"A case can be made that the correct narrative to adopt today is one of unabashed black patriotism—a forthright embrace of American nationalism by black people."
@GlennLoury's latest for @CityJournal
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@GlennLoury's latest for @CityJournal
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"Is this a venal, immoral, & rapacious bandit-society of plundering white supremacists, founded in genocide & slavery & propelled by capitalist greed, or a good country that affords boundless opportunity to all fortunate enough to enjoy the privileges and...
"Is this a venal, immoral, & rapacious bandit-society of plundering white supremacists, founded in genocide & slavery & propelled by capitalist greed, or a good country that affords boundless opportunity to all fortunate enough to enjoy the privileges and...
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"...bear the responsibilities of citizenship? Of course, there is some warrant in the historical record for both sentiments, but the weight of the evidence overwhelmingly favors the latter. The founding of the United States of America was a world-historic event...
"...bear the responsibilities of citizenship? Of course, there is some warrant in the historical record for both sentiments, but the weight of the evidence overwhelmingly favors the latter. The founding of the United States of America was a world-historic event...
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"...by means of which Enlightenment ideals about the rights of individual persons and the legitimacy of state power were instantiated for the first time in real institutions.
"...by means of which Enlightenment ideals about the rights of individual persons and the legitimacy of state power were instantiated for the first time in real institutions.
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"We have witnessed here in America, since the end of the Civil War, the greatest transformation in the status of a serfdom people (which is, in effect, what blacks became after emancipation) to be found anywhere in world history.
This narrative of human liberty begins...
"We have witnessed here in America, since the end of the Civil War, the greatest transformation in the status of a serfdom people (which is, in effect, what blacks became after emancipation) to be found anywhere in world history.
This narrative of human liberty begins...
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"...in the incredible trauma of the Civil War, w/ more than 600K dead in a country of 30 million. [... T]he consequence of that war was, together with the 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments, to make the chattel—the African slaves and their descendants—into citizens.
"...in the incredible trauma of the Civil War, w/ more than 600K dead in a country of 30 million. [... T]he consequence of that war was, together with the 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments, to make the chattel—the African slaves and their descendants—into citizens.
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"To those, like the influential writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, who dismiss the American dream as irrelevant to blacks or worse, I would ask, 'Have you noticed what has happened here in the United States in the last century?'
"To those, like the influential writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, who dismiss the American dream as irrelevant to blacks or worse, I would ask, 'Have you noticed what has happened here in the United States in the last century?'
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"In 1944, ...the modal occupation for African-American men was farm laborer, & the typical occupation of African-American women was domestic servant. The median family income of blacks relative to whites was about 50%. ... This is within my lifetime.
"In 1944, ...the modal occupation for African-American men was farm laborer, & the typical occupation of African-American women was domestic servant. The median family income of blacks relative to whites was about 50%. ... This is within my lifetime.
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"In the last 75 years, a vast black middle class has developed. The influence of black people on the culture of America is stunning & has global resonance. Some 40 million strong, black Americans are the richest & most powerful population of African descent on the planet.
"In the last 75 years, a vast black middle class has developed. The influence of black people on the culture of America is stunning & has global resonance. Some 40 million strong, black Americans are the richest & most powerful population of African descent on the planet.
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"The central issue is a question of narrative. Are we going to look [at] the U.S. as a racist, genocidal, white supremacist, illegitimate force? Or are we going to see it for what it has become over the last 3 centuries: the greatest force for human liberty on the planet?
"The central issue is a question of narrative. Are we going to look [at] the U.S. as a racist, genocidal, white supremacist, illegitimate force? Or are we going to see it for what it has become over the last 3 centuries: the greatest force for human liberty on the planet?
Read all of Glenn Loury's latest, "The Case for Black Patriotism," here:
city-journal.org/the-case-for-b…
city-journal.org/the-case-for-b…
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