Historians Vote Down the War!
Ah, if only it were so simple. But something cool did happen this week, as the American Historical Association, the largest organization of historians in the world, voted by a very large margin, as in more than 75% in favor, for an anti-war resolution passed at the AHA’s annual meeting in January. (See my post on the subject, War and the Historians–January 8, with a link to TrueBlue’s own speech on the resolution.) Despite a good bit of blog activity (on the AHA’s own blog) opposing the resolution in favor of professional neutrality–often argued with principle, skill, and seriousness of purpose, I should add–the vote came as a surprise to me, at least.
I am delighted, however. In order to stop this awful war, we need everyone to be raising voices, officially and unofficially, partisan and nonpartisan. Some of my colleagues worried, and probably still do worry, about the precedent set by this resolution. I worry more about the precedent of morally serious, thinking professionals taking a pass on the great public issue of the day.