The End of the Second Reconstruction [Paperback]

Democracy in the United States is under threat. The Trump administrations attack on the legacy of the civil rights movement is undermining Americas claims to be a multi-racial democracy.

This moment of peril has worrying parallels with a previous era of American history. The gains of the Reconstruction era after the civil war, which saw African Americans given full democratic rights, were totally reversed within a generation. There is a serious risk that the advances of the civil rights era  the Second Reconstruction  will go the same way unless we learn from the past and appreciate that American democracy has never been a story of linear progress. Skilfully analysing the similarities  and the differences  between the 1870s and the 2010s, Johnson outlines a political strategy for avoiding a disastrous repetition of history in in the twilight of the Second Reconstruction.

Anyone interested in seeing the Trump presidency in wider historical context, from students of race, politics and history in the US to the interested general reader, will find this book an essential and sobering guide to our past  and, if were not careful, our future.Acknowledgments vi

Introduction 1

1 The Rise of the First Reconstruction 15

2 The Fall of the First Reconstruction 44

3 The Rise of the Second Reconstruction 74

4 The Compromise of 2016 104

5 Reconstructing Reconstruction 144

Conclusion 165

Notes 172

References 181

Index 195

?Richard Johnson?s brilliant comparison of America?s ?two reconstructions? powerfully argues that multiracial democracy in the U.S. is under real threat.? But Johnson does more than wake us up.? He also outlines the politics that can address the crisis.?
Rick Valelly, Swarthmore College <ls&