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TheConversationUS

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A nonprofit news organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge of experts with the public, in accessible, trustworthy articles drawing on their research.

Pictured: just a few of our recent writers.

Free to read, without paywalls or ads (and free to republish, too, under Creative Commons license).

We combine academic rigor with journalistic flair.

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TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Canadian-American journalist Sam Forster spent two weeks pretending to be Black to attempt a racial experiment no one asked for. But he is not the first white journalist to try this, and to end up reinforcing stereotypes and failing to address systemic .
“To believe that the richness of Black identity can be understood through a temporary costume trivializes the lifelong trauma of racism. It turns the complexity of Black life into a stunt.”
https://theconversation.com/theres-a-strange-history-of-white-journalists-trying-to-better-understand-the-black-experience-by-becoming-black-231577
@blackmastodon

binaryphile ,
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@davidhmccoy @TheConversationUS @blackmastodon The implication being that you can't find out the black experience by, say, talking to black people and then believing what they say.

skydog ,
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@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon

My dad had Black Like Me on his bookshelf, as a psychologist. It wasn't merely professional, either. Our Irish ancestry has a darker skin tone than normal, but still 'white', and afro-textured black hair. In the service at the end of WWII he was denied restrooms in Georgia.

I find the inference that posing as black for discovery is just another form of blackface to be very interesting, and a tell of racism, realized or not, within the speaker themself. It's also interesting see how people want to form the line of color on a spectrum that is largely seamless.

TheConversationUS , to AcademicChatter group
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Research-based tips for professors and administrators:
> Set norms and expectations about the conversation, not just rules
> Allow students to tell their stories, when they first heard about the issue and how it affected them
> Encourage curiosity by posing non-threatening questions
> Find out the root of the disagreement
> Find cooperative projects for students to act on
> Offer students a safe space after debates to talk and feel reassured
https://theconversation.com/6-ways-to-foster-political-discourse-on-college-campuses-230365
@academicchatter

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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In honor of , here’s a reading list to help you understand the history and meaning of the holiday.

https://theconversation.com/6-books-that-explain-the-history-and-meaning-of-juneteenth-205266
@blackmastodon @bookstodon

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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Teaching about slavery in schools and doing it well isn’t just about teaching the harshness of slavery. And educators can make about so much more than the end of slavery.

Today’s holiday offers abundant opportunities to teach about what it means to fight for freedom and maintain a sense of self-determination in the face of oppression.
https://theconversation.com/juneteenth-offers-new-ways-to-teach-about-slavery-black-perseverance-and-american-history-206056
@histodons

mlohbihler ,
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@TheConversationUS @histodons slavery is white history too

TheConversationUS OP ,
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@mlohbihler @histodons Indeed!

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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The song ‘Born in the USA’ has been used in iconic – and ironic – ways.

An example is in 1984, when Ronald Reagan used the song in his reelection and announced that Bruce Springsteen and him shared the same American dream. The Boss vehemently disagreed.

https://theconversation.com/born-in-the-usa-turns-40-and-still-remains-one-of-bruce-springsteens-most-misunderstood-songs-228348
@histodons

j258853 ,
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@TheConversationUS @histodons Republicans have always been so tone deaf and stupid.

pete ,
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@j258853 @TheConversationUS @histodons

Slogans, booing, cheering, flag waving. Short circuits the brain.

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Georgia is in play in 2024.

“I believe that Trump can be placed among a long line of demagogues who possess the skills needed to tap into the fears and anxieties of a group of people that perceives itself as marginalized, at risk and not in control.”

It worked for Democrat Lester Maddox in 1967, and it’s working for Trump this year
https://theconversation.com/preying-on-white-fears-worked-for-georgias-lester-maddox-in-the-60s-and-is-working-there-for-donald-trump-today-227749
@blackmastodon

Teop_Versant ,
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@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon ..." a group of people that perceives itself as marginalized, at risk and not in control.” That group of people got him elected the first time, and included Blacks. This Trump is a politician and will lose much of his prior support base. Only Republicans now. There is also no real choice of opposition. Biden never should have been elected. The US is overwhelmed with political savvy. Nobody really cares.

Runyan50 ,
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@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon “Fears” are just excuses to be racist.

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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70 years after the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board, one of its most significant side effects − the large-scale loss of Black teachers − continues to affect America’s schools.
Before Brown, Black teachers were 35% to 50% of the teacher workforce in segregated states.
Today, Black people account for just 6.7% of America’s public K-12 teachers.
https://theconversation.com/how-black-teachers-lost-when-civil-rights-won-in-brown-v-board-229687
@histodons @blackmastodon

jgordon ,
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@TheConversationUS @histodons @blackmastodon How much of that percentage reduction came from black women having other options (medicine, engineering, finance, academia, etc?)

WmShakesp3are ,
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@TheConversationUS seems like we can’t do anything right, huh?@histodons @blackmastodon @bmacDonald94

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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On this day in 1984, Bruce Springsteen released “Born in the USA” - a gruff patriotic ballad that was entirely misunderstood by President Ronald Reagan (but Donald Trump is no fan)
https://theconversation.com/born-in-the-usa-turns-40-and-still-remains-one-of-bruce-springsteens-most-misunderstood-songs-228348
@histodons

Dataless ,
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@TheConversationUS @histodons Trump May be no fan of Springsteen, but he still used Born in the USA at his rallies, as a racist attack on Barack Obama.

This is not misunderstanding, and the article is far, far too charitable. Conservatives don’t misunderstand art. They dont even try to understand art. They use art as a bludgeon to further their own message, regardless of the art’s meaning. Like they do with all forms of communication.

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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We want you to know the name Alice Ball. She was the first woman and first African American to earn a master’s degree in science from the College of Hawaii.

Ball remarkably developed a treatment for leprosy, but she passed away shortly after.

Arthur Dean, chair of the College of Hawaii’s chemistry department, took over the project, and renamed Ball’s method to the “Dean Method,” never crediting Ball for her work.

https://theconversation.com/a-young-black-scientist-discovered-a-pivotal-leprosy-treatment-in-the-1920s-but-an-older-colleague-took-the-credit-224922
@blackmastodon

shonin ,
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@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon I choose the bear.

CompletelyRatchet ,
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@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon Alice Ball 💪❤️

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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The idea that seeing or talking about LGBTQ+ themes in books poses a threat to children or society goes back to medieval times.

Records of queer people and their lives from the Middle Ages are more plentiful than many people realize, but writings about the history were censored by religious leaders.

https://theconversation.com/dont-say-gay-rules-and-book-bans-might-have-felt-familiar-in-medieval-europe-but-queer-themes-in-literature-survived-nonetheless-228974
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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At a time of rising authoritarianism, and when U.S. politics seem mired in chaos, it’s worth looking back at how societies centuries ago defined bad governance:
https://theconversation.com/medieval-europe-was-far-from-democratic-but-that-didnt-mean-tyrants-got-a-free-pass-227214
@histodons

barney ,
@barney@mas.to avatar

@TheConversationUS @histodons

So, we Americans are about to return to the Middle Ages, but it won't be as bad as we think.

It's a good news/bad news thing.

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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Today is the anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history – continuing to haunt Americans.

One of them is Gregory Fairchild, whose grandfather was caught up in it, and whose family history personally inspires his work.

From our archive: https://theconversation.com/100-years-after-the-tulsa-race-massacre-lessons-from-my-grandfather-161391

@blackmastodon @histodons

chrisU ,
@chrisU@mstdn.social avatar

@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon @histodons

Read this

Sandywb ,
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@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon @histodons Some white people will do anything to thwart the success of Black Americans.

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Beethoven is A great composer, but not THE great composer, according to a music professor who believes it’s time to reframe Beethoven’s greatness “within the context of historic ideals of whiteness and patriarchy.”

“If Americans could acknowledge that our music and music education are deeply rooted in these two ideologies, then we could realize that Beethoven, surely a good composer, was simply one of many.”

https://theconversation.com/was-beethoven-truly-the-greatest-229660
@blackmastodon

rlpaulprodn ,
@rlpaulprodn@mstdn.social avatar

@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon The conversation on this subject with regard to Shakespeare has been robust. The outgoing director of the Folger Shakespeare Library really thought it was an important conversation, and the incoming director (a woman of color) is even more devoted to it. It’s a valuable conversation, once you get past the screamers.

rlpaulprodn ,
@rlpaulprodn@mstdn.social avatar

@TheConversationUS @blackmastodon Here are some of the podcasts I produced for them on various aspects of the subject.
https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/othello-blackface/

https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/elizabethan-race-blackness-dadabhoy/

https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/critical-race-theory-titus-andronicus/

https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/paterson-joseph-julius-caesar/

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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The famous song is a send-off fit for a king! It was originally written for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1901, but evolved to be used during ceremonies for accomplished graduates.

The interesting :
https://theconversation.com/how-a-british-military-march-became-the-distinctive-sound-of-american-graduations-230060

@histodons

TheConversationUS , to AcademicChatter group
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A march by Edgar Elgar is the traditional soundtrack for American college commencements and high school graduations. It’s a stirring bit of music, but perhaps an odd choice, given its roots as a celebration of the British king.

Here’s a brief history of how it happened:
https://theconversation.com/how-a-british-military-march-became-the-distinctive-sound-of-american-graduations-230060
@academicchatter 🎓🎉

Seniors at Smith College’s commencement walk down the aisle to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance played by a brass band

joelvanderwerf ,
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@TheConversationUS @academicchatter

*Edward Elgar

TheConversationUS OP ,
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@joelvanderwerf @academicchatter Oops, yes. Thank you!

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