Professor Glenn Loury of Brown University writes about the ‘American Project’ and black Americans in this essay from earlier this year.
When we talk about race and American citizenship, we must ask whether the currently fashionable standoffishness characteristic of much elite thinking about blacks’ relationship to the “American project” — as exemplified, for example, by the New York Times’ 1619 Project — truly serves the interests, rightly understood, of black Americans. I think not. Indeed, I think a case can be made for unabashed black patriotism, for a forthright embrace of American nationalism by black people. The “America ain’t all it’s cracked-up to be” posture that one hears so much of these days is, in my view, a sophomoric indulgence for blacks at this late date. In fact, our birthright citizenship in what is arguably history’s greatest republic is an inheritance of immense value.
He makes these four points, which you can read on 1176unites.com.
- The founding of the United States (1776) was vastly more significant for world history than the first arrival in America of African slaves (1619).
- The Civil War has a significant freedom legacy.
- Black Americans have been transformed and marvelously transformed themselves in the 20th century.
- Consider what achieving “true equality” for black Americans actually entails, an immeasurable amount of work.