The Fine Print

Few things better encapsulate the American paradox than The ​Soiling of Old Glory.

While at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston last Friday, I saw a captivating reimagining of Stanley Furman’s iconic photo depicting a man attacking attorney Ted Landsmark with the American flag in Boston’s City Hall Plaza during desegregation protests—fittingly, during the 200th year of America’s existence.

In light of our country’s recent 250th anniversary and the continued assault on Black history by the Trump administration, seeing that image hit differently:

A white man using one of the most sacred symbols of our country as a weapon against a Black man working to make America’s reality match its stated ideals.

But that’s nothing new here.

From the flag itself to its very laws, the United States has used every tool in its arsenal to harm the people it refuses to acknowledge rather than affording them the rights they deserve. Even the positioning of the photo’s title—the focus on the flag, not the victim—tells us a story about who matters more.

But like Ted Landsmark, we’re still here—undaunted and unbeaten. 

We’re not just victims of historic injustice or targets of racism and rage. We’re active, enduring participants in the American story, and the future of America’s next 250 years will be decided by us.

Khari Thompson

Breaking the Chain of Ideas

For many people, America’s rapid authoritarian turn came out of nowhere. 

Not Ibram X. Kendi.

The author of Stamped From the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist shows in his new book Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age that America’s anti-democratic policies are part of a worldwide trend—one that long predates the current administration.

But Kendi, now the Carter G. Woodson Endowed Chair of History at Howard University, also takes America to task for failing to live up to its ideals of freedom for all, calling on us to hold the United States to account in its next 250 years.

Here’s an excerpt of our conversation with Kendi, lightly edited for length and clarity. Read the full conversation on our website.

Ibram X. Kendi: I've tried in my work to show people the ways in which you have powerful forces—powerful people, often super wealthy—who are trying to accumulate tremendous amounts of power, and who have historically been producing ideas for human consumption. These ideas, particularly racist ideas, are designed to get people to think that the very people who are dominating and exploiting them are actually their friends, and that those other people who are also being dominated and exploited are their enemies. Or even to get the primary victims of domination and exploitation—who are being hyper-exploited—to believe that there's something wrong with them because they're Black, or Brown, or a woman, or queer. I'm hoping people will realize just the awesome power of propaganda—particularly ideas—and the effects of those ideas on what we do and see and believe on a daily basis.

How do we convince people that authoritarianism hurts everyone, not just the people they don't like?

IK: I think this is one of the reasons why, in Chain of Ideas, I wanted people to understand the relationship between power and privilege. We're living in a moment in which racist power—authoritarian power—is saying to low- and middle-income white people: “I am here to protect your privilege.” And so what happens is people are essentially deciding on the maintenance of their privilege in exchange for democracy. … And the more you defend your privileges, and the more you empower those who are defending your privileges, the more you're actually giving up your power. It's only going to get worse. 

I don't think it's a coincidence that the world's first trillionaire is someone who has been one of the greatest promoters on the face of the earth of great replacement theory. This is a person who has promoted this theory in the United States, in Latin America, in Europe, in India—that majority groups or privileged groups are under attack and he's here to protect and save them. It isn't a coincidence. Because the more people believe great replacement theory, the more they open themselves up to exploitation at the hands of people like him.

Ibram X. Kendi at Embrace Ideas Festival in 2024. (Photo: Lois Missowou)

How important is it to take a multi-platform approach to informing people in a moment where it feels like we have all this access to information but struggle to figure out who to trust?

IK: I really respect human beings. And when you respect people, you go to where they are—you don't sit on top of some hill imagining that people need to come to you. There are people who will read a social media post but not a book. Just as there are people who read a book but aren't on social media. Just as there are people who engage through something like The Emancipator or a public talk. So I'm constantly trying to think of different ways to meet people where they are.

What does it mean to you to reflect on 250 years of American history, and how do we redefine the United States of America in the next 250 years?

IK: Let me first say that there are Americans who consciously produce narratives that this nation is committed to liberty and equality. And they're producing those narratives because they benefit from the lack of liberty and equality. Then you have Americans who have consumed that belief—who genuinely believe that this nation is committed to liberty and equality. And then you have Americans who've rejected that propaganda but who still actually support the ideals of a nation committed to liberty and equality. And so they've spent the last 250 years trying to make those ideas real. I think—hopefully—it won't take another 250 years to make those ideals real. But that is the America I'm fighting for. That is the America my ancestors have fought for.

How important is it for historians, for museums, for the places that hold public memory to hold the line right now when they are under all kinds of assault?

IK: To me, one of the major battles going on right now is between propaganda and truth. Propaganda is one of the major weapons that authoritarian power is using to get people to consent to their own domination. And so all those truth tellers—whether they are journalists, museum professionals, librarians, or scholars—this is the moment in which we have to hold the line. … Because if you don't want the truth to be told, you are going to go first and foremost after the institutions, organizations, and professionals who tell it. That's why all those groups have been bitterly attacked and undermined. But we have to hold the line for truth.

Tracking Democracy