In the wake of yesterday’s assault on the Capitol, we must rededicate ourselves to universalize democracy across acknowledged difference

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The article below first ran in the spring 2019 edition of Nonprofit Quarterly and was featured again last summer. In the wake of yesterday’s momentous events—including the election of the first Black senator from Georgia (and only the second in the South since Reconstruction) and the violent assault by right-wing protestors of the US Capitol in an attempt to prevent the congressional certification of the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president— this article’s observations about the dynamics and democratic requirements of our time ring more true than ever.

As we noted on Monday, this week NPQ’s staff is engaged in a series of meetings to plan future directions of our collective work. We will surely have more to say on yesterday’s events after we resume our regular publishing schedule next week. In the meantime, we encourage you to read (or re-read) this article from 2019 and reflect on what is required of our movements, our nonprofits, and ourselves to build a true democracy in the United States worthy of that name.

A Cult of Democracy—Toward a Pluralistic Politics

“COMPOSITION NO. 126” BY SUMIT MEHNDIRATTA/WWW.SUMITMEHNDIRATTA.COM

In the United States and globally, there is much concern about both the devolution of democracy and the resurgence of racism and xenophobia. There is a sense that things are breaking down and the world no longer makes sense. But these challenges are intertwined and what are actually dying are the dominant narratives undergirding them. The bold-faced resurgence of some of their most extreme characteristics, while very dangerous, is also a testament to this final battle.

In 2019, as white supremacists balance entitled anger and outsized fears—deciding it is time to be more explicit (again) about the underlying goal of domination through an outright offensive for a white ethno-state, fearing the rise of people they consider different—we are still hailing too many firsts: the first Black woman, the first gay, the first Muslim, the youngest. These leaders are running and winning because things are increasingly not working for more and more voters. Inequality has risen. Most people can’t afford to cover basic needs like food, housing, education, and healthcare. And the earth is dying. The overarching task now is to construct a new narrative.

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A Cult of Democracy—Toward a Pluralistic Politics

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