3rd American Reconstruction: Why We're Living Through A Historic Transformational Period

Peniel Joseph, the author of "The Third Reconstruction: America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century", joins the program and makes the case we're currently living through America's 3rd Reconstruction period.

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Check out more from the MR crew:

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And so like what is in the third era? Like I get that we have this thing this Duality and on some level, it's like it's always been there right? Like it's just that the dynamic is a little bit different because the urgency changes. But like over this period where we have the, I guess enjoying the payoffs of these emancipatory victories in the 60s and leading up to the 60s. We also have a slow almost like the frog doesn't realize it's being boiled in terms of like what's happening with income you know. Really a lack of democracy economically you know and where so what the third period is marked by what these like emancipatory movements that deal with in what realm I guess? Yeah, I would say it's marked by this idea of the abolition of democracy. Especially in the realm of Criminal Justice and the criminal legal system. But how the criminal legal system serves as a gateway to panoramic systems of Oppression. And that's what black lives matter but not just black lives matter. March for our lives the women's March, the folks who are Marching for DACA and Dapa, and the Dreamers all of them. You know you know people who are fighting for queer and trans folks. People who you know I'm connected with you know folks who are part of synagogues here in Austin and in ADL and folks who are really against hate and hate speech and hate you know violence online. So folks who are against anti-Semitism. So all of that gets to me converged during this period of the third reconstruction. Where people are fighting for the abolition of democracy in my mind. Both the abolishment of systems of punishment and then the idea of a redistributive Justice that Dr King talked about to invest in systems that allow all of us to flourish right? Now we haven't gotten the same kind of legislative necessary victories as the second reconstruction but I would argue that during the third reconstruction without that social movement from 2020, you wouldn't have Biden elected and Biden is certainly a Reconstructionist president. And in the two years that he was able to pass legislation, he's passed formidable legislation that's tried from the pandemic acts to different Equity orders to student loan reduction the inflation reduction act things connected to health care that's tried to bring about more citizenship and dignity for all. In a very dysfunctional political environment where there's no way to pass Great Society legislation. right. You have to pass stuff through record conciliation in the Senate right.