Democracy is sometimes described as "a system where political parties lose elections." That's true but doesn't capture the deeper feelings of grief and grievance associated with political loss. We dive into those emotions this week with Juliet Hooker, the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in Political Science at Brown University and author of Black Grief, White Grievance: The Politics of Loss.
Hooker argues that whites as a group are accustomed to winning and feel a sense of grievance when they need to give up political power. Conversely, Black people are expected to be political heroes in the face of grief that comes from setbacks on the road to racial justice. These two forces, black grief and white grievance, have been at the heart of American politics for centuries and remain so today.
Black grief, Hooker says, is exemplified by current protests against police violence—the latest in a tradition of violent death and subsequent public mourning spurring Black political mobilization. The potent politics of white grievance, meanwhile, which is also not new, imagines the United States as a white country under siege.
This is a very thought-provoking book and conversation about some of the most important issues in American democracy.
Black Grief, White Grievance: The Politics of Loss
Harnessing the power of juries
Civic learning amid the culture wars
Finding the "we" in civic engagement
Why politics makes us depressed — and what we can do about it
What will it take to make democracy more representative?
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Our conversation with Josh Shapiro [rebroadcast]
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The backbone of democracy is now the face of fraud
How Democrats can harness grassroots energy
When should the states decide?
Chris Beem on the seven democratic virtues
Rural broadband and the politics of "good enough"
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