Two men from Mississippi’s Gulf Coast wonder if America is finally willing to grow up.
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As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, Russell is joined by fellow southern Mississippi native and public intellectual Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. to talk about race, memory, patriotism, and the stories nations tell themselves in order to avoid repentance.
Drawing from his new book America, USA: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries, Glaude argues that the danger facing the country is not simply historical ignorance, but a “storybook” version of America that shields us from confronting what is broken underneath.
While talking about Baldwin, Bellah, Bonhoeffer, Toni Morrison, and the civil rights movement, the two explore the tension between love of country and idolatry of nation, the persistence of racial inequality, and why prophetic truth-telling requires both courage and hope.
Ultimately, Glaude’s message asks more questions than it answers, but gently ushers us toward love, reconciliation, and redemption at a time when we really need it.
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