it Manifestly Clear: The Discussion of National Destiny is Ongoing

by G.W. Gibson

We can take heart that our country and our discipline have come a long way from the nadir and Frederick Jackson Turner. Somewhere between Teddy Roosevelt and Colin Kaepernick, we have managed to pick up a few yards as Americans and as American Historians.

Make Digital History a National Common Ground

by Stewart D. McLaurin

No one should be at a disadvantage because they can’t visit D.C., or other historical landmarks like Presidential homes and libraries. We can take advantage of our increased dependence on online learning to inspire students, no matter where they live.

Thinking About Racism Beyond Statues and Symbols

by Dolores Janiewski

In his life and his death Floyd experienced the coercive structures that constrain, punish and eventually kill altogether too many Americans. More than Confederate statues, these need to be torn down.

SCOTUS's Thuraissigiam Decision is a Threat to all Undocumented Immigrants

by Elliott Young

As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, a recent decision could “permit Congress to constitutionally eliminate all procedural protections for any noncitizen the Government deems unlawfully admitted and summarily deport them no matter how many decades they have lived here, how settled and integrated they are in their communities, or how many members of their family are U. S. citizens or residents.” 

The Hate-Mongers: Characterizing Racism in Comics

by Patrick L. Hamilton and Allan W. Austin

The Hate-Monger, a supervillain introduced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, called attention to the destructive power of bigotry, but today readers should resist the idea that defeating any one person, no matter who or how powerful they might be, can eliminate racism. 

"No Longer Just Lincoln and a Slave": Consider Mary McLeod Bethune's Lincoln Park Statue

by Jenny Woodley

Thinking of the Mary McLeod Bethune memorial in Washington's Lincoln Park in tandem with the controversial Emancipation memorial suggests ways in which commemorative spaces can operate as places of dialogue. 

For Deep and Lasting Reform, We Need to Amend the Constitution

by John Davenport

After the upheavals of June, we may now have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get to the constitutional roots of so many national problems.

Re-stabilizing the Middle Class and the Poor: Lessons from the 1930s

by David Stebenne

For a long time it seemed as though the 1930s era of high unemployment was a kind of “great exception” in American history, but now it has appeared again, suddenly and unexpectedly, just as it did in the early 1930s. 

Will White Liberals Keep Faith With This Historical Moment?

by Elwood Watson

White liberal allies to today's Black protest movements must dig in for the long haul and remember the words of Audre Lorde: "The war against dehumanization is ceaseless." 

The Right to Breathe Free: A Showdown Over Race and Nature (Part II)

by Douglas C. Sackman

Over time American nature has been retrofitted with an infrastructure of racism, one that gives some people open access to land, clean water, and good air while constricting the access of others to these vital natural resources, or takes them away altogether.

Centuries of Protest at City Hall Park

by Marika Plater

Closed gates around City Hall Park in New York not only restrict access to the park as a site for protest, but ignore the site's history as a theater for political expression. 

Humanity is an Endangered Species. Can We Do What it Takes to Save Ourselves?

by Lawrence Wittner

The dire crises facing humanity--climate change, pandemic disease, widespread pollution, and nuclear weapons, to name a few--demand that we reject a fatalistic sense of impotence and the legacies of nationalism that prevent cooperative solutions. 

This Independence Day, We Need a Patriotism Index

by Gregory D. Foster

We must now develop a long-overdue Patriotism Index to quantitatively distinguish real Americans from the many poseurs and potential enemies who lurk among us.

This Independence Day, Celebrate and Carry On America's Past Generosity

by William Lambers

As we celebrate America’s birthday on July 4th, let’s remember how our nation’s generosity has aided many hungry and oppressed people around the world.