The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy with Robert P. Jones
Honoring a commitment to lifelong learning
On the latest episode of I Doubt It Podcast, we interviewed Robert P. Jones, founder and president of the Public Religion Research Institute. His new book, “The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future,” comes as we’re engaged in an ongoing fight against white supremacy and its continued legacy in our institutions.
“How does one get out of that situation?”
I typically get this question when someone learns white supremacists raised me. My answer always focuses on luck: lucky to encounter people who intervened, lucky to be predisposed to curiosity and a willingness to unlearn and relearn, lucky to accept the fact my parents were imperfect people who misrepresented the world, and the list goes on. The story can seem a little too straightforward and neat: “I believed this, and then people helped, and then I was fixed.” After all, how deep can we get into it over drinks or out to dinner with polite company? Reality is, as always, more complex.
But I am lucky. Things could have gone very differently for me. I have the opportunity to reflect on this with each new day that brings headlines about the efforts of those on the right to suppress historical and contemporary realities from being taught to children in schools. From attempts to ban books on race and LGBTQ+ issues in public libraries to filling school curriculums with right-wing propaganda, the goal seems to be keeping children ignorant of history and thus incapable of connecting the necessary dots to understand the world as it is today. As I was drinking my coffee and scrolling Twitter (we do not call it X in this house) this morning, I saw another stark reminder of this effort in this headline: Florida reviewers of AP African American Studies sought ‘opposing viewpoints’ of slavery. This reminded me of my experience learning history in fourth grade.
My parents wanted to ensure that there wasn’t an ‘opposing viewpoint’ for what they taught me at home: Indigenous people were violent savages who derived joy from murdering white people and scalping white women for their “pretty blonde hair.” To keep me sealed in the echo chamber despite my presence in public school, my parents demanded that I sit outside in the hallway as the rest of the class learned about the history of this country. I can’t account for the quality of that education in the classroom as I wasn’t there, but I can tell you it was better than being forced to read “Captured by the Indians” and regurgitate the racist talking points provided for me. (Go ahead and peruse those Amazon reviews. Spot the racism?)
The danger in all of this extends beyond the classroom walls: the work to unlearn and relearn the realities of the world once a child leaves a classroom is difficult! This lack of education informs everything! Most notably, your ability to be an informed and involved citizen who can use your voice and vote to make life easier or more difficult for yourself and those around you. You’re left to (luckily, hopefully) encounter books, articles, movies, documentaries, op-eds, academics... anything that can right the ship! I often wonder about the kids who are right now growing up as I did, indoctrinated and prevented from learning the realities of the world. If I were in fourth grade today, I wonder whether I’d still be alone in that hallway or if there would be a contingent of brainwashed kids sitting with me.
This is what makes work from people like Robert P. Jones invaluable. My copy of his latest book has countless folded pages, highlighted passages, and notes scribbled in the margins, a tell-tale sign the book will be an ongoing reference for me in the future. From the honest historical records of racist violence against Indigenous communities and Black people to the vital work of truth-telling and attempts at repair, the book is an essential roadmap for coming to terms with the reality of our nation’s ugly history. There is one passage in particular that stands out for me, though. I attempted to read it aloud to my partner, my voice cracking as I struggled to suppress my tears, barely making it to the end.
“Here is the question that must illuminate the path forward for us and our children: How can we meaningfully respond to being beneficiaries of a crime so plain it cannot be denied and so large it can never be fully righted? It is easy to be overwhelmed by such a question. Even those conversations about restitution or reparations that get off the ground are quickly sandbagged by assertions about the impossibility of the task or red-herring objections to extreme solutions that no one has proposed. But if we’re honest, we also know that the paralysis that often cripples discussions of justice is a defense mechanism stemming from a lack of real motivation. Up to this point in our history, the lesson seems to be this: While we are endlessly creative in fashioning novel ways to kill, dispossess, and defraud others, we are hopelessly unimaginative in our efforts to balance the scales of justice. Greed spawns a million schemes, while repentance throws up its hands.”
I’ve shared this paragraph with many friends, encouraging them to read the book themselves. I’m doing that here because I think this aptly summarizes many of the issues we contend with today. From gun violence to widespread poverty, homelessness, or systemic racism, we continue to throw up our hands and say the solutions are impossible or too complicated… but we know better. We can’t continue to throw up our hands. It’s time to dive in, get uncomfortable, and wrestle with the solutions we know we need to move forward. It starts with ensuring we have a strong foundation built on an accurate understanding of this nation’s history and possibly unlearning and relearning a thing or two. I hope you’ll read the book and listen to our interview. I think you’ll be better for it. I know I am.
Order your copy of “The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future” here!
Watch our interview with Robert P. Jones here.
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