That is a good question, and I never thought about it until this timeline. To some degree I think they are done to reassure constituencies like university faculty. Also, they give cover to being in a group rather than standing up bravely alone on a topic. And then they can be cut and pasted all over for public relations. I liked this timeline highlighted the "1,500 historians call for removing President Trump from office" as it caused me to think that if historians insist on advocating for the way history should unfold then how can we be sure they are historians without a side in the issue? My day job is a historian of libraries--and that group has not made political statements (so far). But as a member of the American Library Association a lot of public statements we might make are debated. The debates take a lot of time, and everyone feels like they are doing something, but I can think of things to do with that time that might move us forward more effectively.
I'm going to write an open letter under the headline: "Please ... no more open letters."
Who reads ‘em, anyway?
That is a good question, and I never thought about it until this timeline. To some degree I think they are done to reassure constituencies like university faculty. Also, they give cover to being in a group rather than standing up bravely alone on a topic. And then they can be cut and pasted all over for public relations. I liked this timeline highlighted the "1,500 historians call for removing President Trump from office" as it caused me to think that if historians insist on advocating for the way history should unfold then how can we be sure they are historians without a side in the issue? My day job is a historian of libraries--and that group has not made political statements (so far). But as a member of the American Library Association a lot of public statements we might make are debated. The debates take a lot of time, and everyone feels like they are doing something, but I can think of things to do with that time that might move us forward more effectively.
Lol