It’s official: Americans don’t like each other very much. The Pew Research Center is the latest institution to make that determination. According to a report it released in March, the majority of Americans it surveyed viewed their fellow citizens as immoral or unethical, or both. The researchers didn’t bother asking them why they felt that way. They already knew the answer. Early last year, while conducting a different survey on the question of why so many Americans believ

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, women across the country took to the streets  in angry protest . When affirmative action was struck down soon after, many of us expected a similar response — especially from white women, who  statistically benefited most  from the policy. But the demonstrations never came.   Critics of affirmative action took that as proof that Americans generally oppose race-based policies.  They called it divisive . Yet all diversity ef

Try and imagine what it’s like to be a descendant of America’s indigenous peoples, its English settlers or its African slaves, watching as the nation fights over the definition of DEI.    None of this is new to us.    We weren’t surprised by America’s explosive reaction to the death of George Floyd in 2020, or the pushback that followed.  We’ve had centuries to learn how the U.S. deals with racial conflict—its patterns and rhythms. We know better than most that the way Americ

Social harmony in America is unnatural.  We’re not wired for it.  Americans have many qualities, but, above all, we’re individualistic—the most individualistic culture on earth.    We are proud of our individualism. If you ask any one of us to describe what it means to be American, the word individual, in some form, always comes up. But, American individualism is extreme. So extreme, in fact, that it has on more than one occasion threatened our republic.  Our extreme individ

In less than a year, the U.S. will celebrate its 250 th  anniversary.  Whether you like him or not, there may be no better person than...

President Trump’s war on American history is not just about promoting a  colorblind society , or fighting  anti-white bias , or even...

When I was growing up in the eighties, I would often hear the adults around me talking about how all the white people they knew seemed...

My family has a secret.  I discovered it this spring, during my Aunt Dot’s 80 th birthday party when one of her grandchildren asked her...

(originally published in The Sun 29Dec24) Soon, a new year will be upon us.  As an American history geek, I know I’ll be spending much of...

(originally published in The Sun 5Dec24) Only time will tell if the new political movement that swept Donald Trump into office is...

(originally published in The Sun10Nov24) James Carville, former president Bill Clinton’s campaign strategist, once famously distilled the...

(originally published in The Sun 22Sep24) Last month, Denise Prudhomme, a 60 year-old, Wells Fargo employee from Tempe, Arizona, was...

(originally published with Dr. Anne Tapp in The Sun 24jul24) What happened to all of those angry people in the old black-and-white photos...

(originally published in The Hill, 2Sep24) As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, I find myself asking out loud a question I’ve whispered...

(originally published in The Sun 28Aug24) August 28th is the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech....

(originally published in The Sun 24May24) In “The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending,” an essay by Franklin Foer published in March in...