How We Win the Civil War

September 19, 2022
Podcast host Phillips (Brown Is the New White) explores the legacy of the Civil War on American politics in this punchy polemic. Opening with an account of the January 6 Capitol riot, Phillips traces the roots of Trumpism back to the Confederacy. He draws numerous connections between the actions of Trump’s supporters and the “Confederate Battle Plan” mounted by Southerners in the years after the Civil War, claiming, for example, that both movements sought to “ruthlessly rewrite the laws” and “distort public opinion” to undermine “the march toward the multiracial makeover of America.” White supremacist ideology runs so deep in the national culture, Phillips claims, that even “Black folks’ supposed allies hemmed and hawed when it came time to put a prohibition on slavery and racial discrimination in the U.S. Constitution.” Elsewhere, he explains how minstrelsy was “explicitly and intentionally promoted in opposition to the pre–Civil War abolitionist movement,” delves into the racist “birther movement” against President Obama, and highlights contemporary campaigns against voter suppression in Arizona, Georgia, Texas, and other states. Throughout, Phillips draws incisive lessons from Martin Luther King Jr., Stacey Abrams, and other civil rights activists and calls on progressives to “reorient our thinking about what leaders look like.” Spirited and persuasive, this is a rousing call for change.