Voting rights legislation recently enacted in Georgia and elsewhere across the country, and the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, each provides critical frames to explore issues of race, power, and privilege in our democracy. This episode tackles questions related to race in our democracy surrounding these events, including:
- What is the legacy of racial violence in our electoral politics?
- What would it take for all people to feel like they’re part of our democracy?
Our Guests
Dr. David Cunningham is the Department Chair and Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis. His research, focused on racial contention and its legacies, has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Professor Cunningham’s past work centers on the Ku Klux Klan, in particular the complex roles that the KKK played in various communities throughout the 1960s and its enduring impacts on contemporary voting patterns and crime rates.
Dr. Geoff Ward is a Professor of African and African-American Studies and faculty affiliate in the Department of Sociology and American Culture Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Ward’s scholarship examines the haunting legacies of historical racial violence and implications for redress.
About American Democracy Lab
The American Democracy Lab podcast at WashU brings together experts from different fields and backgrounds to talk about an issue or aspect of our American democracy and where different perspectives may converge.
Launched on Presidents’ Day 2021, the American Democracy Lab podcast is hosted by Associate Professor Alan Lambert and presented by the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement in partnership with WashU Engage and the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences.
Additional Episodes of American Democracy Lab
Episode 7: The Dynamics of Democracy in Higher Education
Episode 6: The Legacy of January 6, 2021 (Part 2)
