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1) The idea of a history teach-in is attractive, however I would favor historians acting as active citizens—registering voters, getting involved in local activism, politics, things like that.
2) This is not a problem of history. This is a problem of politics and citizenship. We should tap into those statuses at this moment. Voter suppression is real. Action, not words are needed.
3) The answer to this may be, “Well, we can do both”. But we likely won’t, and time taken to organize something that probably won’t change a single vote, could be spent organizing, volunteering, and registering, which will increase votes.
4) This is a time to extend ourselves beyond what we normally do: talking and expecting others to listen because we are historians. Let’s join our fellow citizens as citizens and, use the legal means we have to participate in the electoral process.
5) Law professors who have law licenses can actually enter the field by bringing cases that can change policy. Historians can sign on to supportive briefs, but that is a separate function.
6) We could do basically what we always do—lecturing, running a seminar, saying the things we say on TV. That’s easy. But getting out on the street, going to meetings, organizing historians to register people, that would be hard.
7) I love the JFK quote about going to the Moon—we’re doing it not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.
