Tag: history

Inequality Enforced by the Post-Civil War Supreme Court

After the Civil War, the Supreme Court of the United States could have really worked to ensure equal rights for US citizens. Instead, they took things like the Civil Rights Act of 1875 (which garanteed fair treatment in establishments regardless of race, among other things) and declared it unconstitutional. Their interpretations of laws are argued to have set up years of oppression in today’s Book of the Day, Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court. This historical account by author Lawrence Gladstone examines the effects of these early decisions and how they defined policy and its enforcement for years to come.

It’s an embarrassing time for the United States, but an important one to know about. Getting Gladstone’s perspective should be of interest to those interested in US history, law, human rights, civil rights, or politics and government.

Miles Davis and Changing Music

Kind of Blue was recorded quickly by Miles Davis’s group, and the result would influence music well beyond the genre of jazz. Going backwards to show its roots and forward to define its influence, Blue Moment: Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music‘s author Richard Williams expands what one can take from this legendary album.  Good for music fans of any kind, as well as American-history buffs.

Get It? It’s a Play On Words!

Today’s book: Condom Nation : The U.S. Government’s Sex Education Campaign from World War I to the Internet

Condom Nation. HA!

So this book takes a gander at the last 90 years of sex education in America, and the opposition the government has faced from its own people. Be it religious groups, general anxiety towards the topic of sex, or other obstacles, Alexandra Lord attempts to document the U.S. Government’s long take at a progressive Sex Ed campaign.  While her argument is that Americans have thwarted their own government’s attempts, some critics have said Lord did not go far enough in examining why Americans can shy away from the topic.  While the author’s point of view is made clear from the beginning, it serves as an interesting account of one government’s 90-year efforts to educate its own people about the risks and responsibilities of sexual activity.

Japanese Internment Photos in BotD

It is a shameful part of American history often brushed under the rug too easily considering what was happening on enemy soil at the time. Nonetheless, during World War II, following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the United States government thought rounding up everyone of Japanese descent would keep us safe.

Though there is little collected, some material recording this 3+ year forced relocation has survived.  In Moving Pictures: Photography and the Japanese American Incarceration, Jasmine Alinder collects some of these images to present a view from the inside of what was happening. To learn more, also check out Time of Fear in our DVD section.

A Sobering Book of the Day

The mass killings carried out by the Nazi party and their allies during World War II are horrific.  The impact certainly overshadowed other mass killings carried out by regimes in the 20th Century, but Benjamin A. Valentino is out to make sure these tragedies and their lessons do not go unnoticed.  His book, Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the 20th Century, looks at all of the different places where, by his definition, at least 50,000 people are killed in a 5 year period. A brief list of mass killings:

  • Soviet Union
  • China
  • Cambodia
  • Nazi Germany
  • Armenia
  • Rwanda
  • Soviet occupation of Afghanistan
  • Guatemala

And there are probably more.  This book provides a new look at the brutality of the 20th Century, but contains lessons one should remember.

Book of the Day

I’m not old enough to know first-hand how the Bay of Pigs incident was handled in the United States.  I guess that shows something dangerous about history:  we depend on the historians to get it as accurate as possible.  This is why I have to look at a work like Howard Shore’s Bay of Pigs as a book of research conducted to best explain facts.  What was found, though, is pretty disturbing.  JFK authorizing assassination of Fidel Castro?  Sending back Cuban exiles to attack while the US Military withholds support in order to mask their involvement?  That’s some heavy cloak-and-dagger business, and the more I find out, the more scared I am.  You may recall earlier reports reflecting my fear of nuclear apocalypse.  I’m kinda glad I missed the Cold War, but I’d feel like I was committing quite the disservice by not finding out as much about American history as possible.

Book of the Day

War Horse: a history of the military horse and rider is by Louis A. DiMarco, and while I do not have a cover image as-per normal, this book is too interesting to not post (credit to flickr user sharper3d for that image).  I can tell you that the real cover features a United States Civil War soldier next to his mount, and I can also warn/promise you that this is a well-researched book on the history of equestrian combat.  Or, human combat using horses (I don’t think there’s a pony Fight Club out there).  It may be easy to view modern combat, an often in-personable use of technology from far distances, and forget about not only the safety concerns of these unarmored vehicles, but also of the tactical advantages of having a faster, stronger transport than the marching battalions.  Very cool book.