Cover preview: How America has doomed itself with poisonous politics

It took just two weeks for America to turn its focus from mass murder to mass entertainment. In the wake of the Charleston, S.C., church shooting that left nine dead, U.S. politicians, including Barack Obama, vowed that this time, things would change. But is banning the Confederate flag and Dukes of Hazzard reruns really the best they can do?

In this week’s cover story, Maclean’s looks at the problems that plague the United States—racism, gun violence, inequality and fear—and how real progress on the issues has become next to impossible. Have America’s poisonous politics doomed the nation?

Read the full story in our latest issue, available Wednesday night for tablet and mobile readers on Next Issue, Apple Newsstand and Google Play, and on macleans.ca later this week.

Related: Allen Abel on grief, suffering and blame in Charleston