Roundup

The Roundup Top Ten for January 20, 2023

The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week. 

Masculinity and Trauma in War and Football

by Sarah Handley-Cousins

Sports have been cast as a (relatively) peaceful way of inculcating a set of masculine virtues otherwise associated with war. But the experience of injury and grief will continue to confound the rules of manhood—and football fans and citizens should pay attention. 

Florida's Ban on AP African American Studies Class is Authoritarian

by Jeremy C. Young

The decision is "bad for free speech and for educational practice, and it's especially worrisome for Florida high school students. When politicians go to war with teachers, students always lose."

The Romance of the Highway Obscures Harm to Communities of Color

by Ryan Reft

Secretary Pete Buttigieg's comments that interstate construction entrenched racial segregation were denounced as "woke" by critics. But history shows that highway planners knew that such consequences were likely to ensue, and proceeded anyway. 

Colleges are Vulnerable to Political Attacks Because They've Abandoned their Roots

by Christine Adams

"Despite the persistence of conservative campaigns against higher education, American colleges and universities have never really hit on an adequate response to these attacks."

As a History of Insurrection, the January 6 Report is a Mess

by Jill Lepore

The Committee delivered a potent indictment of Donald Trump's responsibility for the events of January 6, but shed little light on the origins or the future of the antidemocratic insurrection and failed to tell a compelling story about what happened. 

Why I'm Not Afraid of ChatGPT

by Christopher Grobe

The limits of AI writing technology present writing teachers the opportunity to show students how to demand more of their writing than the bots can possibly provide. 

Bemoaning Alabama's King-Lee Holiday Misses a Bigger Point

by Kevin M. Levin

While white Alabama still embraces the "lost cause" mythology embodied by Robert E. Lee, outrage about the holiday he shares with Martin Luther King, Jr. shouldn't blind the public to the ongoing struggle to change the commemorative landscape—in Montgomery and nationwide. 

The Common Evangelical Roots of Insurrection in America and Brazil

by Raimundo Barreto and João B. Chaves

A century of international evangelical network-building and theological development have brought militant Christian nationalism to the forefront of right-wing politics in both nations. 

DeSantis Merging Fear of Lessons on Race and Sexuality with Attacks on Public Education

by Jonathan Feingold

Ron DeSantis's General Counsel defined "woke" as “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” The governor's education agenda is neatly summed up by this statement, and it's spreading nationwide. 

Training Ukrainian Troops in the US Part of a Long History of Military Advising as Foreign Policy

by Syrus Jin

Training foreign military officers in the US has, since the 1950s, aimed at more than military success. It's been a vehicle for developing foreign political leadership and expanding US influence. 

Blasphemy Is Not a DEI Issue

by Joan W. Scott

Hamline has mistaken the vital imperative of care and respect toward members of minority communities on campus with capitulation to religious censorship, which a university cannot abide. 

Islamic World Scholar: Hamline Mistaken to Fire Instructor

by Ahmad Sadri

Hamline University deprived its students—including Muslims—of the chance to learn about a multiplicity of views within the faith. 

The History of Mexican Americans in Austin

by Cynthia E. Orozco

A historian works to develop a chronicle of Mexican American community events in the city of Austin with a local community newspaper. 

Will the US Build an Embassy on Palestinian Land in Jerusalem?

by Rashid Khalidi

As the new ultra-right wing Israeli government prepares to escalate the dispossession of Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, the United States should not allow the siting of its embassy to give cover to this project. 

Critical Race Theory? Critical Race Facts

by Donald Earl Collins

Attacks on CRT and other scholarly investigations of inequality are premised on the idea that systemic inequality is fake. The evidence is in, and this is indefensible as a question of fact. 

Why Do "Secret" Documents Keep Showing Up in the Wrong Places?

by Matthew Connelly

The near-unilateral authority of presidents to declare material secret in the name of national security is intoxicating and it's nearly impossible for the chief executive to resist abusing it, creating not a "deep state" but a "dark state" of secrecy and impunity. 

Why Are We Arguing About History But Letting the Profession Die?

by Daniel Bessner

If nobody can expect to earn a decent living researching and writing history, then vast swaths of our past will be unknown to the future, and the history that is written will suit the whims of the rich hobbyists who can afford to do the work. 

When McCarthyism Hit Small-Town Vermont

by Rick Winston

The events that roiled one small town in 1950 showed the courage and integrity of newspaper editors who resisted a "red scare" but also the harm inflicted on a community by weaponized suspicion. 

The Roundup Top Ten for January 13, 2023

The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week.