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Anthony Conwright

@aconwrites.bsky.social
665 followers 713 following 114 posts

I condense & integrate history into essays about contemporary issues w/o revising history. Words in Mother Jones, The Nation, The New Republic.

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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
New York Times Opinion @nytopinion.nytimes.com · 17/08/2026
“The Civil War was a war for the soul of the United States,” Evan Carlisle writes in a letter to The Times.
nyti.ms
Opinion | A Civil Debate About the Civil War
Readers respond to an Opinion guest essay about the various names given to the Civil War. Also: The Red Scare campaign ploy.
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Very interesting, thought-provoking piece here by @aconwrites.bsky.social. Give it a read. I’d like to have him on my show to discuss.👇
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
micchiato 🎋 @micchiato.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
This passage captures the genius of Black politics and it puts DSA in a larger context. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
The Nation.
At times Black politics has taken the form of polemic, as in David Walker's Appeal. In other moments, it has taken the form of armed abolitionist resistance. Black politics have also been peaceful, as in the now-celebrated campaigns of the nonviolent movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. When white conservative Republicans attempted to destroy the political power Black Americans gained during Reconstruction, Black politics became insurgent within the Republican Party itself. Black Americans enrolled in Union Leagues, constructed independent institutions, and formed oppositional factions within the party to protect Black political and social interests.
The DSA is practicing a similar form of insurgent Black politics. It uses the Democratic Party as a ballot-access vehicle while organizing against the party's leadership, donors, and ideological constraints, a legion of forces sometimes openly hostile to Black political imagination and possibility.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Thank you!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Chandra Manning and @adamrothman.bsky.social do a great job of explaining some of elements that I had to leave out of my essay on how the Civil War received its name. Check it out!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
This is great! Thank you!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
It is true that not all confederate soldiers had slaves, but that does not mean it was not a rebellion lead by enslavers, so, in my estimation, the Slaveholders’s Rebellion stands. It would be interesting to watch a Socratic seminar with students debating the topic though!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
In other words, the “generic” term civil war can apply as, in the context of its origins, it is a war between citizens; however, it was lead by enslavers for the purpose of establishing a slaveocracy in the South.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Also, take a look at the debates in Congress and some of the other changes I notes in the piece (links should be there. I can also provide them): there was a concerted effort by Confederate heritage groups to officially remove the stigma of rebellion.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Lincoln and Republicans referred to it as an “insurrection” so he could use war powers in the constitution-specifically, to call for a militia to put down an insurrection. Yes, it was called a “civil war,” which is different from “The Civil War.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
The term “civil war” Julius Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Civili, the title of Julius Caesar’s three-volume chronicle of Rome’s 1st-century civil wars. As I mentioned in the piece “civil war” was not the original default.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
No problem! Just giving you a hard time. People have said far worse about the piece. Two quick things that I had to leave out of the essay (mainly for space): As you mentioned, the “generic” name is the problem because, indeed, it is generic.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I’m sorry you find it annoying. I’m sure some people found it annoying that it was called the “civil war” to begin with.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I love this dialogue! Thank you @psheridanhistory.bsky.social for generating a healthy space for discussion. Feel free to contribute to this conversation!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Thank you for reading and sharing 🙏🏾
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
My latest for @thenation.com is about @demsocialists.bsky.social and Black politics. “Establishment Democrats’ response to the electoral victories of candidates endorsed by the DSA should be of concern to anyone invested in the future of Black politics” tinyurl.com/44nwt6y9
thenation.com
Establishment Democrats’ Response to DSA’s Electoral Wins Should Be of Concern to Anyone Invested in the Future of Black Politics
Whatever happened to “big tent” politics?
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
New York Times Opinion @nytopinion.nytimes.com · 02/08/2026
“The linguistic whitewashing of the Confederacy is more than a manufactured myth of Southern redemption,” Anthony Conwright writes. “It is a ritual of national forgetting.”
nyti.ms
Opinion | The ‘Civil War’ Is a Lie. Let’s Call It the ‘Slaveholders’ Rebellion’ Again.
To face our own history, we must be honest about it.
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Rachel Gunter, Ph.D. 🗃️ @phdrachel.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Be right back. Going to change one of my lecture titles now…
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Author of the piece here! Thank you! That just made my day. Let me know how the change is received!
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
“We should return to an older and more accurate name for the Civil War: the Slaveholders’ Rebellion. If a country unquestioningly adopts language that obscures its bloodiest crimes to absolve their worst perpetrators, how can we expect successive generations to remember the new assaults on democracy
nytimes.com
Opinion | The ‘Civil War’ Is a Lie. Let’s Call It the ‘Slaveholders’ Rebellion’ Again. (Gift Article)
To face our own history, we must be honest about it.
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Manisha Sinha @profmsinha.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Historian of abolition here 💯Garrison always called it the slaveholders rebellion, that’s the correct term. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The ‘Civil War’ Is a Lie. Let’s Call It the ‘Slaveholders’ Rebellion’ Again. (Gift Article)
To face our own history, we must be honest about it.
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Angela Mitropoulos @mitropoulos.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Good move. (I don't like most instances of "civil war" tbh. As in, "the Spanish Civil War" seems both limited and decontextualising. But I don't know of a better phrase.)
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Thank you!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Thank you so much @zinnedproject.bsky.social that means a lot. I appreciate what you all have done to teach a more honest account of U.S. History 🙏🏾
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Check out my latest, “Don’t Call It The Civil War” for @nytopinion.nytimes.com if you have never thought about why we call the American Civil War the civil war, this is for you!
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Great text for discussion in U.S. history classes. What to call the "Civil War"? Names have meaning. Could apply the same question to use of "civil war" in other countries. When is it the correct term? When is it masking a primary perpetrator? (Similar to the both-sidism of "race riot.")
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Check out my latest “Don’t Call It The Civil War” for @nytopinion.nytimes.com I explain how the Civil War got its name, and why we should call it “The Slaveholders’ Rebellion.” tinyurl.com/4yk634pc
tinyurl.com
Opinion | The ‘Civil War’ Is a Lie. Let’s Call It the ‘Slaveholders’ Rebellion’ Again. (Gift Article)
To face our own history, we must be honest about it.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Did you read the article. I clearly pointed out out how they are related.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
My latest for @thenation.com “No athlete or Black American should participate in the Out of Bounds boycott unless the CBC and NAACP also boycott AIPAC, unequivocally condemn Israel’s genocide of Palestinians…” www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
The Blatant Hypocrisy of the Congressional Black Caucus’s Out of Bounds Boycott
The new initiative enlists Black college students and athletes to face down Jim Crow rule in the South, while the group remains silent on boycotts targeting Israel’s apartheid rule.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
My latest for @thenation.com is about how @workingfamilies.org is creating a space for Black voters to practice independent politics and why Black voters should embrace it. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
How the Working Families Party Can Promote Black Political Independence
In many state and local races, the WFP ballot line has helped Black candidates win office without falling in line with the Democratic political establishment.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Read my latest for @thenation.com “The SAVE Act deserves our swift repudiation, in principle, because it imposes procedural distance between the voter and the exercise of the ballot—hallowed ground that, in any viable democracy, shall not be infringed.” www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
How the SAVE Act Seeks to Undermine the Right to Vote
After you strip away the lies about rampant voter fraud, the GOP bill is a frontal assault on hard-won protections of the franchise
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Check out my latest essay and first for @nytopinion.nytimes.com “Trump Misunderstands the Education Department’s History.”
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Thank you for reading and sharing it.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
💯 Some of the comments on this are wild. You would have thought that I just made up the information in the pictures, and not that I took the information from AIPAC, who was celebrating it! People are mad at me as if I’m the one going after Black politicians!
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
The Congressional Black Caucus’s silent partnership with AIPAC www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Yet to this day, the Congressional Black Caucus—the long-standing corps of lawmakers dedicated to safeguarding civil rights (and known as “the conscience of Congress”)—has not issued a formal declaration condemning Israel; it hasn’t even produced a statement calling for a ceasefire. The CBC’s silence isn’t accidental: More than half of its current 61 members have been endorsed or funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful US lobbying arm for Israel’s agenda. In the 2023–24 election cycle alone, AIPAC endorsed 26 of the caucus’s members, raising $4.6 million for them and another $3.5 million for Black Democratic candidates.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Thank you for sharing here @phillewis.bsky.social www.thenation.com/article/soci...
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
I spoke with @jamaalbowmanny.bsky.social for my latest essay in @thenation.com about AIPAC’s relationship with the Congressional Black Caucus. Check it out: “The Congressional Black Caucus’s Silent Partnership With AIPAC” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
thenation.com
The Congressional Black Caucus’s Silent Partnership With AIPAC
The influential group of lawmakers has damaged its reputation as “conscience of the Congress” by staying silent on the Gaza genocide.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
No Kings! Why Congress must impeach Trump by the best political writer in the game @chrislehmann.bsky.social harpers.org/archive/2025...
harpers.org
The Decisive Moment, by Chris Lehmann
Why Congress must impeach Trump
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Huge thank you to @perrybaconjr.bsky.social for including me in this piece. “The experience of Black Americans calls into question the institutions that this country holds most sacred,” Conwright said. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Young Black voters are abandoning the Democratic establishment
Mamdani and Trump elections show how Black voters are drifting from the Democratic establishment.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Thank you for sharing! Indeed, ICE must be abolished!! It’s one of the topics of my next piece.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Thank you! I’ll keep my fingers crossed about having another appearance 🤞🏾
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Reposted by Anthony Conwright
Majority Report @majorityreport.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Will Black Americans Vote For A Socialist—Zohran Mamdani? | Anthony Conwright | TMR youtu.be/HhdK46m6T2I
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Thank you for tuning in! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for another appearance 🤞🏾 love the show and the audience!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Some thoughts about and Gregory Meeks supporting Andrew Cuomo. I will be ranking @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social #1
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Thank you for reading and sharing! That surprised me too! I could not believe this man was allowed to do a tour of Black churches and tell Black voters to temper their expectations.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
My latest for @thenation.com: Will Black Americans Vote for a Socialist—Zohran Mamdani? “To put it plainly, the myth that Black Americans can only support establishment Democrats has conditioned us to take our suffering—which is a result of capitalism—for granted.” www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
Will Black Americans Vote for a Socialist—Zohran Mamdani?
By demeaning the mayoral candidate’s agenda, Andrew Cuomo offends the Black tradition of community care.
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
@emmavigeland.bsky.social www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
How American Racism Sabotaged the World’s Fight Against Genocide
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
@krystalball.bsky.social www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
How American Racism Sabotaged the World’s Fight Against Genocide
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Yesterday, I was like “why am I doing this to myself” 😂 you know it’s bad when you’re like “maybe I should have kept teaching middle school!
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Anthony Conwright @aconwrites.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
It is inconsistent for Democrats to want to “set politics aside.” To pretend that politics has no place in the discourse regarding Biden’s diagnosis is disingenuous. When Republicans say “not a time to play politics” after a mass shooting, Democrats RIGHTFULLY condemn them.
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