Black intellectuals such as Ralph Ellison knew this, too, despite living at a time when the lynchings of Black people were still a regular feature of American life.
—
Thomas Chatterton Williams,
The Atlantic,
8 June 2026
The demonization of minorities was nothing new, of course, but New York in the Seventies birthed a reactionary movement that was supported by politicians, public intellectuals, elites, and working people alike.
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