Glaude frames closing the value gap as an existential condition for American democracy’s survival

Evidence

There are those among us willing to turn their backs on democracy to safeguard their privilege. We won’t allow it. No more sweet-talking. No more dancing. No one can be comfortable. And no individual or organization can say they alone represent black people. “We are the leaders we’ve been looking for.” Together, we must close the value gap and uproot racial habits by doing democracy, once again, in black. If we fail this time—and if there is a God I pray that we don’t—this grand experiment in democracy will be no more. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 642

Categorization

• QUESTION: The escalation to ‘this grand experiment in democracy will be no more’ — how does this apocalyptic framing hold up as a prediction post-2020, when democracy survived but under continued strain?
• XREF: Recalls the ‘we are the leaders we’ve been looking for’ mantra that recurred through the Ferguson/Black Lives Matter movement Glaude chronicles.