Old Line Americans

What makes someone a “real American”? In this personal reflection, R.J. Rushdoony recalls his childhood encounters with those he came to see as the truest Americans—not the latest immigrants like himself, but those whose roots in the country ran deep: the English and especially black Americans. Far from being outsiders, he argues, black Americans are among the most foundational citizens of the United States—“old-line Americans” whose history, language, and culture are deeply intertwined with the American story and whose future is inseparable from its promise.