Bruce Dorsey
@profbrucedorsey.bsky.social
Historian, writer. Professor of History, Swarthmore College. Most recent: MURDER IN A MILL TOWN (Oxford UP). Rep'd by Mullane Literary Associates.
Pinned
Bruce Dorsey
@profbrucedorsey.bsky.social
· Feb 23
Great thrill to be in conversation with Jen Manion @manionjen.bsky.social at the Charles River Museum @charlesrivermuseum.bsky.social for the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize celebration, awarded by the Massachusetts Historical Society @mhs1791.bsky.social
"We are watching ICE and CBP engage in a national, presidentially-sanctioned police riot — but make no mistake: It’s a riot borne of their fear, not their strength. These agents and officers are terrified about the public hostility they’re facing."
-- Excellent article by @vermontgmg.bsky.social
-- Excellent article by @vermontgmg.bsky.social
Curious why ICE and CBP agents are so brutal? Here's a useful explainer I wrote last week, before Saturday's outrageous murder, about how uniquely unsuited ICE and CBP are for this moment—and why they were so corruptible into Trump's own fascist secret police: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-101-ho...
"ICE 101" — How Trump changed ICE and CBP into a fascist secret police
ICE and CBP are fatally flawed products of the post-9/11 War on Terror — now Trump has weaponized those very flaws to occupy America.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
January 26, 2026 at 4:14 PM
"We are watching ICE and CBP engage in a national, presidentially-sanctioned police riot — but make no mistake: It’s a riot borne of their fear, not their strength. These agents and officers are terrified about the public hostility they’re facing."
-- Excellent article by @vermontgmg.bsky.social
-- Excellent article by @vermontgmg.bsky.social
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
Censorship comes to the University of Arkansas Little Rock: arktimes.com/arkansas-blo...
UPDATE: Lectures on race and history canceled in latest assault on academic freedom in Arkansas - Arkansas Times
Two planned lectures on race and history have been canceled at UALR after campus leadership was apparently concerned conservative lawmakers might take offense and withhold future funding.
arktimes.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Censorship comes to the University of Arkansas Little Rock: arktimes.com/arkansas-blo...
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
"Empty bolt holes and shadows are all that remains on the brick walls where explanatory panels were displayed . . . One woman cried silently at their absence. . . . A hand-lettered sign said 'Slavery was real.'" . . . It's all connected.
bit.ly/4q21GI9
bit.ly/4q21GI9
Philadelphia sues Trump administration over removal of slavery exhibit from public park
Outraged critics accused President Donald Trump of “whitewashing history” on Friday after the National Park Service removed an exhibit on slavery at Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Par...
bit.ly
January 25, 2026 at 2:06 PM
"Empty bolt holes and shadows are all that remains on the brick walls where explanatory panels were displayed . . . One woman cried silently at their absence. . . . A hand-lettered sign said 'Slavery was real.'" . . . It's all connected.
bit.ly/4q21GI9
bit.ly/4q21GI9
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
How ICE is using far-right subculture to recruit
YouTube video by CBC News: The National
www.youtube.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
You can see pretti’s hands under the pile all the way up to where gray jacket guy takes the gun.
Pretti clearly never pulled it out.
Pretti clearly never pulled it out.
January 24, 2026 at 9:30 PM
You can see pretti’s hands under the pile all the way up to where gray jacket guy takes the gun.
Pretti clearly never pulled it out.
Pretti clearly never pulled it out.
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
The term martyr means “witness.” The man was murdered for bearing witness, literally bearing it, not arms but a camera. Murdered for seeing.
January 24, 2026 at 9:45 PM
The term martyr means “witness.” The man was murdered for bearing witness, literally bearing it, not arms but a camera. Murdered for seeing.
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
The pigeon toes. The earnest crossing guard hand. The way his other arm, holding the camera, is tucked into his side. The way he stands before the threat, looking over his shoulder at the wellbeing of another. The brown, the beige, the hat. One humble soul. Here is another Tiananmen Square.
We’re supposed to believe this is a domestic terrorist attacking ICE with a gun
January 24, 2026 at 9:53 PM
The pigeon toes. The earnest crossing guard hand. The way his other arm, holding the camera, is tucked into his side. The way he stands before the threat, looking over his shoulder at the wellbeing of another. The brown, the beige, the hat. One humble soul. Here is another Tiananmen Square.
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
This video is itself a historical document that shows the Trump administration's efforts to erase history. There are few more telling symbols of the intentional attempt to silence the past than the raw, empty spaces left behind after this removal of displays about the history of American slavery.
More than 400 years of history and a decade of advocacy were torn down Thursday afternoon when National Park Service employees removed every single display at the President’s House.
🔗 What's next? We explain: www.inquirer.com/politics/nat...
🔗 What's next? We explain: www.inquirer.com/politics/nat...
January 24, 2026 at 2:55 AM
This video is itself a historical document that shows the Trump administration's efforts to erase history. There are few more telling symbols of the intentional attempt to silence the past than the raw, empty spaces left behind after this removal of displays about the history of American slavery.
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
January 24, 2026 at 12:38 AM
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
One day, if we are lucky, the erasure of American history will itself be remembered as a shameful chapter in American history
January 23, 2026 at 1:30 AM
One day, if we are lucky, the erasure of American history will itself be remembered as a shameful chapter in American history
These Peace Prize memes are hilarious!
thebugonline.com.au/2026/01/19/m...
thebugonline.com.au/2026/01/19/m...
Memers give Trump a peace of their mind!
Many editions of The Bug’s Xcrements-of-the-Week over the years have devoted themselves entirely to the comments, antics and actions of the one and only Yam Tits/Orange Mussolini/The Tangarin…
thebugonline.com.au
January 20, 2026 at 1:20 AM
These Peace Prize memes are hilarious!
thebugonline.com.au/2026/01/19/m...
thebugonline.com.au/2026/01/19/m...
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
Bruce Springsteen: “ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
January 19, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Bruce Springsteen: “ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
January 18, 2026 at 2:19 PM
A great, though haunting, essay by @nickmiroff.bsky.social.
“In creating DHS, we didn’t want to create the KGB or the FSB,” [Seth Stodder] said. ... “It makes me think that maybe DHS was a bad idea."
“In creating DHS, we didn’t want to create the KGB or the FSB,” [Seth Stodder] said. ... “It makes me think that maybe DHS was a bad idea."
NEW: How the Department of Homeland Security, founded to prevent another 9/11 terrorist attack, has turned into the partisan political tool its critics always feared www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
From Stopping Osama bin Laden to Killing Renee Good
Two decades after its founding, the Department of Homeland Security has become exactly what its critics feared.
www.theatlantic.com
January 18, 2026 at 2:46 AM
A great, though haunting, essay by @nickmiroff.bsky.social.
“In creating DHS, we didn’t want to create the KGB or the FSB,” [Seth Stodder] said. ... “It makes me think that maybe DHS was a bad idea."
“In creating DHS, we didn’t want to create the KGB or the FSB,” [Seth Stodder] said. ... “It makes me think that maybe DHS was a bad idea."
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
My parents, both principal Martha Graham dancers, would have been pleased.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/a...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/a...
Martha Graham Dance Company Won’t Celebrate Centennial at Kennedy Center
www.nytimes.com
January 18, 2026 at 1:56 AM
My parents, both principal Martha Graham dancers, would have been pleased.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/a...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/a...
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
So moved by the people of Minnesota who—drawing on LA, Portland, Chicago, DC etc—are writing a shining new chapter in the history of nonviolent resistance.
The rest of us need to be taking notes—and helping them!
www.standwithminnesota.com
The rest of us need to be taking notes—and helping them!
www.standwithminnesota.com
Stand With Minnesota
A directory of places to give to as Minnesota defends itself from ICE occupation
www.standwithminnesota.com
January 17, 2026 at 1:33 PM
So moved by the people of Minnesota who—drawing on LA, Portland, Chicago, DC etc—are writing a shining new chapter in the history of nonviolent resistance.
The rest of us need to be taking notes—and helping them!
www.standwithminnesota.com
The rest of us need to be taking notes—and helping them!
www.standwithminnesota.com
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
Publishing the names of protesters and contacting their employers to have them fired for exercising their rights is a tactic straight out of the White Citizens Councils.
January 16, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Publishing the names of protesters and contacting their employers to have them fired for exercising their rights is a tactic straight out of the White Citizens Councils.
👇Hits all of the insanity of the past week ... month ... year
January 16, 2026 at 8:26 PM
👇Hits all of the insanity of the past week ... month ... year
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
The scale and speed of state censorship of campus really is amazing.
More than half of America's college students attend institutions in states that have passed laws censoring higher education since 2021.
From @penamerica.bsky.social
pen.org/report/ameri...
More than half of America's college students attend institutions in states that have passed laws censoring higher education since 2021.
From @penamerica.bsky.social
pen.org/report/ameri...
January 15, 2026 at 8:31 PM
The scale and speed of state censorship of campus really is amazing.
More than half of America's college students attend institutions in states that have passed laws censoring higher education since 2021.
From @penamerica.bsky.social
pen.org/report/ameri...
More than half of America's college students attend institutions in states that have passed laws censoring higher education since 2021.
From @penamerica.bsky.social
pen.org/report/ameri...
👇... this thread ... storied newsrooms (Murrow, Cronkite, Rather, Walters, Koppel ...)
1. It's been more than a day since 2 of America's most storied newsrooms, CBS and ABC, reported that killer ICE agent Jon Ross suffered "internal bleeding" based on unnamed sources
Since then
- No other news org has confirmed the story
- No evidence (photos, medical records) has been produced
Since then
- No other news org has confirmed the story
- No evidence (photos, medical records) has been produced
January 16, 2026 at 12:52 AM
👇... this thread ... storied newsrooms (Murrow, Cronkite, Rather, Walters, Koppel ...)
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
Europe having to perform military exercises against their primary threat, the United States.
January 15, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Europe having to perform military exercises against their primary threat, the United States.
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
New in PN: Trump's plot to intimidate the Fed backfires bigly
"His thuggish DOJ may have actually made it harder for the White House to exert control over the central bank. Remember back in 2017 when Trump’s supporters said he was playing 10-dimensional chess?"
"His thuggish DOJ may have actually made it harder for the White House to exert control over the central bank. Remember back in 2017 when Trump’s supporters said he was playing 10-dimensional chess?"
Trump's plot to intimidate the Fed backfires bigly
Jerome Powell's SOS summons the cavalry.
www.publicnotice.co
January 14, 2026 at 12:46 PM
New in PN: Trump's plot to intimidate the Fed backfires bigly
"His thuggish DOJ may have actually made it harder for the White House to exert control over the central bank. Remember back in 2017 when Trump’s supporters said he was playing 10-dimensional chess?"
"His thuggish DOJ may have actually made it harder for the White House to exert control over the central bank. Remember back in 2017 when Trump’s supporters said he was playing 10-dimensional chess?"
Reposted by Bruce Dorsey
And here we are: the entire transatlantic alliance is now talking about Greenland, instead of talking about ending the war in Ukraine.
January 14, 2026 at 1:36 PM
And here we are: the entire transatlantic alliance is now talking about Greenland, instead of talking about ending the war in Ukraine.