Glaude’s New Book Traces Racial Flashpoints Around July 4
In his latest book, America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries, Princeton University professor Eddie S Glaude Jr argues that political turmoil has historically erupted around Fourth of July celebrations. The book is particularly timely as the United States approaches its 250th birthday in 2026. Glaude contends that Black Americans have been central to the nation’s founding, and their presence exposes the myth of a white republic. He says anniversaries reinforce sanitized history at the expense of truth, treating celebrations as sacrosanct events that justify erasing brutal pasts.
Cyclical Nature of Race Relations: Progress and Backlash
Glaude juxtaposes past racist violence against Black people with current-day attacks. He explains this cyclical pattern through the concept of a divided national soul: America imagines itself both as a beacon of freedom and as a white republic. These contradictions create a “madness” where freedom is seen as a possession of a particular group. Progress is often followed by backlash, as seen after Reconstruction and the George Floyd protests. “We find ourselves in these cycles of sentimentality and white rage,” Glaude says, referencing Carol Anderson’s work.
250th Anniversary Coincides with Attacks on Voting Rights
Glaude notes that six years after the murder of George Floyd sparked a racial reckoning, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 are under assault. Both laws reshaped the nation by expanding multiracial democracy and Black political power. The current attacks, he says, are a wholesale rejection of that vision. The 250th celebrations come amid normalized white supremacist rhetoric, gutted voting protections, and threats to birthright citizenship.
Historical Whitewashing: 1876 and 1926 Anniversaries
Glaude highlights how previous anniversaries—1876 and 1926—also involved deliberate whitewashing. In 1876, after the Civil War, President Ulysses S Grant focused on business and innovation, while Black Americans were effectively erased from the narrative. This occurred against the backdrop of the Colfax massacre, violence in Vicksburg and Hamburg, and political coups in the occupied South. Glaude invokes Toni Morrison’s term “disremembering” to describe this active forgetting, which he says is a form of violence. He quotes James Baldwin: “Innocence constitutes the crime.”
Can Americans Overcome Political Amnesia?
Frederick Douglass described Americans as “destitute of political memory,” but Glaude believes change is possible. He calls for the nation to grow up and honestly confront its past, rather than remain in a perpetual state of adolescence. “We have to make a choice. Either we’re going to be a white republic, or we’re going to be a beacon of freedom. We can’t be both,” he writes. He advocates for a “tragic sense” that acknowledges both horrors and joys, triumphs and defeats.
Glaude’s Grim Outlook: ‘We’re Witnessing the End of the America That Made Our Lives Possible’
Glaude describes the current moment as a precipice. He warns that Donald Trump and the MAGA movement are destroying democratic foundations. “We’re witnessing the end of the America that made our lives possible. It’s going to take generations to get back on our feet,” he says. Yet he finds hope in the darkest hour: “Midnight is the beginning of a new day.” He believes if Americans are mature enough, they can build a new country from the ruins left by Trump and his allies.
