In the 1970s, I could not imagine such presidential behaviour as the American future, although I would certainly recognise it in the American past. Black Americans led the struggle and paid the price in lives and mental health. And yet, for all that struggle and bloodshed, black Americans could not have enacted crucial legislation alone. In Congress, religious leaders taught representatives that black Americans, who were lifting the heaviest loads, were not in the work alone. • Nell Irvin Painter is Professor of American History at Princeton University.

Source: The Guardian July 20, 2019 18:00 UTC