Why I Wrote THE HIDDEN ROOTS OF WHITE SUPREMACY

One week from today! The paperback edition of HIDDEN ROOTS, with a new Afterword on Christian nationalism, drops September 10th.

Dear #WhiteTooLong readers:

The paperback edition of my book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future, officially drops this Tuesday, September 5th. It includes a new Afterword that shows the connections between today’s white Christian nationalist movement at the heart of the MAGA movement and the 15th century Christian Doctrine of Discovery. When I opened the box of advance author copies two weeks ago, I was also thrilled to see the new cover with the words “New York Times Bestseller” emblazoned across the top, something that only happened because of readers like you—thank you!

Thanks so much to all of you who have pre-ordered the paperback—including those of you who have taken advantage of the exclusive WTL reader offer to receive a discounted paid subscription to the newsletter with the purchase of the book. (more on that below).

Gratefully,

Robby

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Why I wrote HIDDEN ROOTS

I’m often asked about my motivations for writing. These conversations have taken me back to a passage from the late Native American scholar Vine Deloria Jr.

In his incisive (and bitingly funny) 1969 book, Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, Deloria describes what he saw as a defensive tactic that limited the vision of white civil rights activists during what he calls “the heyday of liberal self helpism.”

The funny thing about this era was that one subject was absolutely forbidden. And that was any attempt to compare the white man’s treatment of Indians with that of other minority groups. That might have revealed a startling case agains the whites’ dealings with all dark-skinned peoples (Deloria 210).

In Hidden Roots, I’ve tried to hold that stereoscopic gaze in focus, highlighting the connections between Emmett Till and the Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto in the Mississippi Delta, between the lynching of three Black circus workers in Duluth and the mass execution of thirty-eight Dakota men in Mankato, and between the murder of 300 African Americans during the burning of Black Wall Street in Tulsa and the Trail of Tears. I believe that one of the main contributions of the new book is making these connections visible.

I’ve also tried not to flinch from the conclusions that flow directly from this vision. This vantage point makes it clear that the enslavement of Africans was not America’s original sin but, rather, the continuation of acts of genocide and dispossession flowing from the first European contact with Native Americans. I tried to put it as plainly as possible in the book:

These stories, told in isolation, fracture the historical gaze among the victims of violence, theft, slavery, and oppression. Even well-intentioned accounts, told in this way, encourage a partial reckoning. These fragmented narratives demarcate America’s so-called “Indian problem” and so-called “Negro problem”—as even well-meaning whites historically referred to them—as distant islands, neither one visible from the shores of the other. But if we do the hard work of pushing upriver, we find, at the headwaters, the white Christian problem.

My sincerest hope for the book is that this more honest view of our troubled past may help illuminate our way into a healthier future.

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LIMITED TIME OFFER: Pre-Order Hidden Roots before 9/10 and Get 25% Off a Paid Annual Newsletter Subscription

I have a discount deal for WTL readers who are not yet paid subscribers. If you pre-order your copy of Hidden Roots between now and the paperback publication day (09/10), you can get 25% off a paid annual subscription to this newsletter. This discount is roughly the same value as the book, so it’s like getting the book for free!

Here’s the deal:

PRE-ORDER BOOK OFFER. If you pre-order the paperback edition to my new book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future, prior to it’s September 10th publication date, you can get 25% off an annual subscription.

We’ll do this on the honor system. Just send me an email at robertpjones.substack@gmail.com confirming you’ve pre-ordered the book (hardcover, audiobook, or ebook), and I’ll send you a link to receive the discounted subscription.