Why are we in such a rush to forget the very thing that made our country what it is? And how do we teach that history to kids while preserving their pride in being American? I asked my Dad.

The historian and author Andrew Ward grew up on the South Side of Chicago and then in India before becoming a historian of colonialism and slavery. Years later he became my father. I think he’s just the person to discuss the weird moment we’re in, when politicians are trying to erase slavery and racism from the national discussion just when we were starting to take stock of it.

I sat down with my Dad in his apartment to talk about his unusual childhood, photographing the Civil Rights movement, and how he fights off stupid arguments about DEI while preserving his sympathy for the arguers.

Andrew Ward is the author of 11 books, including The Slaves’ War, which tells the story of the civil war from the perspective of the very people it was fought over, and Dark Midnight When I Rise, the story of the singing group that introduced Black music to America.