Shades Of Gray Cloak Black Patriotism
'Let America Be America Again'
An excerpt from Langston Hughes' poem
O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
July 4 is a holiday for all Americans to celebrate. But for many African Americans, the nation's history of slavery, segregation and racism collide with feelings of loyalty to a country that, more than 200 years later, still faces racial and ethnic disparities.
Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General and author of Jefferson's Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism Roger Wilkins speaks with Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of The Beautiful Struggle, and Terry Glover, senior editor of EbonyJet.com, who wrote an op-ed titled, "Why I Pledge", about reconciling American pride with a painful history.