Activist and political commentator Danielle Moodie is calling for Americans to “unlearn all the lies” they’ve been taught about the country’s identity and values.
In a passionate Instagram post and video recorded mid-walk, Moodie criticized what she described as the “fairy tale bullshit” of American exceptionalism, placing blame on systemic greed, billionaires hoarding wealth, and a lack of social investment.
While Moodie’s commentary resonated with many viewers fed up with corporate overreach and political stagnation, her analysis notably overlooks a key element of America’s systemic failures: the disproportionate impact these issues have historically had on Black Americans.
In her video, Moodie, known for Entrepreneur Struggle with Chris Colbert (2022), Woke AF Daily (2020) and The New Abnormal (2020), references a viral clip of a Chinese man pointing out the United States’ hypocrisy, contrasting it with China’s unapologetic identity.
She echoes that sentiment, stating:
“What is absolutely American to the core is greed… and our ability to stomach that amount of greed and think that that sh*t is normal.”
She then calls out the “lottery mentality” sold to the American public—that anyone can become the next Musk or Gates—while the majority struggle under stagnant wages and underfunded healthcare and education systems.
However, while Moodie urges followers to dismantle myths of American greatness and reimagine what the country could be, she misses a significant point: the system’s deepest injustices have not been universally applied. From redlining and school segregation to mass incarceration and medical racism, the American dream has never been equally accessible—especially not for Black Americans.
Criticizing capitalism and state-sponsored inequity without centering the historical and present-day oppression of Black communities can risk flattening the reality of who has been most impacted by these systemic failures.
Moodie concludes her video by urging Americans to ask tough questions:
“Everywhere else that is industrialized has healthcare, quality education, maternity and paternity leave… America has none of it. And we need to ask ourselves why—and why we’re okay with that.”
The questions are necessary—but the full truth must include a reckoning with racial injustice as the foundational layer of America’s broken systems.
