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race in America

What is DEI anyway?

John Fea   |  March 3, 2025

Here is Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic: On President Donald Trump’s first day back in the White House, he issued an executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion in the federal government. Its sweeping language forbids DEI “mandates, policies, programs, preferences, […]

Ibram X. Kendi moves to Howard University. His Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University is closing.

John Fea   |  January 30, 2025

Here is BU Today: Ibram X. Kendi, the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research (CAR), says he has decided to leave BU to join Howard University in Washington, DC. CAR will close when its charter with the University […]

The Author’s Corner with Eran A. Zelnik

Rachel Petroziello   |  January 28, 2025

Eran A. Zelnik is a Lecturer in the Department of History at California State University, Chico. This interview is based on his new book, American Laughter, American Fury: Humor and the Making of a White Man’s Democracy, 1750–1850 (Johns Hopkins […]

The Author’s Corner with Lindsey Bestebreurtje

Rachel Petroziello   |  January 7, 2025

Lindsey Bestebreurtje is a Curatorial Assistant with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. This interview is based on her new book, Built by the People Themselves: African American Community Development in Arlington, Virginia, from the Civil […]

The Author’s Corner with Samantha Ege

Rachel Petroziello   |  December 27, 2024

Samantha Ege is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton. This interview is based on her new book, South Side Impresarios: How Race Women Transformed Chicago’s Classical Music Scene  (University of Illinois Press, 2024). JF: What led you […]

The Author’s Corner with Patrick Parr

Rachel Petroziello   |  December 26, 2024

Patrick Parr is Professor of English at Lakeland University Japan. This interview is based on his new book, Malcolm Before X (University of Massachusetts Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write Malcolm Before X? PP: Back in 2012, I’d […]

The Author’s Corner with Michael O’Malley

Rachel Petroziello   |  December 23, 2024

Michael O’Malley is Professor of History at George Mason University. This interview is based on his new book, The Color of Family: History, Race, and the Politics of Ancestry (University of Chicago Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write […]

The Democratic Party is not “just losing white workers but all workers, regardless of race”

John Fea   |  November 10, 2024

For the last nine years we have been told that people support Trump because they are racist and patriarchal. Social class, we are told, is really just a guise for the racism and misogyny of the uneducated white working classes. […]

The Author’s Corner with CJ Martin

Rachel Petroziello   |  November 8, 2024

CJ Martin is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of the Holy Cross. This interview is based on his new book, The Precious Birthright: Black Leaders and the Fight to Vote in Antebellum Rhode […]

The Author’s Corner with Kenneth S. Sacks

Rachel Petroziello   |  October 18, 2024

Kenneth S. Sacks is Professor of History and Classics at Brown University. This interview is based on his new book, Emerson’s Civil Wars: Spirit and Society in the Age of Abolition (Cambridge University Press, 2024). JF: What led you to […]

The Author’s Corner with Katie Singer

Rachel Petroziello   |  September 30, 2024

Katie Singer is a public scholar, writer, and activist. This interview is based on her new book, Alien Soil: Oral Histories of Great Migration Newark (Rutgers University Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write Alien Soil? KS: I wrote Alien […]

The Author’s Corner with Keidrick Roy

Rachel Petroziello   |  September 25, 2024

Keidrick Roy is a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. This interview is based on his new book, American Dark Age: Racial Feudalism and the Rise of Black Liberalism (Princeton University Press, 2024). JF: What led you to […]

The Author’s Corner with Vanessa Meikle Schulman

Rachel Petroziello   |  September 13, 2024

Vanessa Meikle Schulman is Associate Professor of Art History at George Mason University. This interview is based on her new book, Art during Wartime: Painting Everyday Life in the Civil War North (University of Massachusetts Press, 2024). JF: What led […]

The Author’s Corner with Oliver A. Rosales

Rachel Petroziello   |  September 4, 2024

Oliver A. Rosales is Professor of History at Bakersfield College. This interview is based on his new book, Civil Rights in Bakersfield: Segregation and Multiracial Activism in the Central Valley (University of Texas Press, 2024). JF: What led you to […]

The Author’s Corner with Matthew L. Harris

Rachel Petroziello   |  August 23, 2024

Matthew L. Harris is Professor of History and Director of Legal Studies at Colorado State University – Pueblo. This interview is based on his new book, Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality (Oxford University Press, 2024). JF: […]

The Author’s Corner with Richard E. Ocejo

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 18, 2024

Richard E. Ocejo is Professor of Sociology at John Jay College and the City University of New York Graduate Center. This interview is based on his new book, Sixty Miles Upriver: Gentrification and Race in a Small American City (Princeton […]

The Author’s Corner with John K. Bardes

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 14, 2024

John K. Bardes is Assistant Professor of History at Louisiana State University. This interview is based on his new book, The Carceral City: Slavery and the Making of Mass Incarceration in New Orleans, 1803-1930 (University of North Carolina Press, 2024). […]

The Author’s Corner with Jeffrey S. Adler

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 10, 2024

Jeffrey S. Adler is Professor of History and Criminology and Distinguished Teaching Scholar at the University of Florida. This interview is based on his new book, Bluecoated Terror: Jim Crow New Orleans and the Roots of Modern Police Brutality (University […]

The Presbyterian Church in America canceled David French. Today he responds.

John Fea   |  June 9, 2024

We have covered this story here at Current. Check out Marvin Olasky’s piece, “David French is on a panel, oh no!” We also published “The Presbyterian Church in America disinvites David French.” Today French gives his own take on what […]

The Author’s Corner with Cara Rogers Stevens

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 7, 2024

Cara Rogers Stevens is Associate Professor of History at Ashland University. This interview is based on her new book, Thomas Jefferson and the Fight against Slavery (University Press of Kansas, 2024). JF: What led you to write Thomas Jefferson and the […]

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