Author: TheConversation

By Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, IUPUI An audacious Black heavyweight champion was slated to defend his title against a White boxer in Reno, Nevada, on July 4, 1910. It was billed as “the fight of the century.” The fight was seen as a referendum on racial superiority – and all hell was about to break loose in the racially divided United States. Jack Johnson, the Black man, decisively beat James Jeffries, nicknamed “the Great White Hope.” Johnson’s triumph ignited bloody confrontations and violence between Blacks and Whites throughout the country, leaving perhaps two dozen dead, almost all of...

By David W. Stowe, Professor of English and Religious Studies, Michigan State University On the anniversary of America’s independence, the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass made the opening line of Psalm 137, “By the Rivers of Babylon,” a centerpiece of his most famous speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass told the audience at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, that for a free black like himself, being expected to celebrate American independence was akin to the Judean captives being mockingly coerced to perform songs in praise of Jerusalem. Not only did...

By Jay L. Zagorsky, Economist and Research Scientist, The Ohio State University In the eyes of many Americans, the Fourth of July is a day for parades, barbecue and, of course, fireworks. The tradition got its start at the beginning of our nation’s history after the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia to write and sign the Declaration of Independence. A day after the Continental Congress adopted the declaration on July 4, 1776, John Adams – soon the second U.S. president – penned a latter to his wife Abigail, declaring that Independence Day “ought to be solemnized with pomp and...

By Cornell William Clayton, C.O. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Washington State University; and Michael Ritter, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Washington State University Arizona may keep two voting laws that Republicans say protect election integrity and Democrats believe will make it harder for some residents to cast ballots. That was the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, one of the decade’s most important voting rights cases. One Arizona law challenged in the case, H.B. 2023, makes it a felony for anyone other than a family member, caregiver or postal worker to collect...

By Erika M Bsumek, Associate Professor of History, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts and James Sidbury, Professor of History, Rice University The effort by Democrats and Republicans in Congress to find agreement over a federal infrastructure spending bill has hinged on a number of factors, including what “infrastructure” actually is – but the debate ignores a key historical fact. There is widespread public support for public investment in building and repairing roads and bridges, water pipes and public schools – as well as providing more elder care and expanding broadband internet access. All of those...