In American Slavery, American Freedom, Edmund Morgan, a renowned and respected historian of the American Revolution, made a convincing case for systemic racism in the American polity, and he did it in 1970, six years before Derrick Bell published his article “Serving Two Masters” in the Yale Law Journal.

I am in what appears to be a small-and/or-quiet group that approaches race studies generally and Critical Race Theory specifically with an open mind and a critical thinker’s toolkit. It can be exhausting, but Morgan helped open that door and push me down the corridor beyond. Forget 1776, and forget 1619. Seek the truth, not someone else’s narrative, regardless of its provenance and intent.