MTV ended most of its dedicated music programming on 31 Dec 2025 after 44 years. But did you know music "videos" started all the way back in the 1940s? beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/feast-your...

I've always been a glass-half-full kind of person, but when news outlets characterize Trump's approval rating of 37% as "unprecedentedly bad" for a US president after 1 year in office, my reaction is: "You mean if I walk into any random public space, 1 in 3 Americans, minimum, are still fascists?"

Tracking the lies of White Nationalism through the history of country music... BWWW weekend long read. Let us know if you enjoy it! beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/give-me-ba...

The idea of a vulgar and venal 250 year old colonialist state, and a 78 year old colonialist ethno-state (both built upon recent ethnic-cleansing and genocide) ganging-up to destroy the inheritors of a 12,000 year old culture, is beyond depressing. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/a-trip-to-...

Say the words "Manifest Destiny" or "American frontier" in a historical sense, and most picture "white settlers" in covered wagons keeping an eye out for Indians. Yet many of the shock troops for colonialism were from the mixed-ethnic underclasses. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/mapping-ap...

Some Questions for MAGA How "Unity" and "Divisiveness" Have Become Code for White Supremacy beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/some-quest...

What the Super Bowl LX half-time show told us about America in 2026. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/state-of-p...

Here's the BWWW weekend article, about how US culture has always funnelled celebrities towards "whiteness", and how AI is currently helping to continue that agenda - to the extent that AI is actually helping to whitewash American history. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/colorism-p...

A look at the forerunners of ICE, the broader history of the abuse of minority communities in the USA, and the hypocrisy of the men behind the violence. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/here-be-dr...

Just a reminder to followers here that Before We Were White is also a podcast! So if you are having a busy week, and prefer listening to reading, try giving the podcast a go! New episode out today at link below: beforewewerewhite.podbean.com/e/episode-23...

White Christian Nationalist ideology rests on a foundation of lies. It cannot function where real history is still taught. This is why authoritarians-in-waiting like J.D. Vance even lie about their own family backgrounds. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/sometimes-...

The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti has forced many Americans to ask the question: "Has fascism come to the USA?" But fascism has always been present in America. It's just that some people had the luxury of being able to look away... beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/american-f...

Remembering the late David Lynch, a year after his death. substack.com/@beforewewer...

Joe Biden used to talk of his roots as if he was virtually an Irishman, even though only 2 of his 8 great-grandparents were born in Ireland. Americans curate their identity, almost always leaving-out the slaveholders and people of color in their family history. substack.com/@beforewewer...

Just musing today on how a person might love America, while hating "America". substack.com/@beforewewer...

I am publishing this updated edit of an article I wrote a year ago, when my Substack newsletter had only 350 subscribers. In light of the events in Minneapolis this week, the time seems right. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/schuldgefu...

Thinking of the poor woman shot dead by fascists in Minneapolis today. substack.com/@beforewewer...

This is the year to push back - real hard - against people who presume the right to define who can be called a “Real American”. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/who-is-a-r...

We’re hurling ourselves straight into the New Year with a piece detailing some of the lies behind the public persona of shapeshifter J. D. Vance. Our thoughts remain with the innocent people suffering in places like Gaza, Sudan, and now, Venezuela. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/hello-2026...

Trump just does it out loud, in the open.

Will end the year same as I started. Talking about the malevolence of the ruling class, & how the push to "make America white again" is based on settler-colonialist mythology. Happy New Year everyone, & hope for shared strength in resisting fascism. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/good-immig...

3 of 3 Thank you, every one of you, for supporting voices who refuse to accept a world of “alternative facts”, hate, and corporate media propaganda. We’re going to take a breather for a couple of days, and come out swinging again.

2 of 3 The kindness and support given by subscribers to the Before We Were White newsletter and podcast over the past year has given this old cynic much hope that goodness and basic decency will in fact eventually prevail. If I haven’t said it enough over the past year, I’ll say it here again...

1 of 3 Hoping that everyone out there, whatever their faith, creed, or beliefs, finds themselves in the the company of those who love and care for them this week. Anyone with a conscience or moral compass will have found events over the past year discomfiting or challenging, to say the least.

4 days until Christmas. Will BWWW be easing-back on writing about current social and political issues, and how they relate to US history? No, we'll just be sipping an injudicious amount of whiskey while we write. Happy Holidays! beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/the-80-10-...

1971. Penthouse magazines, Seventh Day Adventists, and an epiphany in the barber shop. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/going-to-t...

Faith and serious history make uncomfortable bedfellows. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/what-would...

Is it possible to be President of the USA and "good" at the same time? beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/the-lawyer...

A nation which sees history as a list of deeds done by “Great Men” is not a wise nation. A nation founded in self-congratulatory mythology is not a mature nation. Looking through different eyes, there is less Left vs. Right, and more Top vs. Bottom. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/the-view-t...

Identity politics can be a useful lens for viewing society and history. But when it becomes our only lens, we are liable to miss out on nuance and "hidden history". Case in point: Elvis Presley beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/mixed-musi...

Controlling the public narrative is nothing new. Pamphleteers and propagandists were doing it during the 1770s. But the "founding father" elites could have never imagined the world we now inhabit, with media controlled by a coterie of billionaires. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/king-of-co...

One year after dumping all social media except for Bluesky and Substack, some thoughts. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/taking-sto...

Our Thursday newsletter looks at the concept of “contingency” in history, and how it relates to our present moment. If you enjoy our writing, please give us a “like”, “share”, or “restack”. You might even consider becoming a paid supporter! beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/the-300-ye...

Big Business has always exploited cheap labor - which has traditionally meant "immigrant labor". When the "white" underclasses complain, Big Business and the politicians they own have always pointed the finger at the immigrants themselves... beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/immigratio...

How long has the USA actually been a “democracy”? Today’s newsletter “Power to the [Right] People” available now to both free and paid subscribers! beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/power-to-t...

A short side-by-side comparison of USA and Israeli methods of ethnic cleansing. New podcast episode out later this week! Don’t forget to subscribe (free or paid) to not miss our twice-weekly newsletter! beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/the-mechan...

A little Hallowe'en extra. open.substack.com/pub/beforewe...

Monday's essay examines the lies behind White Nationalist self-identity, with a focus on Christo-Fascist J. D. Vance. He calls himself "Scots-Irish" with no Scots-Irish ancestry. He never mentions the Black ancestors he shares with Barack Obama. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/j-d-vance-...

History is nuance. There are rarely just saints and sinners. Colonialist violence soils all of us. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/no-one-get...

BWWW Hallowe'en Special. We look at the possible survival of pre-Christian folk traditions in American country-western music. Do consider subscribing! beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/halloween-...

US American conservative or MAGA self-identity is a confection assembled from the Western film genre, state propaganda, and a host of other populist sources. Most of all, White Nationalist Christo-Fascism is performance. Subscribe to keep us going... beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/a-trip-to-...

The greed, preening self-importance, and brutality of Cristoffa Corombo, aka Columbus, is well-documented. His elevation onto a pedestal, as a man worthy of celebrating with a national holiday, says more about America than about Columbus himself. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/columbus-s...

White Nationalist Christo-Fascism as per Project 2025 will fail. Some of us will fight to keep real history alive, however hard they try to propagate their mythological vision of America’s past. Support us over on Substack if you can. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/malagasy-m...

As the US descends into dystopian madness, I'm reposting my maiden blog explaining why the USA can never be a healthy democracy as long as human exploitation and social truths remain buried under a pile of self-praising lies and mythological hokum. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/before-we-...

No nation on earth fetishizes its military in the way the USA does. Do the lofty words of praise from US politicians match how veterans are treated? And if not, why not? In our new episode of BWWW, we explore who actually fights America’s wars, and on whose behalf. beforewewerewhite.com/episodes

Posting late this week! Family emergency has taken me far from home - BWWW being written and prepared on a laptop on someone’s kitchen table in a small, sparsely furnished apartment in an unfamiliar city. Hope you enjoy the piece, however belated. beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/remorse-83...

Did American surf culture (outside of Hawai’i) begin on the east coast? beforewewerewhite.substack.com/p/ahab-on-a-...