history
Past politicians, legislation and political movements have changed the course of history in ways both big and small. Welcome to our blast to the past.
The Reparations Debate Is More Than a Dollar Figure
The topic of reparations for African Americans isn’t a new concept. America as a country has touched on this issue, albeit briefly, quite a few times during the course of its history. Recent political jockeying for the 2020 election season has brought the topic back to the forefront for both African Americans, and the greater public. What are reparations? Why is the debate taking place now? Wasn’t slavery a long time ago? Those questions and others are typical of how the dialogue on this topic has gone during my experience exploring it. Those questions will continue to be asked until arguably the simplest question regarding this issue is answered:
Herbert L. Seward IIIPublished 5 years ago in The Swamp5 Things You Never Knew About the Civil War
We all know the history of the Civil War. The men and women who fought for our country have sacrificed their lives so that we can live peaceably on earth. In today's world, there is still war going on and it's just the beginning.
Michael ReynosoPublished 5 years ago in The SwampThe Narrative of Racial Divisions
When we open up to conversations about how we can guarantee unalienable rights to every person born, we need to talk about who is receiving the least rights in our current system. From class, race, gender, sex, to ability status, specific people are struggling to survive based on social norms and widely-accepted ideologies, and they make up a huge part of the world. According to the most recent statistics published by the Pew Research Center, there are more Americans who feel like we need to make more changes in our society in order to reach racial equality, but an even bigger number of Americans don’t believe systemic racism is a problem—or possibly doesn’t exist. In particular, the race in most denial of systemic racism (white) still agrees that more changes need to be made, but at the individual level. This kind of worldview doesn’t take into account how institutional racism reinforces and reproduces individual racism, and is in itself the root of the problem. It also reflects our nation’s official narrative of the history of race and racism, which works as a tool used to obscure the reality of institutional racism from those who are not victims of it, and prevents the working class from creating a unified revolutionary political force.
Xristos KatsarosPublished 5 years ago in The SwampRemember When
We all know the signs of growing old. That old tried and true phrase "I remember when" conjures up memories of a distant past. A past that was filled with a harmonious union of fellowship, camaraderie, and yes, that new medium of television. As Archie Bunker kept singing, "Those were the days, when men were men and girls were girls." I guess each generation has their own way of expressing the "good old days." Like my father before, I too have said countless times about the "good old days." When I was young so many of my hopes and dreams laid ahead. But as the years went by I always seemed to hit a road block or two, a few detours popped up now and again, and of course there were always those wrong turns that kept me and I bet many more from achieving what we originally set out to do.
Dr. WilliamsPublished 5 years ago in The SwampThe Two-Spirits of Montana
In Montana’s pre-Columbian history, there was a tradition of young boys and girls realizing that they were two-spirit and entering a new style of life which they felt better represented them. The two-spirit are a third gender with a variety of names, two-spirit being a modern pan-Indian term to replace the problematic previous anthropological term berdache, which derives from the Arabic word for eunuch slaves, which obviously carries an offensive connotation to the two-spirit. Two-spirit individuals would be born one gender, and once they realized their true nature, they would take up some or all of the responsibilities of the opposite gender. This meant that two-spirit would inhabit interesting and often important roles within their tribe. Unfortunately, as Western powers encroached on Native lands, they were disgusted by the two-spirit and repressed them, arresting them with little cause, writing poorly of them—often lying—and teaching the children of Native tribes that two-spirit were immoral. This repression caused a decline in two-spirit numbers, and many tribes lost their two-spirit community entirely. However, in the modern era there has been a resurgence of two-spirit individuals who are attempting to do activism in order to gain (or regain) acceptance, both in Native and non-Native communities.
History RoundtablePublished 5 years ago in The SwampHow Do You Solve a Problem like Public History?
What with all the recent controversies surrounding "white supremacists" statues, we, as the public, are beginning to participate in the public vs academic history debate: a debate which affects many sectors of life from GCSE education to politics to media to the heritage sector. The crux of it is: the public does not want to hear about the nastiness of the past.
Elisabeth MillardPublished 5 years ago in The SwampThe Superior Economic Impact of War
While the management of scarce resources on a macro level is necessary for the construction of a healthy economy, many factors regress or excel the economic growth of a nation. Of the many factors that affect economic growth, armed conflict stands as the most prominent. The presence of armed conflict frequently results in a drastic change of a nation's economy in both the short and long-run. Additionally, a nation’s political stance alters its economy; however, positive and negative change to this degree cannot be achieved unless armed conflict is initiated. In a market economy, in which both the populace and the businesses finance, both monetary and fiscal policies are implemented in order to guide the "invisible hand" of the market but are incapable of imposing extensive changes to a nation’s economy. Alternate factors such as the laws of a nation merely guide the economy as opposed to shifting the supply and demand in each industry on both micro and macro scales. Notwithstanding, there remain two events in modern economic history that paralleled the drastic change armed conflict imposes on a nation’s economy. The Great Depression was the first, as its tenure in the 1930s resulting in mass unemployment, with the unemployment rate at 24.9% in 1933 within the United States. The second was the financial crisis of 2009. As consumer confidence on a macro scale diminished, resulting in a similar economic trough to that of the Great Depression, that raised unemployment to 10% during 2009 in the United States, a substantial difference from a healthy unemployment of 6-7 percent. However, unlike the Great Depression and the financial crisis of 2009, armed conflict is proven to be a consistent means of affecting the economy on a macro scale. Therefore, the domineer that armed conflict has over other miniscule factors that influence a nation’s economy is demonstrated over natural resources, civil wars negatively affecting a nation’s economy, and Keynesian economics during wartimes increasing industry within a nation.
LGBT History: Gay Rights in England
I would like to start by repeating the word 'brief' as said in the title. There are many more pieces of legislation relating to LGBT rights within the UK that I do not have the time to include in this article.
ThatWriterWomanPublished 5 years ago in The SwampWhy Is There a Lack of Loving in American History?
I just saw the film Loving recently. My knowledge of the Loving v. Virginia US Supreme Court Decision is relatively new. Growing up, many facets of civil rights history are drilled into us, such as the Thirteenth Amendment, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Brown v. Board of Education, the civil rights legislation of the sixties, and so on. Most people, including maybe even your teenagers, can say at least the bare minimum of these topics.
No, We Don't Need White History Month
As February opens its door, it is once again the moment to celebrate Black History Month. Officially recognized as such since 1976, the second and literally shortest month of the year, if I might add, is the moment when we recognize the history and contribution of Black people in North America. Mostly celebrated in the United States, it, therefore, highlights the accomplishment of African Americans and their very unique culture. However, every year, I hear the same comment: "Why isn’t there a White History Month?’’ This article, as you can tell by the title, will explain just that. No, we don’t need White history month, and here’s why.
Lonely Allie .Published 5 years ago in The SwampEquivalent Exchange
“Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy’s first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world’s one and only truth.” - Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1
Alexander MartinPublished 5 years ago in The SwampPaul Revere's Ride
I know of few poems that have had the lasting and far-reaching effects of Paul Revere’s Ride. Recite the first line of Longfellow’s poem and most Americans will answer with the second. That is a rare phenomenon.
E.J. HagadornPublished 5 years ago in The Swamp