Department of History Chair, Glennys Young, moderated a panel on August 20, 2020 titled, "Can It Happen Here?: Law and (Dis)Order, Executive Power, and Deploying Federal Officers." The panel included Laurie Marhoefer, Associate Professor of History, Margaret O'Mara, Howard and Frances Keller Endowed Professor of History, and Lisa Manheim, Charles I. Stone Associate Professor of Law. The fourth panelist, Professor of Political Science Christopher Parker, was unable to attend due to a last minute conflict, but his work was referenced by the panelists and is integral to the concepts discussed. The conversation centered on the recent deployment of federal officers to the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in cities around the U.S. The panel sheds light on the legal boundaries of executive power and puts current events in a comparative historical perspective.
The recording is available on YouTube:
The panelists have compiled a list of recommended reading on these topics:
How reckless White allies could lead to the reelection of Trump
Christopher Parker, Washington Post, August 10, 2020
A massive repudiation of Trump's racist politics is building
Christopher Parker, Washington Post, July 3, 2020
Don't Be Fooled by Seattle's Police-Free Zone
Margaret O'Mara, New York Times, June 24, 2020
The 'Deep State' Exists to Battle People Like Trump
Margaret O'Mara, New York Times, October 26, 2019
Can the President Really Do That?
Lisa Manheim & Kathryn Watts, Yes! Magazine, January 23, 2018
How should we protest neo-Nazis? Lessons from German history
Laurie Marhoefer, The Conversation, August 21, 2017
How Democracies Die
Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Broadway Books, January 8, 2019