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Sep 17 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
On this #ConstitutionDay, it's certainly worth remembering some of the truly radical ideas in that complicated & flawed document, with the separation of church & state at the top of the list for me.
saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/10/consid…
& of course it's vital to remember the flaws & failures, as well as the foundational battles to make the Constitution truly work for all Americans. See for example Gordon Barker's masterful book:
google.com/books/edition/…
If, as Eric Foner & others have so convincingly argued, Reconstruction was a Second Founding, I'd say that this is a moment we could consider a Third. A moment to either extend our ideals to all Americans or give in further to white supremacist exclusion.
google.com/books/edition/…
How are we gonna define We the People as we move forward? That's the question, and let's just say I have some thoughts to add to the conversation!
rowman.com/ISBN/978153812…
And a great Constitution Day memory with @robinfield & @KingsCollege_PA!

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More from @AmericanStudier

Ben Railton Profile picture
Sep 18
Here it is, my 93rd #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast eps & convos, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Share more below & enjoy, all! #twitterstorians
Starting with two thoughtful pieces for #September11, including @lutzfernandez for @Medium on teaching (on) such days:
medium.com/@lutzfernandez…
& here’s @TenuredRadical for her newsletter on collective memories & forgettings:
clairepotter.substack.com/p/will-it-alwa…
Read 47 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Sep 16
Getting set to teach (virtually) the first week of my next 5-week @WISEinWorcester adult ed class, my most controversial yet as the course title alone makes clear: "Our boasted civilization is but a thin veneer": How White Supremacy Erodes the American Ideals It Claims to Love.
That title is quoting my favorite single line in American literature, from Charles Chesnutt's Marrow of Tradition:
werehistory.org/tulsa-riots/
& the provocative topic of today's first class will be how white supremacy has consistently undermined the American ideal of religious freedom, as I argued in this column:
saturdayeveningpost.com/2022/08/consid…
Read 4 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Sep 11
Here it is, my 92nd #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast eps, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below & enjoy, all! #twitterstorians
Gotta start with the deservedly viral thread that embodies the best of public scholarly Tweeting, @gvaughnjoy on Hollywood monopolies past & present:

One of my favorite pieces of the week was @mattdelmont for @SmithsonianMag on Black WWII soldiers & the fight for justice:
smithsonianmag.com/history/deadly…
Read 43 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
May 31
I've written a good bit over the years about the #TulsaRaceMassacre, as I (like so many of us) have finally started to learn more about what was sadly not at all a singular event, but certainly an extreme example of our ubiquitous history of racial terrorism. Here's a few:
My first such focused piece was for @werehist in 2015. I didn't know nearly enough about the massacre & its contexts yet, but did have the chance to share my single favorite quote from American lit as part of framing such an event.
werehistory.org/tulsa-riots/
Last year for the massacre's centennial I wrote for my @SatEvePost Considering History column on some of the many layers I've been able to learn & that we all need to engage.
saturdayeveningpost.com/2021/01/consid…
Read 6 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
May 31
Happy Walt Whitman Day and Clint Eastwood Day! A pair of complicated and flawed but compelling and defining American artists. #poetry #film #twitterstorians

memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com/p/may-nominees…
It's easier to recognize Eastwood's flaws since he's with us today, talking to fake Barack Obamas and whatnot. But over the last few years we've certainly come to understand Whitman's own uglier sides.
daily.jstor.org/should-walt-wh…
But both of these men & their works contain multitudes, much of which still has a great deal to offer us. Whitman's "Democratic Vistas," for example, is an anthem for a more inclusive vision of America.

xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/Whitman…
Read 4 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
May 29
On this #MemorialDayWeekend, at the end of another painfully long week, here’s my 78th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast eps, new & forthcoming books from the week. Add more below & solidarity! #twitterstorians
Gonna start with the best thread I read this week on guns in America, @UnlawfulEntries on lessons from her “Guns, Money, & Politics” class:

As we mourn with Uvalde, also an important moment to remember the town’s inspiring activist histories (h/t @CarisAdel):

iberoaztlan.com/articles/remem…
Read 33 tweets

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