YOUNGSTOWN — The insurrectionist attack Jan. 6 on the U.S. Capitol was more than merely a spontaneous act by hundreds of angry and radicalized supporters of President Donald Trump, but is the newest extension of a historical pattern that dates to the 19th century, a black-studies professor and scholar contends.

“It was the latest substantiation of U.S. betrayal of democracy,” Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., chairman of Princeton University’s Department of African American Studies, said.

Glaude was the keynote speaker for Friday’s sixth annual Black Unity Conference, a two-hour webinar in which he shared his views on racial and social justice, civil rights and the Nov. 3, 2020, election. Glaude also discussed how he’s been influenced by the famous writer, playwright, essayist and activist James Baldwin, about whom he penned his latest book, “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own,” released last June.

Sinclair College in Dayton hosted the virtual Black History Month event, and Youngstown State University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s Facebook page directed people to the webinar.

Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator.