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President Trump has made clear his threat to reject the results of an election he loses. Such an eventuality will pose the need for the American people to rally in their millions to remove this malignant authoritarian from office. A broad united front mobilized in street demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins and other non-violent actions may be necessary to defend the most basic democratic integrity of the election. Actually, the need to mobilize a popular rebellion against Trump has been there from day one of his administration. Tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, separating immigrant children from their parents at...

By Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, IUPUI The American public may not find out who wins the presidential election on November 3, 4, or even 5. But, at some point, we will learn whether Republican Donald Trump is elected to a second term or if Democrat Joe Biden will be the next president. For the winner of the election, the moment of victory brings unbridled joy and acclamation, applause, laughter, hugs and champagne to celebrate the biggest prize in politics. Not so for the loser, who must ultimately accept the responsibility for the defeat. In my book, The Art...

The white mobs did not care whom they killed as long as the victims were Black. They murdered people in public with guns and rocks. They set fire to houses and slaughtered families trying to escape the flames. In East St. Louis in July 1917, white vigilantes lynched Blacks with impunity. It was the prelude to what civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson would ultimately call Red Summer. The “red” referred to the blood that ran in the streets. The “summer” actually referred to the months from April to October 1919, when violence against African Americans peaked in this...

By Kristin Kanthak, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh Author Edgar Allan Poe, the 19th-century master of American macabre, may have died of dirty politics. According to legend, a gang of party “poll hustlers” kidnapped and drugged him. They forced him to vote, then abandoned him near death. Details are murky, but we do know Poe died in Baltimore days after an election. The story, though likely untrue, is certainly possible. Election Day in 19th-century America was a loud, raucous, often dangerous event. Political parties would offer food, drink and inducements ranging from offers of bribes to...