The Roundup Top Ten for September 17, 2021

Martin Luther King Knew: Fighting Racism Meant Fighting Police Brutality by Jeanne Theoharis Despite contemporary efforts to portray contemporary movements like Black Lives Matter and radical groups like the Black Panther Party as deviators from the "respectable" movement led by MLK, the SCLC leader insisted on the need to combat police brutality despite the unpopularity of that position,

 

Politicians, not Migrants, are Fueling the Pandemic's Resurgence by Randa Tawil At the height of colonialism, European governments rejected calls for quarantine to keep global commerce humming, and blamed supposedly unsanitary local populations for the inevitable spread of cholera. Governors in some US states are repeating this mistake today.

 

 

Another 9/11 Legacy? The Spread of Conspiracy Theories Online by Jeff Melnick 9/11 happened as traditional American media outlets were being consolidated into a small number of corporate networks, encouraging people seeking information to turn to decentralized sources and, eventually, social media, opening space for misinformation and conspiracy theories.

 

 

The Conspiracy Theorists Are Coming for Your Schools by Thomas Lecaque "Over the past year, as the conspiracy theorists have come together under one big apocalyptic tent we have seen organized campaigns of harassment, threats of violence, attempts to harm members of school administrations, and physical altercations at school board meetings when masks are mandated."

 

 

There’s a Very Good Reason ‘Washington Slept Here’ by Nathaniel Philbrick "Today the phrase 'Washington slept here' is a historical joke, but during the two years of intermittent travel at the beginning of his presidency, all those nights spent in taverns and homes across the country were essential to establishing an enduring Union."

 

 

The 70s are Back, But Not How You Think by Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff "In the coronavirus era, disco themes resonate. People long for community and wonder if leaders have our backs. Social media offers some of the trappings that defined disco — from the clothes to the allure of being seen in a new way."

 

 

The Melting of the American Mind: Internet Pop Psychology and the Authoritarian Personality by Maya Vinokour The internet and social media have worked to normalize and validate authoritarian and illiberal worldviews, making the mindset that baffled thinkers like Theodor Adorno in 1947 commonplace today.

 

 

On the Eve of Destruction: Breaking the Double-Bind of the Nuclear Arms Race by Richard Rhodes Politicians and defense contractors who wanted American nuclear supremacy won out over scientists seeking international effort to contain the extinction-level threat posed by thermonuclear weapons, even to the point of denying the planet-destroying power of the H-bomb.

 

 

The Winner in Afghanistan? China by Alfred McCoy While the similarities between the American exits from Vietnam and Afghanistan are superficially obvious, the differences are more significant, and signal a steep decline in America's ability to influence world affairs.

 

 

Melcher's Ghosts by Monica Black "Denazification prompted less soul-searching than resentment and anxiety among the German population. People worried that their prior affiliations and involvement in everything from war crimes to far less nefarious acts—like having obtained property illegally during the Nazi years—would be revealed."

 

from History News Network - Front Page https://ift.tt/3CssbhH