Appeals to American principles are a delusion that cannot save the nation

Evidence

We have to do better. And this will take much more than lofty appeals to the American Idea—the delusion that somehow, if we live up to our principles, all will be well once again in America. Illusions will not save us; they have to be smashed. We have to change fundamentally, and that will require uprooting the racial habits that are the lifeblood of the value gap. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 132

Categorization

• QUESTION: Glaude calls the American Idea a ‘delusion,’ directly attacking liberal gradualism-this is the premise that makes his later ‘blank-out ballot’ radical proposal coherent.