Read on PBS NewsAmerica's Divided Soul: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries
As the United States prepares to mark 250 years since its founding, Princeton professor Eddie Glaude Jr.'s new book, 'America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries,' challenges the celebratory narrative by exposing a deep contradiction at the heart of the American experiment. Glaude argues that the nation's history of celebrating freedom while simultaneously excluding millions of its citizens creates a 'double consciousness' that has defined the country since its inception. Drawing parallels between the 1926 sesquicentennial and the upcoming 2026 semiquincentennial, Glaude reveals how cycles of racial sentimentality and rage continue to shape American politics and identity. This article explores Glaude's provocative thesis and what it means for the nation's future.
As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding, a milestone often framed as a triumphant celebration of democracy, freedom, and national promise, a powerful counternarrative has emerged. Eddie Glaude Jr., a professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, argues in his new book, America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries, that these commemorations have always been shadowed by a profound contradiction. The nation has historically proclaimed liberty while systematically excluding millions of its own citizens from that very promise.
In a recent interview with PBS NewsHour, Glaude opened with a startling confession: "I do not love America and never have, especially now." This declaration is not a rejection of patriotism but a calculated challenge to what he calls the "idolatry of the nation state." He asks readers to reconsider what it means to have an abiding love for something so abstract and often morally compromised. Glaude distinguishes his perspective from that of James Baldwin, who began with a love of country as a basis for critique. Instead, Glaude begins with personal wound and historical truth.
The Double Consciousness of a Nation
At the core of Glaude's argument is a reinterpretation of W.E.B. Du Bois's concept of double consciousness. Du Bois originally described how Black Americans see themselves through the eyes of a society that despises them. Glaude expands this, arguing that this Black double consciousness is a direct consequence of a deeper double consciousness at the heart of the nation itself. America simultaneously imagines itself as a beacon of freedom and as a white republic. These two commitments cannot coexist without contradiction, creating what Glaude describes as a "madness at the heart of the country." This foundational conflict has been present since the nation's founding and manifests in a recurring cycle of sentimentality and rage.
Historical Parallels: 1926 and 2026
Glaude draws a striking parallel between the 150th anniversary of the nation in 1926 and the upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026. Contrary to the popular image of the 1920s as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age, Glaude notes it was also the "decade of the Klan." The Ku Klux Klan claimed responsibility for the election of President Calvin Coolidge and had over a quarter-million members in Pennsylvania alone. In a shocking historical fact, the Klan was approved to hold its annual convention on the grounds of the Philadelphia Exposition celebrating the nation's 150th year. The Klan planned to celebrate the flag and burn a cross simultaneously, a stark illustration of the nation's divided soul. Coolidge's speech that year, Glaude points out, argued that America needed only one revolution—a restoration of enduring principles—a sentiment he sees echoed in the modern MAGA movement's call to "remember and restore."
The Cycle of Sentimentality and Rage
Glaude resists the typical American ritual of describing a problem, offering a policy blueprint, and moving on. He argues that this pattern, particularly evident after the police killing of George Floyd, is a performative exercise driven by sentimentality. Sentimentality, he explains, assumes that freedom is something possessed by white Americans to give or take away. When those who are the object of charity push back, demanding justice rather than alms, sentimentality quickly transforms into rage. This cycle prevents genuine structural change and perpetuates the nation's original sin. Glaude insists that the choice is simple but profound: America cannot be a beacon of freedom and a white republic simultaneously. The country must choose which identity it will truly embrace.
Conclusion: A Call for Authentic Reckoning
Glaude's America, U.S.A. is not a policy manual but a moral challenge. It calls on Americans to abandon the comforting myths of a flawless founding and instead confront the painful truths of the nation's history. As the country approaches its 250th anniversary, the book asks whether Americans can move beyond sentimental celebrations and engage in an honest reckoning with the past. The answer, Glaude suggests, will determine whether the next 250 years can truly fulfill the promise of liberty and justice for all. The choice, as he puts it, is stark and unavoidable: Which America will we choose to be?
