July Fourth will be extra special in the United States this year, that’s because it will mark 250 years since its founding. But instead of celebrating the country’s past, author and distinguished Princeton University Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. is calling on Americans to confront it in his latest book, ‘America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries.’
“There is something about the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the nation that has these haunting echoes,” Glaude tells Mehdi, “we’ve never really removed the tumor that causes so much of the illness of American life.”
Glaude’s book takes readers through the U.S.’s biggest anniversaries, highlighting the contradictions in the jubilee of each from the perspective of race, equality, and freedom for all. The raw self-examination of American history is not an easy task, as Glaude explains during his conversation with Mehdi, which also touched on:
Whether Glaude would’ve written the book even if Trump wasn’t re-elected
How every Independence Day in this country works to instill a “mythical America” and a “white republic”
His reaction to having one of his books removed from shelves by the Trump administration
How underestimating white America blinded him to the eventuality of Trump’s first election
What he meant exactly when he opened his book by saying “I do not love America, and never have.”
Who he believes could be the 2028 candidate that can help the U.S. confront its past.
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Click here to buy a copy of Glaude’s book, ‘America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries.’ And if you’ve already read it, feel free to share your review of the book in the comments below!
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