A Princeton historian has thoughts on the US turning 250
The US is about to hit its semiquincentennial, and instead of planning a massive cake, historians are basically staging an intervention.
We are staring down the barrel of America’s 250th birthday, and while most people are thinking about fireworks or beer, Eddie Glaude Jr. from Princeton is looking at the country like a tired parent at a parent-teacher conference.
His diagnosis is simple: America needs to finally grow up.
Instead of the usual patriotic high-fives, he is pointing out that every major milestone in this country's history has just been us arguing with ourselves about who we actually are. It is like turning thirty and realizing you are still making the exact same bad decisions you made at nineteen, just with a worse lower back. The soul of the nation is split right down the middle, and we are still pretending we are the golden child of democracy.
Celebrating a quarter-millennium by throwing a massive tantrum is certainly one way to handle an identity crisis.
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