“Black Americans are calling into question the entire settler colonial project,” says historian Gerald Horne. “Those who consider themselves to be radical, those who consider themselves to be on the left, those who say they’re looking for an alternative to capitalism really should jump aboard this moving train. Because the other model, which is supposedly, We’re walking in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson and other slave owners… That particular analysis has hit a roadblock, it’s hit a dead end—it’s not going anywhere.”

Today on the show, we welcome back Dr. Horne to discuss his new book, The Dawning of the Apocalypse, wherein he retells the bloodthirsty story of the invasion of the Americas and how “whiteness” morphed into “white supremacy” over the course of the long sixteenth century.

During this hour, Dr. Horne also offers examples of how colonial history manifests itself in the present day, including the Founding Father worship of the hit musical Hamilton and the growing popularity of QAnon conspiracies.

Gerald Horne is the Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. He’s the author of over thirty books to date, including a history of the political economy of jazz (Jazz and Justice, Monthly Review Press, 2019), a comparison of the entangled histories of South African apartheid and Jim Crow (White Supremacy Confronted, International Publishers, 2019), the African American struggle to gain the right to fly (Storming the Heavens, Black Classic Press, 2017), and his most recent publication, The Dawning of the Apocalypse: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, Settler Colonialism, and Capitalism in the Long Sixteenth Century (NYU Press, 2020).

He is a frequent contributor to Political Affairs magazine as well as various radio programs.