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American Exceptionalism and American Innocence

A People's History of Fake News - From The Revolutionary War to The War on Terror

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American Exceptionalism and American Innocence

By: Roberto Sirvent, Danny Haiphong, Ajamu Baraka - foreword, Glen Ford - afterword
Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
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About this listen

Did the U.S. really “save the world” in World War II? Should black athletes stop protesting and show more gratitude for what America has done for them? Are wars fought to spread freedom and democracy? Or is this all fake news?

American Exceptionalism and American Innocence examines the stories we’re told that lead us to think that the U.S. is a force for good in the world, regardless of slavery, the genocide of indigenous people, and the more than a century’s worth of imperialist war that the U.S. has wrought on the planet.

Roberto Sirvent and Danny Haiphong detail just what Captain America’s shield tells us about the pretensions of U.S. foreign policy, how Angelina Jolie and Bill Gates engage in humanitarian imperialism, and why the Broadway musical Hamilton is a monument to white supremacy.

©2019 Roberto Sirvent and Danny Haiphong. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Foreword © 2019 by Ajamu Baraka. Afterword © 2019 by Glen Ford. Americas Elections & Political Process Politics & Government Social Sciences United States World Social justice War Imperialism Socialism Capitalism Refugee Middle East Africa Latin America
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So many times in the book, I realised I was listening to a narrative told by an ideologue rather than a balanced view of history. I have waded through 15 chapters so far, and there is something to be said for American Exceptionalism and Innocence (which you will hear repeatedly!), but it's not this story. It certainly doesn't talk about the American people. I believe that the elites are the real target of this book, and the average man and woman on the street are nothing of the sort (white or otherwise). It does best when talking about American foreign policy and how that has been colonial, using the war machine for fun and profit for the few.

This is not a history book. Instead, it's an opinion piece that is not worth reading.

One sided looking through a lens

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