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Ben Railton Profile picture
@AmericanStudier
May 25 • 6 tweets • 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
No American story is more pitch-perfect for the combination of #MemorialDay & #AAPIHeritageMonth than that of the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team, the all-Japanese American #WWII regiment that would by war's end become the most decorated unit in US military history.
The 442nd's more than 14,000 awards & honors include a posthumous Medal of Honor, awarded in March 1946 to Private Sadao Munemori for his heroic actions to save the lives of two fellow soldiers during heavy fighting along Italy's Gothic Line.
& as I write in my new @SatEvePost Considering History column, Munemori is just one of many Asian Americans who've received a posthumous Medal of Honor for their service & sacrifice. #twitterstorians

saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/05/consid…
That list also includes Frances Brown Wai, who achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant despite WWII's segregated & prejudiced military; Herbert Kailieha Pilila’au, the 1st native Hawaiian to receive a Medal of Honor; & Rodney Yano, a helicopter mechanic turned Vietnam War hero.
& although he didn't receive a Medal of Honor, I couldn't write this column without highlighting the amazing life & career of Vicente Lim, the first Filipino American graduate of West Point & a hero across both World Wars.
saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/05/consid…
The parents, pundits, & politicians (looking at you, @GovRonDeSantis) working so hard to limit the US histories we teach, learn, remember to only the whitest ones aren't just wrong & racist. They're also trying to deny all Americans the chance to commemorate the very best of us.

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More from @AmericanStudier

Ben Railton Profile picture
May 28
As we rest, reflect, & remember on this holiday weekend, here’s my 129th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week to help ya do all three! Enjoy, & share more below, please. #twitterstorians
Starting with a few favorites from the week as usual, including @ehphd’s delightful thread of some of the best Tina Turner scholarship in honor of the icon’s passing:
Taryn White wrote for @SmithsonianMag on Edna Lewis, the mother of soul food:

smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/e…
Read 46 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 30
What do you get for a 125th anniversary? It’s your lucky day, ‘cause the answer is my 125th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Share more below & enjoy, all! #twitterstorians
Starting with a few favorites from the week as usual, including @felixmooreactor for @PinkNews on an early fight for trans rights (h/t @DamselDystopia):
thepinknews.com/2023/04/24/san…
While @AaronLecklider wrote for @Slate on a fascinating discovery about queer history long in the making:
slate.com/human-interest…
Read 50 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 28
Haven't had a chance to properly commemorate #NationalPoetryMonth yet, so wanted to quickly share a few of my favorite American poems as well as a couple current folks continuing these awesome legacies:
Sarah Piatt's my favorite poet, & "The Palace-Burner" my favorite American poem. Empathy, history, self-reflection, parenting, doubts, inspirations, it's all there & then some.
neglectedbooks.com/?p=3246
Langston Hughes is a very close second, & while that's due to the incredible breadth & depth of his works, I'd highlight "Let America Be America Again" as the best single critical patriotic cultural work I know:
poets.org/poem/let-ameri…
Read 8 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 12
The authoritarian, demeaning, & racist attacks on @brotherjones_ & @Justinjpearson are a troubling reflection of where our political & democratic debates stand in 2023, but they're also nothing new. Indeed, such attacks originated with the first Black legislators in US history.
One of the most familiar images & tropes of the propagandistic, white supremacist narratives of Reconstruction created in US educational & pop culture spaces alike for more than 100 years was precisely such racism targeting the era's groundbreaking Black legislators.
The reality, as ever, is not just distinct from those white supremacist myths but quite the opposite: the stories & legacies of Reconstruction-era Black legislators are among the most striking, inspiring, & critical patriotic in American history.
Read 6 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 12
Happy Ronald Takaki Day! On my short list for the greatest & most influential American historians. #History #twitterstorians

memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com/p/april-nomine…
I wrote about one of my single favorite Takaki moments, from the intro to his magisterial A Different Mirror, as part of this post on Carlos Bulosan & redefining American identity:

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2014/07/july-2…
It's no coincidence that Takaki grew up in WWII Hawaii, home to a Japanese American community who embodied the very best of American critical patriotism & identity:

saturdayeveningpost.com/2021/12/consid…
Read 5 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 10
150 years ago this week, the small Louisiana town of Colfax was the site of one of the Reconstruction era's most violent acts of racial terrorism (a far too competitive category), with more than 100 Black militia members killed by a white supremacist mob.
That specific sesquicentennial, like Reconstruction's broader 150th anniversary, still needs a more central place in our collective memories. So this week I'll blog about a handful of Reconstruction histories we could better remember, including Colfax & many more.
Starting with today's post on why the Freedmen's Bureau failed (fuck you very much, Andrew Johnson), & lasting & important legacies of that organization nonetheless. #twitterstorians

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2023/04/april-…
Read 10 tweets

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