No one understands the power of real American history more than the right. 

The shameless wars on “critical race theory” and “DEI” and “wokeness” stink of fear. It’s the fear of knowing that anyone who understands the true story of how Black America confronted relentless oppression by demanding that America fulfill its founding promise can’t help being both infuriated and inspired. 

And no one has done a better job of telling real American history than Professor Carol Anderson. Her books White Rage, One Person, No Vote and The Second could be read as a trilogy of how America’s racist past has shaped our reactionary present. 

We spoke to her about how the threats to democracy we face aren’t just named Donald Trump. 

With humor, grace, and depth, she connects today’s attacks on voting rights led by names Ron DeSantis, Jeff Landry and Brian Kemp all the way back to the Mississippi Plan of 1874. And she also identifies how a lack of outrage at the right’s success at rolling back the gains of the Civil Rights Era helped lead to the crisis we face today.