Thread by @tzimmer_history

Great reporting by @ThePlumLineGS on the “Statement of Concern” issued by eminent scholars of democracy.

A few comments on this important document: Some historical context - and one objection to the final sentence, the idea that “History will judge what we do at this moment.”

https://twitter.com/theplumlinegs/status/1399725972535091213

First of all, I am grateful to @leedrutman and all the scholars who participated: “Our democracy is fundamentally at stake,” they write, and that is exactly the heart of the matter.

I reflected on the world-historic significance of this struggle in this thread a few days ago:

https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1398270678118322177

I’m also grateful that the Statement is entirely free of “both sides” nonsense or obscuring language of “unity.” It leaves no doubt that we are looking at a Republican assault on democracy - that is the threat we need to face.

Democracy has become a partisan issue in America. The Statement doesn’t say much about how we got here. That’s not meant as a criticism - the Statement certainly wasn’t intended as a history lesson (and there are currently no historians among the signatories, I believe).

But it is important to understand how one party came to advocate a multiracial version of democracy – while the other is committed to preventing what conservatives believe would be the demise of “real” (read: white Christian patriarchal) America. I outlined this development here:

https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1394751391843946496

The historical perspective also makes it clear that Republicans have not just temporarily “lost their minds”: Trump’s #BigLie is so effective because it can build on longstanding anti-democratic tendencies among conservatives. The GOP has been on this trajectory for a long time:

https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1397183068734099462

My one objection concerns the Statement’s final sentence: “History will judge what we do at this moment.”

I know this is supposed to lend more weight to message, and I share the overall sentiment. But I still wish we could stay clear of the “history will be our judge” myth.

I understand the longing for some form of higher justice and the hope that “history” might be able to deliver it. But that’s not how it works. “History,” as @tlecaque captured brilliantly here, is a never-ending struggle, an always-raging debate on the past and the present.

https://twitter.com/tlecaque/status/1267648953014718467

“History” rarely agrees on anything. A certain narrative about the past may gain the upper hand, and hopefully that’s because it’s more plausible than whatever came before; and certain people will hopefully get the criticism they deserve. But that’s not at all guaranteed.

The “history” that emerges victorious for a while might also just be a version of the past that is being pushed by powerful forces for reasons that have little to do with plausibility, and even less with some form of eternal moral truth.

Until very recently, “history” - at least as it was told and remembered by a broader public - judged Robert E. Lee as a noble man and brilliant warrior, a valiant defender of his home and a model for future generations.

Oh yes, things have begun to change, and eventually many people - “history,” perhaps - have come to judge Lee differently, as a traitor who chose to betray his country in order to defend the institution of slavery.

But it took about 150 years for that to happen, and historical “justice,” if anyone wants to call it that, didn’t come naturally - it was the result of a long and arduous struggle, the result of which was never preordained and might not last.

Whatever “history” will have to say about the present won’t be the result of some higher power making a moral judgement. There is always a chance, as @SethCotlar reminds us, that the “history” future generations will teach might differ significantly from the judgment we desire.

https://twitter.com/sethcotlar/status/1398349347507433472

So, no: Don’t count on history to “judge,” and certainly don’t wait for it to deliver justice. That’s on us, now.

And really, this only underscores the importance of the Statement of Concern and the acute danger it addresses: No one is coming to our rescue, certainly not “history.” Once democracy is gone, it’s gone. It is up to us to protect and preserve it. Right here, right now.

https://twitter.com/leedrutman/status/1399727756666097668

Addendum: Here’s the full Statement of Concern - I encourage everyone to read it newamerica.org/political-refo…