Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.

I'm Los Maccalaude, I'm covering the presidential campaign.

I'm Danielle Kurtz-Lavin, I cover politics.

And I'm Lana Summers, I cover demographics and culture.

And today, many of us here in the U.S. are off work for the 4th of July.

And Wana, you have spent the last few weeks talking to black people across the country

about how they reconcile their experiences of racism with feelings of patriotism and pride

and promise that this day, the 4th of July is supposed to invoke in people.

So I guess before we even dive into any of the reporting you have, I was just curious

if you could talk to us a little bit about why you decided to go out and find and report

these stories.

Yeah, so I think from either a couple of different reasons, the first is that we are in a moment

that is unique for black Americans.

Here, of course, all grappling with the effects of the COVID pandemic, which has disproportionately

infected black and brown communities in this country.

But we're also seeing an economic downturn that is impacting black folks, as well as

what many folks have called a pandemic within a pandemic, which is, of course, this history

of systemic racism and discrimination that has seen people from all walks of life take

to the streets and these cities across the country and frankly demand better.

And there's polling that I had seen over recent weeks that suggested that black people

in this moment are historically less patriotic today than they had been in the past.

And I think the other big reason why I was curious about this is because as a black woman,

...