Jim Loewen

James W. Loewen is a sociologist.  The New Press has just brought out new paperbacks of Loewen's bestseller, Lies My Teacher Told Me, and Sundown Towns, about places that were/are all-white on purpose. 

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  Sep 1, 2015
  

  The Tallest Mountain – The Silliest Naming – Reversed on August 31, 2015

  by Jim Loewen

  Ohio's John Boehner wants to keep the name McKinley. It remains to be seen whether he can undo the action by the Department of the Interior, especially since Republican leaders from Alaska support the original name, Denali, over McKinley. But the mountain should be named Denali.
  

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  Aug 31, 2015
  

  Another Comic Strip Imitates (My) Life

  by Jim Loewen

  This time it's "Pearls Before Swine."
  

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  Aug 22, 2015
  

  Doonesbury as Documentary: Or, Comic Strip Imitates Life

  by Jim Loewen

  Garry Trudeau nailed it, this past Sunday. Texas now teaches history in the service of stupidity.
  

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  Jul 31, 2015
  

  Time to De-Confederatize the Textbook, "The American Journey": An Open Letter to James McPherson

  by Jim Loewen

  Why doesn't James McPherson's textbook say the same things about secession and Civil War that his famed history of the war does? Maybe he never wrote it?
  

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  Jul 29, 2015
  

  On the Amazing Similarity Between the New Texas Textbook Standards and the Textbook, "The Americans": An Open Letter to Gerald A. Danzer

  by Jim Loewen

  " I write you, Prof. Danzer, because Houghton Mifflin McDougal Littell lists you as senior author, and none of your co-authors have expertise in the Civil War, according to their descriptive paragraphs at the beginning of the textbook."
  

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  Jul 23, 2015
  

  Celebrating John C. Calhoun in Minnesota!

  by Jim Loewen

  John C. Calhoun is remembered for what he did in the latter half of his adult life. In those years, he rationalized slavery, suppressed freedom of speech, and legitimized secession. Surely that legacy should persuade Minnesotans to rename Lake Calhoun.
  

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  Jul 19, 2015
  

  What Does Rockville, Maryland's Confederate Monument Tell Us About the Civil War? About the Nadir? About the Present?

  by Jim Loewen

  It's time to remove this monument.
  

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  Jul 14, 2015
  

  What should Charleston do with John C. Calhoun?

  by Jim Loewen

  After Charleston renames the street and perhaps removes the statue, it can put up good markers explaining what had been there and why it was changed.
  

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  Jul 9, 2015
  

  It's Time to De-Confederatize "The American Pageant": An Open Letter to David Kennedy

  by Jim Loewen

  Most teachers still think that the Civil War was fought over states' rights.  It's time for textbooks to correct the record.  Let's start with "The American Pageant." 
  

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  Jul 1, 2015
  

  Why Do People Believe Myths about the Confederacy? Because Our Textbooks and Monuments Are Wrong.

  by Jim Loewen

  False history marginalizes African Americans and makes us all dumber.
  

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  May 25, 2015
  

  What Do You Do When a Review Is Dishonest?

  by Jim Loewen

  "Lies My Teacher Told Me" has received thousands of reviews, but the #2 editorial review at Amazon is blatantly wrong. And there's no recourse even though the editor of the magazine that published it admits the review is flawed.
  

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  May 19, 2015
  

  Wrong and Racist at Duke

  by Jim Loewen

  Political Science Professor Jerry Hough should leave Duke, on grounds of incompetence. He knows nothing about the history of race relations, yet opines on it anyway.
  

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  May 12, 2015
  

  The Vietnam War Revisioned by Those Who Opposed It

  by Jim Loewen

  "There are reasons why peace movement alumni find it harder to congratulate themselves, compared to Civil Rights Movement alumni. Our society has formed a consensus that it is wrong to deny people citizenship, voting rights, jury duty, the use of hospitals and restaurants, etc., based on race. We have not formed a consensus that it is wrong to invade other countries thousands of miles away that pose no threat to our existence. On the contrary, we do it all the time."
  

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  May 6, 2015
  

  Then Verne Gagne Moved!

  by Jim Loewen

  The story of the fake wrestler who started out as a real one -- and the lesson historians should draw from this.
  

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  Mar 20, 2015
  

  Acknowledging History to Right a Wrong

  by Jim Loewen

  Goshen, Indiana has passed a resolution to acknowledge and transcend its past as a sundown town. That's remarkable.
  

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  Mar 18, 2015
  

  Lincoln's Second Inaugural on Its 150th Birthday

  by Jim Loewen

  It's the greatest presidential speech in history, but for a long time, it was either forgotten or misconstrued.
  

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  Feb 16, 2015
  

  How 20th Century: Going to the Library to Get a Book

  by Jim Loewen

  "Our grandchildren, having grown used to nature-deficit-disorder, having adjusted to a society without civic acts, having abandoned face-to-face interaction even when face to face, won't even know what this essay is about."
  

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  Dec 31, 2014
  

  Windshield Pockmarks and Police Behavior

  by Jim Loewen

  In the Seattle windshield scare of 1954 there's a lesson that can help us understand what's happened in Ferguson.
  

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  Dec 7, 2014
  

  How Two Historians Responded to Racism in Mississippi

  by Jim Loewen

  One wrote a textbook passing along the racist myths of Reconstruction.  The other wrote a textbook challenging them.
  

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  Nov 18, 2014
  

  Here We Go Again: Tests for the Common Core May Be Unfair to Some and Boring To All

  by Jim Loewen

  Old-fashioned multiple-choice tests are often biased against African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans, and sometimes against females -- yet we keep relying on them.