About Me

I am Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. I am also the Academic Director of the Clemente Course in the Humanities, in New Bedford MA. Author of "Social Security and the Middle Class Squeeze" (Praeger, 2005) and the forthcoming "Saul Alinsky the Dilemma of Race in the Post-War City" (University of Chicago Press), my teaching and scholarship focuses on American urban history, social policy, and politics. I am presently writing a book on home ownership in modern America, entitled "Castles Made of Sand? Home Ownership and the American Dream." I live in Providence RI, where I have served on the School Board since March 2015. All opinions posted here are my own.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

the Cry Wolf Project

If you haven't heard about this yet, I strongly suggest you check it out:  The Cry Wolf Project is a network of advocates, researchers and scholars dedicated to demonstrating that, in fact, conservatives and business groups are only "crying wolf" to delay, prevent and weaken important and common sense regulations that save lives, clean our environment and make our families more secure.  The Project is assembling an amazing data bank of historical quotes from opponents of regulatory reforms and social justice measures.  As a historian, I can tell you that many of the fallacious arguments one hears today have a long pedigree; knowing this, and familiarizing oneself both with historical counter-arguments and evidence, is vital to creating a more just and equal America.

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