Sometimes, when I sit in my office pondering the fate of my dissertation, I feel a little like the dog in the famous KC Green comic. I’m holding my coffee mug, staring blankly into the middle distance, while the work, livelihoods, and institutions of my colleagues burn around me. Lately it has been harder to tell myself “this is fine” and go back to analyzing primary sources. I mean, why bother writing a revisionist, intersectional, US environmental history monograph if it will just end in a book burning pile, or worse, not even be published in the first place? Do I even have a future in academia? There likely won’t be many tenure-track positions for candidates like me in the US. At least not for another 1,128 days, 10 hours, and 4 minutes, at the time of writing this sentence. And that’s if the US democracy survives that countdown. For a long time I hoped this was a case of typical doctoral angst, but I can’t ignore the fires anymore. And I don’t think I’m alone, so I’m here to say – or rather, write – the quiet part out loud. It is really hard to focus on the work in front of you when your field is burning around you.
[Image Description: Two frame comic. Frame one: a dog sits at a table with a cup of coffee, flames surround him. Frame two: the dog is still surrounded by flames and a speech bubble reads “This is fine.”]
There are so many fires burning it is hard to know which one is the most dangerous. Project funding is going up in smoke, instructors are being targeted, and entire departments dedicated to the study of the environment, gender, and race are being threatened. In Florida, the field of sociology was entirely removed from the core curriculum of public universities. Florida also banned AP African American Studies and South Carolina stopped granting students who take the course college credit. Eighteen other states have passed similar laws restricting lessons on race and racism in schools. Meanwhile, in North Carolina – where my parents have taught for years – faculty are now required to make their syllabi public. My mom has had to purge her syllabus of diversity and inclusion statements, as well as of course material that addresses race and LGBTQIA+ topics. News headlines and personal stories like these are never ending. The heartbreak and grief are enough to cause even the most optimistic of us crumble into ashes.
A specific fire that keeps me up at night is the whitewashing and erasure of inclusive public histories. Alongside Park Rangers and curators, historians like myself have fought to ensure marginalized voices and suppressed histories are included in the United States’ national narrative. Public history is one of the main ways our research makes an impact outside academia. So it is discouraging to watch inclusive public histories go up in flames, especially at the directive of a Presidential executive order. The White House calls it “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” and they claim the EO is necessary to address a “revisionist movement” that is undermining US history by casting it in a negative light. EO 14253 accuses us of reconstructing the United States’ “unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness” into a history that is “inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.” To correct this unthinkable crime against – let me check my notes again – dead white men, the head of the Smithsonian and the Secretary of the Interior have been directed to remove anything that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living,” or includes “improper partisan ideology” that might “minimize the value of certain historical figures.” According to reporting by Outside, the National Park Service has already removed signs with information on climate change, slavery, Japanese internment, and the massacre of Native Americans. Although this executive order does not target our research directly, historians who work on revisionist histories are also demonized. After all, we are the ones doing the research that the interpretive signs are based on.
That demonization can become dangerous very quickly. Turning Point USA, an alt-right organization started by the late Charlie Kirk, has a project called “Professor Watchlist” that identifies professors they believe are advancing “leftist propaganda.” There is an entire section dedicated to “climate alarmists.” Being identified on this list has already led to the harassment of individual academics, with many Black professors and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) receiving outright threats of terrorism. The Professor Watchlist started in 2016, but with the recent increase of political violence in the US, being on the list has become even more dangerous. Mark Bray, a history professor at Rutgers University, was forced to flee the US with his family after receiving death threats. These sites are both a clear threat to the safety of individuals and, as they function to intimidate academics into self-censoring, to academic freedom in the wider context. Understandably, some of us might think twice before teaching a class or publishing research on intersectional environmental histories out of fear that we might be added to a list.
What can we do to contain the fires that threaten our field and those adjacent to ours? There are a few projects addressing the erasure of inclusive public histories. Save our Signs (SOS) is engaging citizen archivists to create an archive of the signs that have been removed from National Parks and track the erasures as they happen. Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian are doing similar work in the Smithsonian museums. These projects are important because they help protect these histories from being permanently lost. Like a contemporary version of the Monument Men of World War II, these archives will help us to restore inclusive public histories in the future.
What about the fires threatening to burn us directly? One way to protect each other is to stay informed about alternative funding sources to replace traditional funding grants that disappear. We can also educate ourselves about our rights and the legal precedents for academic free speech protections. This public forum hosted by the Transylvania Partners for Democracy included case studies that clarify our rights are as faculty, researchers, and instructors. And we can monitor conservative databases like Professor Watchlist so that we can be aware of possible threats.
Community building is crucial in times like these. The mental health impacts of the current climate are real and serious. Staying engaged with colleagues and strengthening our relationships with those working in related fields, goes a long way towards preventing a sense of isolation. One of the best ways to build community is by attending conferences, especially if you have the resources to attend in person. But for those of us who have lost funding, alternatives include attending writing groups, academic book clubs, and campus events. The key is to connect with others, create support systems, and share knowledge.
Finally, I think we must continue our work to the best of our ability. Now, more than ever, it is important to uncover the histories that have been forgotten or suppressed and elevate voices that have been marginalized. Therefore, when you find yourself feeling like the KC Green dog, perhaps the best thing you can do is grab your mug, and reassure yourself that through solidarity with colleagues, alternative funding, and the work of citizen archivists, it will be fine, eventually, and return to analyzing your primary sources. I’ll be right there with you.
*Cover Image: Adrienne Brown, adaptation of KC Green comic, Gunshow, no. 648, Jan. 9, 2013.
[Cover Image description: Adaptation of KC Green comic in which a young woman dressed in office wear sits at her desk in the middle of a room surrounded by flames and smoke. On her desk is a green mug, a laptop, and a stack of papers. On the wall are two posters. One includes an image of a watching eye, over which the words “MAKE ORWELL FICTION AGAIN” are printed. The other includes an image of a clenched fist, over which the words “FIGHT FOR HISTORY” are printed.]
Edited by Josephine Goldman; reviewed by Deniz Karakas.