American democracy is at an inflection point. Will we stride toward the 22nd century with evidence and will? Or will we lurch fearfully backwards, reinscribing the white supremist domination of the 19th century? After hundreds of urban protests in the 1960s, the presidential Kerner Commission, composed mainly of privileged white men, concluded, "It is time to make good the promise of American democracy to all citizens-urban and rural, white and Black, Spanish surname, American Indian and every minority group." Today it still is time-to reduce racial injustice, economic inequality, and poverty. Since the Kerner Commission, there has been little or no progress in some areas, and in other ways things have gotten worse. Yet the visionaries on these pages are passionate about how the problem is not lack of resources, nor a dearth of knowledge on the economic, education, youth investment, criminal justice, public health, and housing policies that work. Rather, the problem is that America still does not have the "new will" the Kerner Commission concluded was needed to scale up what works. How to create "new will"? We need to identify those who are thwarting majoritarian preferences. Use strengthened voter rights and new messaging techniques to advance Dr. King's economic justice movement based on both class and race. Weave the middle class into the coalition. Know that perfect unity is not necessary for effective collaboration. Better expose the exploitation of Americans by the privileged and the rigged system with its big myth of market fundamentalism. Make clear how that exploitation is smoke-screened by cultural deniers. Build moral language and moral fusion coalitions to revive the heart of democracy and advance a Third Reconstruction. Recover a moral commitment to long-term struggle. Balance outraged intensity with bridge-building persuasion. Don't just preach to the choir-but recognize that the choir is where, to use John Lewis' phrase, good trouble starts. Strengthen the role of nonprofit organizations. Base action on evidence and science, not on ideology, supposition, disinformation, and misinformation. Advocate for how universities can better engage their communities. And create a Harry Belafonte-like infrastructure of hope and empathy through the visual arts, monuments, and the performing arts. Through this book, and through its companion volume-the republication of the original Kerner Report of 1968-we commit to enhancing the movement and healing our divided society. Book Features: Brings together public and private sector decision-makers, seminal thinkers, activists, advocates, students, and commonsense change-oriented scholars to address a broad range of economic, education, youth investment, criminal justice, public health, and housing issues requiring urgent action. Cuts through campaign rhetoric to focus on evidence and science, not on ideology, supposition, disinformation, and misinformation. Examines what we have learned since the Kerner Commission and updates trends in economic, education, police reform, youth development, public health, and housing policies. Identifies what works and what doesn't work. Offers core lessons and takeaways for creating new political will to reduce racial and economic injustice, inequality, and poverty. Contributors: William Barber, Director , Center for Public Theology and Public Policy , Yale University , Co-Chair , The Poor People's Campaign , MacArthur Fellow Branville Bard, Jr., Vice President Public Safety & Chief of Police, Johns Hopkins University Sindy M. Benavides, President and CEO, Latino Victory Jared Bernstein, Chair , White House Council of Economic Advisors Cornell William Brooks, Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice , Kennedy School of Government , Harvard University LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder , Black Voters Matter Fund Elliott Currie, Professor of Criminology, Law and Society , University of California, Irvine Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO , Learning Policy Institute , Professor of Education Emeritus , Stanford University Robert Faris, Senior Researcher , Berkman Center for Internet and Society , Harvard University Law School Michael Feuer, Dean , School of Education and Human Development , George Washington University Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Co-Director of Research, The Sentencing Project Neil Gross, Professor of Sociology, Colby College George Huynh, Executive Director, Vietnamese American Initiative for Development (VietAid) John Jackson, President and CEO , Schott Foundation for Public Education Judith LeBlanc, Executive Director, Native Organizers Alliance Carlton Mackey, Co-Creator/Co-Director, Arts and Social Justice Fellows Program, Emory University Justin Milner, Executive Vice President of Evidence and Evaluation. Arnold Ventures Margaret Morton, Director , Program on Creativity and Free Expression , Ford Foundation Janet Murguia, President and CEO , UnidosUS Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science , Harvard University Claudia Pena, Executive Director , For Freedoms Lisa Rice, President and CEO , National Fair Housing Alliance Loretta Ross, Professor for the Study of Women and Gender , Smith College , MacArthur Fellow Richard Rothstein, Senior Fellow , Economic Policy Institute , Author , The Color of Law Anat Shenker-Osorio, Founder , ASO Communications Brooke Smiley, Lecturer, Department of Theater and Dance, University of California, Santa Barbara Herbert C. Smitherman, Professor of Medicine, Wayne State University Dorothy Stoneman, Founder , YouthBuild , MacArthur Fellow Ray Suarez, Former Anchor, PBS News Hour, Host, World Affairs KQED-FM Kim Taylor-Thompson, Professor of Clinical Law, New York University Law School Lisa Richards Toney, President and CEO, Association of Performing Arts Professionals Randi Weingarten, President and CEO, American Federation of Teachers Michelle Williams, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health , Harvard University Valerie Wilson, Director , Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy , Economic Policy Institute Felicia Wong, President and CEO , Roosevelt Institute Julian Zelizer, Professor of History and Public Affairs , Princeton University , CNN Analyst
President of the Eisenhower Foundation in Washington DC, Alan Curtis was an appointee in the administrations of Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter. Dr. Curtis is an author or editor of many books and holds degrees from Harvard, the University of London, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Contents Foreword Wes Moore Governor of Maryland Acknowledgments Introduction Alan Curtis President and CEO Eisenhower Foundation PART I: WHAT EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY WORKS? Economic and Employment Policy 1. Should the Federal Government Play a Role in Racial Equity? Of Course Jared Bernstein 2. The New Economics and the Rebalancing of Power Felicia Wong and Matt Hughes 3. Guidez-Faire: Why Capitalism Needs Effective Governance Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway 4. Worker-Centered and Race-Conscious Policy Are Essential for Equity and Economic Justice Valerie Wilson and Adewale Maye Education and Youth Development Policy 5. The Long Quest for Equitable Educational Opportunity Linda Darling-Hammond 6. Building Loving Systems to Create One America for All Children John H. Jackson and Zakiyah Ansari 7. A New Great Society Randi Weingarten 8. Action to Reaffirm: Equity, Racial Justice, and the Future of College Admissions Dwayne Kwaysee Wright and Michael Feuer 9. Act Now! Invest in America's Youth Dorothy Stoneman and Mary Ellen Sprenkel Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Policy 10. Police Reform: Where Do We Go From Here? Neil Gross 11. Race, Transparency and Policing: Practical Advice From One Pracademic's Point of View Branville Bard Jr. 12. Two Justice Systems-Separate and Unequal Kim Taylor-Thompson 13. One in Five: Progress and Pushback in Lowering the Lifetime Likelihood of Imprisonment for Young Black Men Nazgol Ghandnoosh 14. Violence in Post-pandemic America: Hard Truths and Enduring Lessons Elliott Currie Housing and Neighborhood Investment Policy 15. Scaling Economic and Housing Justice Lisa Rice, Michael Akinwumi, and Nikitra Bailey 16. What the Kerner Commission Got Wrong and How We Can Get It Right: Remedying Segregation Requires Recognizing Its True Origins Leah Rothstein and Richard Rothstein Public Health Policy 17. An Accidental Public Health Manifesto Michelle A. Williams 18. U.S. Health Care Policy, the Evidence, and the Will for Change: What Will It Take to Transform Decades of Evidence Regarding U.S. Race-and Income-Based Health Disparities to a "Will for Change"? Herbert C. Smitherman Jr., and Anil N. F. Aranha Latino, Native American, and Asian American Policy Perspectives 19. The Power of Stories Janet Murguia 20. E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, (We Are) One Sindy M. Benavides 21. Kerner Commission Report: 21st-Century Native American Perspective Judith LeBlanc 22. United Against Hate: How Asian America Is Standing Up George Huynh PART II: HOW TO CREATE NEW WILL? Dr. King, Economic Justice and Moral Fusion 23. Reviving the Heart of Democracy Rev. William Barber II 24. An Email and an Epistle for American Democracy Cornell William Brooks Persuasion, Democracy, and Voter Rights 25. Values, Villain, Vision: Messaging to Mobilize Our Base and Persuade the Conflicted Anat Shenker-Osorio 26. A New North Star to Lead Us to a Representative Democracy That Is Just and Equitable for All LaTosha R. Brown 27. Calling In as Compassionate Activism Loretta J. Ross Media, Evidence, and Misinformation 28. When Our "Truth-Tellers" Won't Tell Us the Truth: Looking Back at the Kerner Commission Report and Ahead to a Transformed Media Landscape Ray Suarez 29. "Little Brother Is Watching Big Brother": The Flawed Media Lens on Policing and Racism Julian E. Zelizer 30. Race and Media in a Polarized Society Robert Faris 31. A More Evidence Based Policy Agenda Justin Milner The Visual Arts, Monuments, and the Performing Arts 32. Carry History, Hold Truth: Art in the Public Realm Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, Margaret S. Morton, and Lena Sze 33. Healing Toward New Will Claudia Pena 34. Art as Translation Carlton Mackey 35. Regenerating the Body of Culture brooke smiley 36. The Art Will. . . A Musing on Life in the Performing Arts: A Case Study for NEW WILL Lisa Richards Toney Index About the Editors and Contributors
