American Dream

Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington

Martin Luther King’s Dream at 60 Martin Luther King’s Dream at 60

King offered Americans the choice between acting in accordance with the constitution and resistance—often violent—to change.  In many ways, we face the same choice today.

Aug 28, 2023 / Eric Foner

Urban sprawl, Las Vegas, Nev.

The Case Against Homeownership The Case Against Homeownership

Instead of perpetuating the Ponzi scheme of private property for some, we should be demanding economic security for all.

Jun 5, 2023 / Jane Chung

How Black Landowners in the South Are Recovering Lost Generational Wealth

How Black Landowners in the South Are Recovering Lost Generational Wealth How Black Landowners in the South Are Recovering Lost Generational Wealth

Industry encroachment and farm consolidation contributed to decades of Black-owned land loss. In North Carolina, many are fighting to recoup what was lost.

Oct 26, 2022 / Photo Essay / Cameron Oglesby

Howard Zinn speaking

Howard Zinn at 100: Remembering “The People’s Historian” Howard Zinn at 100: Remembering “The People’s Historian”

Zinn made no pretense of neutrality. He believed that “in a world of conflict,” it was the historian’s job to advocate for the oppressed.

Aug 24, 2022 / Robert Cohen and Sonia Murrow

Three stacks of 100 dollar bills.

How the “American Dream” Became Un-American How the “American Dream” Became Un-American

When plutocrats defend it, and democrats bewail its passing, it’s time to recall the original meaning of the phrase.

Feb 10, 2022 / Maria Bustillos

Tuskegee Study Drawing Blood

America as a “Shining City on a Hill”—and Other Myths to Die By America as a “Shining City on a Hill”—and Other Myths to Die By

Time to begin the dirty, essential work of undigging our history, before it kills us all.

Oct 14, 2021 / Column / Gregg Gonsalves

Image of JFK with the lettering

JFK, Bob Dylan, and the Death of the American Dream JFK, Bob Dylan, and the Death of the American Dream

How Dylan’s new song, “Murder Most Foul,” speaks to my generation and pierces our collective soul.

Apr 13, 2020 / Tim Shorrock

Bubonic plague illustration

The Tangled History of Illness and Idiocy The Tangled History of Illness and Idiocy

The pandemic is stress-testing two concepts Americans have historically gotten wrong.

Apr 13, 2020 / Jessi Jezewska Stevens

Slavery, and American Racism, Were Born in Genocide

Slavery, and American Racism, Were Born in Genocide Slavery, and American Racism, Were Born in Genocide

Martin Luther King Jr. saw something essential about our nation: Imperial expansion west over stolen Indian land shaped and deepened the American Revolution’s relationship to slave...

Jan 20, 2020 / Greg Grandin

The Statue of Liberty

Undoing the Promise of the Statue of Liberty Undoing the Promise of the Statue of Liberty

Attempts to rewrite the poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty are an attack on immigrants like me and my family.

Aug 16, 2019 / George Atallah

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