Response to Bobadilla on the Center for the History of Political Economy
In a column published in the The Chronicle on 24 September 2018 and reprinted on 26 September, Eladio Bobadilla attacked the Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke University in a completely irresponsible manner. Using the tactics of innuendo and guilt by association reminiscent of the McCarthy era, he seeks to associate the faculty and fellows of the Center with the despicable forces of bigotry and white supremacy. These scurrilous insinuations would be laughable if they were not so vile. It is hypocritical to group the Center among those for whom “history and truth are reduced to whatever the powerful say they are” when Mr. Bobadilla has himself shown no respect for the truth and has not bothered with the due diligence that one might expect from a professional historian of checking the facts and gathering evidence for his assertions – for example, by visiting the Center and talking to its faculty and fellows and learning something about what they are and what they do. As the senior members of the Center, we are happy for the opportunity to put the facts on the table.