This week’s class is not about distant history. It’s about what is happening now. About the reality of state power, violence, and fear unfolding in the United States in real time—and what it means when institutions meant to protect instead harm. This episode acknowledges the killing of Renee Good, the recent shootings involving border enforcement, the global consequences of U.S. intervention abroad, and the growing sense that the ground beneath us is shifting faster than many are prepared to face.

This is also an episode rooted in uncertainty. There are no clean conclusions here, no neat historical arc that resolves itself with time. Instead, this episode names the fear felt by immigrant communities, by protesters, and by people watching the country’s promises feel increasingly conditional. It raises difficult questions without pretending to solve them: How is this justified? How is it defended? How does cruelty get reframed as necessity? And what does it cost when silence or neutrality becomes the easier choice?


Most importantly, this episode draws a clear line. This course can no longer pretend to be unbiased in the face of policies and actions that undermine the most basic ideals this country claims to stand for. This is not a partisan declaration, a party endorsement, or a rejection of disagreement. It is a statement rooted in humanity—and in the belief that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” must mean something for everyone, or it means nothing at all. I do not have answers beyond this: move forward with purpose, act with courage and resolve, and push back against tyranny in whatever capacity you can.

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