Academic Rants

  Sport, Society and Social Change I think the 1960s is a pivotal time in American society. It’s a time of revolutionary change in the world of sports for both men and women of all races. Although the color line was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947, it wasn’t until the 1960s that America’s professional leagues had witnessed complete integration. The 1960s is a transformative movement in sports history. It changed the visible world and the foreseeable future. It placed the black athlete in a position of responsibility and influence to bring, as Jim Brown would argue, “African Americans to the forefront on every level.”   This is a history lesson in of itself. The previous century saw the rise of the black athlete and the fear created by his success. The color line instantly followed segregating sports   just as it had normal facets of daily life. Keep in mind that the NHL started its desegregation process in 1958 but remains racist, the NBA (1947/1950 had Asian and Af...

 On September 24th a group of concerned citizens will gather in West Windsor, New Jersey and discuss school segregation. The audience will consist of politicians, clergy, scholars, attorneys, activists, educators and parents. Passionate voices will fill the meeting place and the congregation will demand justice. Several solutions and potential solutions will be offered before the session is adjourned. People will leave with hope, feeling a sense of satisfaction.  However, in spite of the best intentions, the importance of this event will be lost on the majority of the state's residents who will not know or care about such things. For in New Jersey, you see, school segregation is a problem or it isn't. While I want to suggest that New Jersey is like any other state, it actually is very different from most of the other 49. The Garden State ranks in the top five in school funding, school expenditures, school performance, and high school graduation. It also ranks in the top six in...

 About 14 months ago, I wrote about using the Black Death as a model to explain pandemics to Americans. In that time period some of the world's best minds have written books, published articles and given print and video interviews about pandemics and the killing power of COVID-19 and similar viruses. Yet, in the greatest nation on earth, people are still treating this virus like it is the common cold or the flu.  Praise President Trump for Operation Warp Speed. His administration supported the scientific community in producing vaccines at an amazing pace. In less than a year, scientists have produced medical solutions that can limit the greater risks associated with COVID. Criticize President Trump for downplaying the potency of the disease, adding to the hesitancy about a cure, and failing to advocate taking the vaccine. In fact, if there is one reason to not support a 2024 Trump presidency it would be the conversations with Bob Woodward, his promotion of phony cures, his nea...

 As a member or former member of several of these organizations, I am proud to share this document that was recently published by the AHA. I constantly advocate for a more honest teaching of American history. I want to see it reflected in K-12 education, on college campuses, and on national examinations. I want my students who will become future educators to be better prepared than those who taught me. It sickens me that so many students know little more about Native Americans than Thanksgiving or Columbus than a poem, or slavery than the words of Frederick Douglass. Students will not think badly of themselves just for learning that America created a Chinese Exclusion Act or Operation Wetback. However, they will feel differently if they don't learn about it in school and learn about it as an adult. Prejudice and racism can be minimized or even eliminated through quality education. There are several groups who are dedicated to teaching American history in a more enlightened manner. ...

  On June 18 1865 General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, Texas. He had just finished successful campaigns on the Gulf of Mexico recapturing Union forts. His next mission was to subdue the rebellion in Texas. The next day, on June 19th, he changed the last stages of the Civil War by reading several orders from the Ashton Villa. Yet, most only recall Order #3 which gives rise to Juneteenth, which is now celebrated as “the official end of slavery” in the United States. The order read: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military...

  Comic book historians have long posited the origins of the modern superhero genre to the isolation and trauma caused by the rise of the Nazi government and the start of World War II. They suggest that young Jewish American writers created and developed superheroes to symbolically challenge the injustices that were taking place across the Atlantic as well as in their communities. That the earliest writers and artists of these comic books were male is not surprising. It would have been difficult for young women to express similar feelings in print. Hence, the result is a young male perspective of urban America during the Depression and on the eve of a world war. America's cities were busy places, sometimes gritty, but always attractive to inquisitive young men. They were ripe for innovation and progress, simply inviting sites for extraordinary humans. These comic books provided us with our first notions of modern American heroes. These images and ideas of heroes and heroism contain...

Since the aftermath of the 2020 election, the press, especially the Washington Post, has slowly fallen into the trap of trying to define Pandemic America in the context of race. This argument has become quite fashionable. George Floyd's death and trial has stained and strained the nation in countless ways. Perhaps without George Floyd and COVID Donald Trump would still be president. In many respects, the press realizes its role in making Donald Trump president and the majority are apologizing. At the same time, that majority is justifying the election of Joe Biden. Race, however is only one reason, not the sole reason for Biden's victory. The left-leaning press wants to see America as having deep racist tendencies and the right-leaning press wants to suggest that America is free of any form of racism. One does not need to be woke to see that America is not free of racial contention. We are the product of Anglo-Saxon heritages that used race to conquer various parts of the world...

On February 8th, a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reported: ”Just 16% of Americans say democracy is working well or extremely well, a pessimism that spans the political spectrum. Nearly half Americans, 45%, thin democracy isn’t functioning properly, while another 38% say it’s working somewhat well.” I wonder what the same poll would have revealed on February 15th? Now that Donald Trump has been impeached twice and acquitted twice, perhaps this is one of the signs that democracy isn’t working well.  Unfortunately there are more. And it is unfair to blame the former president for all of the problems. The events of January 6th might have been instigated by his words, but the people who took part in the acts at the Capitol had many of these sentiments and concerns long before Mr. Trump took office in 2017. While one can point to the hypocrisy of Mitch McConnell in criticizing the president after the vote (and after Trump had given him all ...

 On January 1st, Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced his latest achievement, the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Train Center.  Governor Cuomo is fulfilling his promise to redevelop the infrastructure of New York State. Within the last four years he has played a major role in the development and construction of the Second Avenue Subway (2017), the Mario Cuomo Bridge (2018), the Kosciuszko Bridge (2017-19), the reconstruction of the Robert Kennedy Bridge (2020), and the ongoing construction of new parking decks and terminals to create a new LaGuardia Airport.  While praise must be given to Governor Cuomo, this story is not about him. It is really about a vision. A very large vision of mass transit that is starting to take shape. Others are involved in this process including two late senators, both towering figures in mass transit. They are Frank Lautenberg (1924-2013) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003). Thanks to Governor Cuomo and the advocacy of countless transit and plan...

  I have some serious questions.  They are not simple ones.  I will start with a basic question: at what point do we acknowledge that we are on the verge of a Civil War? At what point do we realize that our government is falling apart and that we have some very uncomfortable decisions to make? At what point do we do something that is ethical, but perhaps not the best legal decision? And will that decision lead to armed conflict? I think that Majorie Taylor Greene presents us with that test case. If the Senate won't deal with Donald Trump and his Impeachment, will the House address the chaos surrounding the language and conduct of Majorie Taylor Greene?  Who is Representative Majorie Taylor Greene, and why is everyone talking about her? Ms. Taylor Greene has been discussed in many forums including, late night talk shows, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal  It seems like the media ca...

   Last weekend thousands of Russians were in the streets protesting. They did so in spite of extreme cold and a strong police presence. The protests took place in numerous cities and the protesters realized that their lives were in danger for challenging the authority of President Putin's government. Contrast that scene with recent protests in the United States. Americans are never afraid for their safety for their right to protest is protected by the Constitution. While the Russians knew they were protesting in support of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and for democracy, often American protesters cannot fully articulate the issues for their anger or frustration. The January Washington protests are a case in point. Thousands of people came to Washington, D.C. for a rally and then afterwards were encouraged by the president to march to the Capitol. After gathering there, protesters decided to storm the building. However, why did they do this? What did they expect to achieve...