What The Fox (WTF): African American Patriots and Glenn Beck: Examining The Narratives of Founders’ Fridays

• In Event: Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Perspectives on the Social Studies

Abstract

This paper explores television talk show host, Glenn Beck’s summer series Founders’ Fridays, in which he developed two shows dedicated to the contributions of African Americans in the development of the U.S. Utilizing the theoretical frame of the production of history (Troullot, 1995), the author explicates the shows purpose and how history is produced for political purposes. The author concludes that Beck’s foray into history production disregards the historical epistemologies of African Americans while silencing major events that would provide accuracy and authenticity within the narratives about African American founders.

Author

• LaGarrett Jarriel King, Clemson University