Given the disastrous outcome of the 2024 election, Democrats face two major challenges. The first is to protect democracy as President-elect Donald Trump. the most authoritarian person Because he was elected president, he assumed power with far broader powers than he had in his first term. The second is to restore working-class voters' confidence in a party that has completely collapsed. lost contact with them.
These two priorities are usually considered to be in conflict. After all, working people necessarily focusEconomic concerns on the kitchen table.
But Democrats can take important steps to affirm democratic norms while staying culturally centered. It is about creating a strong program of “liberal patriotic education” that combines love of country with the recognition that America still needs to do more. To expand opportunities for those left behind.
Such projects would appeal to working-class voters. 69% of them say America is the greatest country in the world (only 28% are progressive activists). And with multiple Donald Trump candidates on the horizon in 2028 and beyond, programs that educate America's youth in the genius of liberal democracy are critical to the long-term success of the American system.
Indeed, in the short term, the best checks on Mr. Trump's abusive behavior will be found elsewhere: in the news media, state governors, and, on the best of days, in federal courts and the U.S. Congress.
But ultimately, the Founders knew that education was the key to preserving American freedom. Thomas Jefferson championed public education to “enable every man to judge for himself what protects or threatens his liberty.” Similarly, during the rise of authoritarian regimes in the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt recognized education as “the true guardian of democracy.”
Every generation has to be taught anew, but young people are not particularly enthusiastic about democracy at the moment. Only 5% of people age 65 and older say they believe that democracy is no longer a viable system and Americans should explore alternative forms of government. . A whopping 31%Young people aged 18-29 agree.
program A liberal patriotism education would dedicate more time, resources, and commitment to helping students learn about their civic heritage and shared American history. It would educate students more fully about what it is like to live in an undemocratic society where there is no right to criticize the government. It offers an honest and hopeful account of American history, not only a frank acknowledgment of America's sins, but also of how liberal democratic norms make redemption possible. also states.
Liberal patriotic education recognizes diversity as a strength, affirms universal human values, and fosters a bureaucracy of diversity, equity, and inclusiveness that neatly divides the world into oppressed and oppressed people. It will dismantle the worst elements, such as programs. It will teach you what is distinctive and exceptional about America and explain why people continue to flock here from all over the world.
It would strengthen social cohesion through racial and economic school integration programs that employ voluntary public school choice rather than forced busing. It will promote national and social service to instill a sense of purpose and patriotism in young people. And it will teach the skills of civil debate essential to democracy.
To accept this plan, Democrats will have to have an unpleasant run-in with left-wing allies like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. could not be involved.
A good place to start would be for Democrats to reject the New York Times' wildly inaccurate 1619 project. claimed1619, not 1776, represents America's “true founding” because the importation of enslaved people provided “many of the seeds of what made us unique.”
In fact, as the New York Times Book Review's own analysis of the 1619 Project says, noticedthis book “may give readers the impression that the tradition of slavery is uniquely American.” That's not the case…from ancient Egypt to imperial Russia, from sub-Saharan Africa to the Aztecs. Throughout history, forms of slavery have ravaged nearly every continent. ”
in spite ofdevastating criticismFrom liberal as well as conservative historians, the Biden-Harris administration actuallyapprovedThe 1619 project was planned for 2021 but was forced to withdraw due to political pressure.
Who will lead mainstream patriotism education on the Democratic side? A variety of up-and-coming Democratic governors, including Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro and Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, are likely to support such a vision. There is. Similarly, Governor Wes Moore of Maryland defendedA service year option for students who have just graduated from high school, devoting one year to paid civil service.
mooresaidWhen he was in the Army, he said, “We all have a common bond, whether we go to college or not, whether we vote as a Democrat or a Republican, we have a common mission.'' We had a common purpose.'' (Disclosure: One of my daughters works for the Moore administration.)
The patriotic education favored by Democrats is very different from that offered by conservatives and may be more politically popular. We won't ban books or banish discussion of slavery or racism. Reject even conservative voters.
And he will defend public school districts and charter schools as the best means of patriotic education, a position that is likely to resonate with the public. In 2024, voters in the deep red states of Kentucky and Nebraska will firmly rejected Private school voucher initiatives.
Patriotic education is not a silver bullet. To emerge from the political wilderness, Democrats need to move into the mainstream on a variety of cultural issues, from crime to illegal immigration. We also need to make it clear through policy that we respect the dignity of a hard day's work.
But providing a liberal patriotic education is an important part of this package because it brings together two issues that working Americans care about passionately: their children and their homeland. Getting this issue right will help Democrats politically in the short term and will immeasurably strengthen our democracy in the long term.
Richard D. Kahlenberg is american identity project He is a fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and “Class Matters: The Fight to Beyond Racial Preference, Reduce Inequality, and Build True Diversity in America's Colleges and Universities”
