Professor Andrew Moran, Head of Criminology, Sociology, Politics and International Relations at London Met, examines the state of authenticity in the USA
Date: 19 August 2025
Two prominent American cultural figures – musician Bruce Springsteen and author Percival Everett –recently reflected on what it means to be an “authentic” American, against a backdrop of staunch political and social division in the United States.
Speaking separately, both expressed deep unease with the current political climate under President Donald Trump. Springsteen, whose music has long chronicled the lives of blue-collar Americans, questioned why so many of the people he writes about – industrial workers, farmers, veterans – had supported Trump. Everett, in discussing his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel James, described authenticity as “messy work”, and apologised wryly for his country’s “drunk uncle”.
James reimagines the story of Jim, the enslaved character from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, subverting stereotypes and offering a broader account of African American experience. For Everett, the act of reclaiming such narratives challenges narrow and exclusionary visions of America.
The tension between America’s founding ideals and its history of exclusion is not new. The nation’s Constitution begins “We the people” and the Declaration of Independence declares all men equal, yet the country’s past includes the mass killing of Native Americans, the enslavement of millions of Africans, and centuries of discrimination against minorities. As Everett noted, the lived reality of American life often stands in contrast to the aspirational vision.
Fear and violence have repeatedly shaped American politics. The Civil War emerged from disputes over slavery and states’ rights; immigration quotas in the 1920s heavily favoured Northern and Western Europeans; and the Ku Klux Klan, founded after the Civil War, was once powerful enough to hold rallies in Washington, D.C. Other historical episodes, such as the “Red Scares” of the 20th century and the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s-1960s, further illustrate the country’s recurring struggles with intolerance.
Recent political rhetoric, including attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and intensified immigration enforcement, has added to concerns about civil rights. Critics, including Springsteen and Everett, view these developments as part of an attempt to redefine American identity in ways that marginalise women, people of colour, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Trump’s critics have also warned against what they see as an effort to reshape historical narratives – removing minority perspectives from public history, censoring educational content, and narrowing the portrayal of America’s past to favour a white-centric vision. Everett has posed key questions in this debate: “Who gets to decide what is authentic and why? What drives the desire to ascribe authenticity to cultural, ethnic and racial categories?”
Springsteen has often linked such debates to themes in his music. His 1984 hit Born in the USA, frequently misinterpreted as patriotic triumphalism, tells the story of a disillusioned Vietnam veteran struggling to find his place in a changing country. For Springsteen, that sense of dislocation is one factor behind Trump’s political appeal.
In the 2024 presidential election, Trump defeated Kamala Harris by two million votes – a narrow margin despite his claims of a landslide. His approval ratings remain historically low, but his party controls Congress and the Supreme Court holds a conservative majority.
Quoting author James Baldwin, Springsteen told audiences that while “there isn’t as much humanity as we would like… there is enough” to bring change.
When I saw Everett speak at the British Library earlier this year, I asked Percival Everett if he always intended to end ‘James’ in the way that he did? “Yes” he replied, he had always known. But as a reader, as I turned over to the last page, I had no idea how the story would end – I experienced a sense of fear, uncertainty and hope. I suspect that is how many of us feel about America right now. How will the story end and whose ‘authenticity’ will prevail?
For both men, that combination mirrors the current moment in American life – a nation wrestling with its history, its identity, and competing visions of authenticity.
