The Time is Always Now: Black Thought and the Transformation of US Democracy

201 Pages·2013·1.26 MB·English

by  Nick Bromell

The Time Is Always Now
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THE TIME IS
ALWAYS NOW
Black Thought and the
Transformation of US Democracy
z

NICK BROMELL
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nicholas Bromell.
Th e time is always now: black thought and the transformation of US democracy / Nick Bromell.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–997343–9 (hardback: alk. paper) 1. African Americans—Politics
and government—Philosophy. 2. African American intellectuals—Political activity—
History. 3. United States—Politics and government—Philosophy. 4. Liberalism—United
States—History. 5. Equality—United States—History. 6. Political culture—United
States—History. I. Title.
E185.615.B727 2013
323.1196'073—dc23
2013011934
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To the Stanford English Department 1978-’87,
kind, generous, and wise.
And especially to
Jay Fliegelman and Arnold Rampersad,
mentors and fr iends.
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Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Black Th ought and the Transformation of
US Public Philosophy 1
1. From Indignation to Dignity: What Anger Does for Democracy 13
2. “Th is Is Personal”: Th e Politics of Relationship in Jim Crow America 37
3. Th e Art of Citizenship: Nella Larsen, James Baldwin,
and the Diffi culty of Knowing Others 59
4. “A Greater, Broader Sense of Humanity and World Fellowship”: 
Black Worldly Citizenship from Douglass to Malcolm X 79
5. “Religion in the Sense of Striving for the Infi nite”: Faith,
Pluralism, and Democratic Action 102
6. “Th e Moment We’re In”: Th e Democratic Imagination of
Barack Obama 129
A Coda for My Colleagues: Fusing Critique and Vision 145
Notes 153
Index 181
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Acknowledgments
for encouragement along the way, I thank Danielle Allen, Susan Wallace
Boehmer, David Bollier, Patrick Bressette, Kay Dodd, Ray LaRaja, Amy Kaplan,
Dana Nelson, and John Tirman. For wise counsel, I thank Lawrie Balfour,
Clark Dougan, Tom Dumm, Robert Gooding-Williams, Robert S. Levine,
Daniel Rodgers, George Shulman, and Jason Frank. For research assistance
and support with the manuscript, I thank Shelby Kinney-Lang, Daniel Fennell,
Marissa Carrere, Sean Gordon, Casey Hayman, Nirmala Iswari, and Neelofer
Qadir. For their care with all stages of the publication of this book, I thank
David McBride, Alexandra Dauler, and Peter Ohlin of Oxford University Press.
At the University of Massachusetts: two Deans of the College of
Humanities and Fine Arts (Joel Martin and Julie Hayes) have generously sup-
ported my interest in political theory; Stephen Clingman and my colleagues
in the Interdisciplinary Studies Institute’s seminar on “Engagement: Th e
Challenge of Public Scholarship” helped me think through questions about
my multiple audiences; and Mary Deane Sorcinelli and her colleagues at the
Center for Teaching and Faculty Development helped me with a Mellon
Mutual Mentoring Grant on “Th e New Meanings of Race.”
Early versions of parts of this book have appeared in a number of journals,
and I thank the editors for their support: Josh Cohen and Deb Chasman at
Th e Boston Review; Robert Wilson at Th e American Scholar; Mary Dietz at
Political Th eory; Gordon Hutner at American Literary History; Jackson Lears
at Raritan; and Priscilla Wald at American Literature.
Dr. Ronald Bleday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Jewel and
Verena Johanna Smith brought me back to good health. I will always be grate-
ful for the care they gave me.
My deepest thanks go to my partner and soulmate, Laura Doyle, who read
almost every word of this book (suggesting more than a few of them!) and
helped me fi nd the path through a maze of revisions to the book you now
hold in your hands.