"Less Interested in the Truth of the Past Than in Constructing an Alternative Future"

"It is no accident that the ideology of settler colonialism is flourishing today at the same time as right-wing populism. Both see our turbulent political moment as an opportunity to permanently change the way Americans think about their country. And as is often the case, the extremes of right and left are united in disparaging the compromises of liberalism, which they see as weakly evasive. In the case of settler colonialism, this means rejecting the understanding of American history that has been mainstream since the mid-20th century—that it is a story of slow progress toward fulfilling the nation's founding promise of freedom for all."

The Wall Street Journal publishes an essay by Adam Kirsch, based on his new book, On Settler Colonialism.