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A field guide to the memorials, museums, and practices that commemorate white supremacy in the United States—and how to reimagine a more deeply shared cultural infrastructure for the future
Cultural infrastructure has been designed to maintain structures of inequality, and while it doesn’t seem to be explicitly about race, it often is. Blunt Instruments helps readers identify, contextualize, and name elements of our everyday landscapes and cultural practices that are designed to seem benign or natural but which, in fact, work tirelessly to tell us vital stories about who we are, how we came to be, and who belongs.
Examining landmark moments such as the erection of the first American museum and Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling pledge of allegiance, historian Kristin Hass explores the complicated histories of sites of cultural infrastructure, such as:
- the American Museum of Natural History
- the Bridge to Freedom in Selma
- the Washington Monument
- Mount Auburn Cemetery
- Kehinde Wiley’s 2019 sculpture Rumors of War
- the Victory Highway
- the Alamo Cenotaph
With sharp analysis and a broad lens, Hass makes the undeniable case that understanding what cultural infrastructure is, and the deep and broad impact that it has, is essential to understanding how structures of inequity are maintained and how they might be dismantled.
Track the monuments from Blunt Instruments on Google Maps.
“With this much-needed book, even readers already engaging in more holistic history-telling will find meaningful ways to level up their critical thinking.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“Hass offers a powerful exposé of the persistence of race in the ongoing public dialogue about citizenship and belonging.”
—Library Journal
“[An] ultra-compelling book . . . With this much-needed book, even readers already engaging in more holistic history-telling will find meaningful ways to level up their critical thinking.”
—Publishers Weekly
“If you have ever wanted to understand how and why monuments work, this stunning book is your decoder ring. . . . A sharp tool for interpreting the racial implications of America’s cultural and physical landscape.”
—Tiya Miles, author of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
“In Blunt Instruments, Kristin Hass deftly interrogates the hidden messages—those clearly understood but rarely spoken aloud—that shape what it means to be American today. It is a fascinating, urgent, eye-opening, and necessary read, offering a vision for a nation where all can thrive.”
—Mark Clague, author of O Say Can You Hear? A Cultural Biography of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
“For anyone and everyone interested in creating a more socially just world, this is essential reading! Blunt Instruments is an indispensable field guide that helps us all to understand and navigate debates surrounding memorials and monuments, museums, and everyday patriotic practices that have rocked our nation. Kristin Hass provides concise historical context, new language, and a powerful analysis that makes it impossible to see or unsee the world around us in the same way ever again. The lesson of this book is clear: cultural infrastructure plays a huge role in maintaining crushing inequities. Once we understand this, we can and must contribute to challenging and changing it.”
—Dr. Lisa Yun Lee, executive director, National Public Housing Museum, and Associate Professor of Public Practice and Museum Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago
Introduction: White Lies Matters
Section I: Memorials
Monumental Basics
Chapter One: Memorials: The Lost Cause Won
Memorial Timeline
Pre-1890: A Mixed Bag
1890-1920: The First Memorial Boom
Chapter Two: Memorials: The Lost Cause Keeps Winning
Memorial Timeline
1920-1980: Living Memorials and Dying Cities
1980-2010: The Second Memorial Boom in Three Acts
2010-Present: Tumbling Down and Rising Up
Section II: Museums Museum Basics
Chapter Three: Museums: White Temples Emerged
Museum Timeline
Pre-1870: Cabinet of Curiosities
1870-1940: The First Golden Age of American Museums
Chapter Four: Museums: White Temples Reshaped?
Museum Timeline
1965 - 2019: From King Tut to Emmett Till
The Summer of 2020
Section III: Patriotic Practices
Patriotic Practice Basics
Chapter Five: Patriotic Practices: Allegiance Gets Pledged
Patriotic Practices Timeline
1776-1865: A Fraught Beginning
1866-1917: Patriotism from the Ground Up
Chapter Six: Patriotic Practices: Allegiance Gets Paid For
Patriotic Practices Timeline
1917-1976: Federally Mandated Patriotism
2001-2021: Paid Patriotism and Outrageous Refusal