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With passion and clear-eyed insight, an award-winning journalist reflects on the deep-rooted racism that brought us to the present political moment and offers a path to a post-Trump future.
As American society grows increasingly polarized and the Trump administration continues to violate norms and laws, it can be tempting to blame Donald Trump himself—a singularly toxic individual who created the MAGA movement. In fact, the values he espouses can be traced back to the founding of this nation, in which white supremacy played an integral role. For those opposed to slavery such as John Adams, the fear of disunion often proved a greater motivator than a desire for equality. Even for our first Black president, white supremacy was not a dealbreaker—the image of Obama cozying up to Trump at President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in January 2025 captured this outward tolerance for hatefulness.
In his timely, searing new book, South Carolina–based journalist Issac J. Bailey examines this throughline of racism and considers how we might save America by freeing ourselves from the patriotic myths that have obscured the reality on the ground. Looking forward to the 2028 elections, he stresses the necessity of candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of bold strategies rather than a cautious appeal to centrism that has repeatedly failed us.