“Racism is an existential threat to America,” Theodore R. Johnson declares at the start of his profound and exhilarating book. It is a refutation of the American Promise enshrined in our Constitution that all men and women are inherently equal. And yet racism continues to corrode our society. If we cannot overcome it, Johnson argues, while the United States will remain as a geopolitical entity, the promise that made America unique on Earth will have died.

When the Stars Begin to Fall makes a compelling, ambitious case for a pathway to the national solidarity necessary to mitigate racism. Weaving memories of his own and his family’s multi-generational experiences with racism, alongside strands of history, into his elegant narrative, Johnson posits that a blueprint for national solidarity can be found in the exceptional citizenship long practiced in Black America. Understanding that racism is a structural crime of the state, he argues that overcoming it requires us to recognize that a color-conscious society—not a color-blind one—is the true fulfillment of the American Promise.

Fueled by Johnson’s ultimate faith in the American project, grounded in his family’s longstanding optimism and his own military service, When the Stars Begin to Fall is an urgent call to undertake the process of overcoming what has long seemed intractable.

Praise for When the Stars Begin to Fall:

“A profound and thoughtful meditation on the challenges facing America—blending evocative family history with academic rigor—that offers a vision and a blueprint to move our country forward.”—Heather McGhee, author of the national bestseller The Sum of Us

“An earnestly conceived road map for how America can achieve racial justice following centuries of white supremacy . . . A virtue of the book is his use of personal narrative to illustrate analytical points . . . Johnson writes with lyrical clarity, delivering tales that are by turns heartwarming and heartbreaking.”—Chris LeBron, Washington Post

“You can also be a patriot and still embrace the fullness of American history. Johnson believes one of the keys to realizing our country’s founding vision — the radical idea that all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights — is understanding how our governing institutions have been warped by a long history of racial division. His new book, When the Stars Begin to Fall, is a call for reforming those institutions, for tackling systemic racism as an urgent threat to the core promise of our country.”—Eric Johnson, Raleigh News & Observer

“A rare kind of book . . . Less a chronicle of outrage than an invitation to grapple with the lasting impact of centuries of racism . . . Timely and necessary . . . We desperately need bridge-building, and Ted Johnson is a master engineer.”—Mona Charen, The Bulwark

“Johnson’s argument about dismantling systemic racism relies on political philosophy, sociology, civil rights history, and his deep understanding of the government’s legislation to control Black Americans. Johnson, a doctor of law and policy and former U.S. Navy commander, weaves his personal history with that of the nation to show that the personal and political are intertwined for all of us. His book builds a solid foundation for his call for a national solidarity that mixes deliberate democracy, national service, and civic education . . . Johnson’s particular point-of-view makes his call to action feel like a patriotic duty.”—Library Journal

“A passionate and persuasive exhortation to build a ‘multiracial national solidarity to confront the race problem [in America] head-on’ . . . Heartfelt and vividly written, this is a salient call for America to finally live up to its promise.”—Publishers Weekly

“An impassioned denunciation of structural racism that invites a search for lasting answers.”—Kirkus Reviews