There is a new, must read book that is sweeping the country and causing many to look at the way the American democratic system functions and affects people of color. Dr. Eddie Glaude spoke about his new book Democracy in Black: How Race Still Governs the American Soul’ for a diverse audience gathered at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia. The event was moderated by noted author and fellow Black intellectual Marc Lamont Hill.
Glaude explained that the premise of the first part of his book was the “value gap” in America. This gap is what he called the “Belief that White people are valued more than others and is evidenced in the political and economic reality of not only America but the world, the result is the same inequality.”
In a packed auditorium, Glaude pulled no punches as he expressed dissatisfaction with the plight of what is defined as democracy. Stating that in reality we no longer have a democracy but an oligarchy where public dollars and resources are shifted to private hands. In addition, the belief that liberalism as it functions in today’s political framework is not necessarily a total good for Blacks.
Glaude stated, “At the heart of liberalism is the demand that we leave our collective experience at the door. There is the irony at the heart of liberalism. Black people become blank while White people stay white. This prevents us from talking about our condition, which translates into, ‘I have to be blank to make you feel comfortable.’ This prevents Blacks from talking about their condition in order to make Whites feel more comfortable. Talking about criminality, social injustice and the harsh economic reality of life in America is shunned because of the fear of the White response to these issues.” Instead, Glaude encouraged the audience to “Stop sweet talking with generalities and let them know about the hell you are catching.”
He noted that the Presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders focuses on solidarity across racial lines by putting economics first, and that is wrong. It fundamentally misdiagnoses race and modality of the racial experience in America. “It is Blacks who are dying the quickest and prematurely,” stated Glaude. Events such as Fergusson and most recently the Flint water crisis, have opened a space to challenge the “Black political class” that has developed in this country and the belief that “One negro speaks for everybody.” Democracy in Black America is the hard medicine of truth that is needed to confront the pervasive social and economic illness that confronts not only America but the world.
