JAMES LILLIN
Staff Writer
Eileen Boris of the University of California at Santa Barbara will deliver a talk, diving into the Trump presidency and various fights for social justice.
Today in Williams Center S204ABC, Boris will give her talk titled, “Trump’s America in Historical Perspective: The War Against Women, the Fight Against Unions and Assault Against Mexicans, African Americans and Muslims.”
Ethnic studies program coordinator and ALL IN committee member Jennifer Hildebrand was the principal organizer on the event, and was inspired when she heard that the Organization of American Historians’ (OAH) yearly speakers series will all have at least one talk on the theme “Historians’ Perspectives on the Rise of Donald J. Trump.”
“The announcement included language indicating that the goal of the OAH in choosing this year’s topic was to provide a series of speakers who could serve as a ‘resource for all who wish to foster dialogue and critical thinking about the deep historical roots of current issues revealed by the 2016 presidential race,’” said Hildebrand. “I was really excited by the possibilities, so I worked with several wonderful colleagues across the campus to get their support, select a speaker from the list and develop a plan to bring that speaker to campus.”
Hildebrand is particularly excited about the way in which Boris plans to challenge the popular view that the majority of Trump’s actions are completely unprecedented.
“Dr. Boris’s talk will provide all in attendance with an opportunity to contextualize the election and engage with a critical examination of what exactly is — and isn’t — unique and ‘unprecedented’ about the election and the president,” said Hildebrand.
Hildebrand believes that this talk has increased relevance and exigence because of the particularly divise and combatant tone of the 2016 Presidential Election, a tone that left many students and adults alike shocked at the results.
“Whether you support or oppose our new president and his policies, I think we can all agree that we are currently experiencing significant changes as we transition from the Obama presidency to the Trump presidency,” said Hildebrand. “We are all adjusting to a new series of priorities and tactics in both the executive and legislative branches of our government. Because our energies have been so focused on responding to this new reality, there haven’t been many opportunities to pull back and consider a broader, deeper perspective, and of course historians are trained to do just that.”
Hildebrand ultimately thinks that this talk is especially important for students interested in social justice who may or may not have seen the election results coming.
“Students who have taken a class with me are probably sick of hearing one of my most common refrains: ‘nothing happens in a vacuum,’” said Hildebrand. “I’ll admit that I was one of many who was surprised by the outcome. I believed the polls that predicted a win for Clinton. I’m looking forward to this opportunity to expand my view; if students also want a better understanding of what led us this this point in our national history, they should come and hear Dr. Boris!”
This view is echoed by the coordinator of the women and gender studies program, Jeffry Iovannone, who was also on the committee to bring Boris to campus.
“Students should attend Dr. Boris’s talk because, simply put, we cannot understand the present unless we first understand the past,” said Iovannone. “There has been much debate and conversation about not normalizing aspects of ‘Trump’s America.’ I hope students come away with an understanding of how our current social challenges fit into the broader narrative of American history and how they can use this history as a blueprint and as inspiration to work for social change in ways that are meaningful to them. I also hope this understanding makes students feel empowered, as opposed to fearful.”