"Since 1865 and the end of a cataclysmic Civil War in which an estimated 698,000 Americans perished, the United States has been locked in a narrative war between Reconstructionists and Redemptionists-those who wanted to build a multiracial democracy and those who wanted to redeem or restore White rule. US Reconstruction represented an experiment in multiracial democracy-the first of its kind. Since the Civil War, US history has waxed and waned between two competing visions of the republic's future."
"Reconstruction represents a second founding of the United States-an effort to confront the nation's original sin of racial slavery and institutionalize Black citizenship for previously enslaved African Americans who, even in captivity, forged a deep love for a country not yet in existence, but one they vowed to make a reality. Racial slavery's end marked the creation of a new US republic, where expansive notions of citizenship became consecrated in constitutional amendments, families were reunited, and historically Black colleges and universities were founded."
Since 1865 the United States has been locked in a narrative war between Reconstructionists and Redemptionists, reflecting competing visions of multiracial democracy and restored White rule. US Reconstruction was an experimental multiracial democracy and a second founding that confronted racial slavery and institutionalized Black citizenship through constitutional amendments, family reunification, the founding of historically Black colleges and universities, and community education. Opponents attacked this vision through legislation, policy, legal means, violence, disinformation, and lies. Advocates remain steadfast in pursuit of racial justice and human dignity. A Third Reconstruction requires bold, systemic strategies to achieve lasting multiracial democracy.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
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