The United States is becoming a more diverse nation.  The Census Bureau reports significant shifts in the racial and ethnic composition of both urban and rural communities around the country. And, with nearly 1 in 5 members identifying as members of a racial or ethnic minority, the 116^th Congress will be the most diverse in our nation’s history. 

Accompanying these changes, however, the country has also experienced a resurgence of open racial animus.  White nationalists have marched in towns around the country, and the use of explicitly racist appeals to voters seems to have risen in recent political cycles. 

Today, both the promise of the inclusive American democratic ideal and the deep threats to its realization are painfully apparent. Both the historical effects of racism and its persistence and intractability make clear that progress will not be achieved without consistent and focused effort. Protect Democracy has asked a diverse set of experts from a variety of disciplines to identify steps that could be taken to advance the prospects of a truly inclusive and multi-racial American democracy.  Over the next two weeks, Take Care will publish their thoughts on the path ahead. 

Those posts will also appear on this page:

Looking Beyond the Future American

Marcia Chatelain | We should no longer imagine what the future American will look like, and instead imagine what a democratic America could be like.

Race, Democracy, and Civic Engagement in U.S. History

Max Krochmal | The current attacks on democratic institutions are but symptoms of a deeper disease: the lack of full civic participation by the nation’s ordinary residents

Overcoming Racism Through National Solidarity

Theodore R. Johnson | The formation of a national solidarity is especially suited to the challenge of mitigating the impacts of racism in the United States

Three Visions of the Multi-ethnic Society

Yascha Mounk | We need to develop a shared vision for what such a multi-ethnic society should look like

Diversity and Democracy

Jennifer A. Richeson | The growing diversity of the country may break Americans’ commitment to democracy. What can we do to stop that from happening?

Defending Inclusion

K. Sabeel Rahman | Three strategies stand out as a way to defuse and then dismantle reassertions of ethnonationalism

Building Inclusive Democracy Through Social Policy

Johanna Kalb & Didi Kuo | In the past, we have been too quick to accept compromises of exclusion that stabilized our democracy at the expense of the full citizenship of people of color. We should not do so again.

Grassroots Truth Commissions and the Unfolding Crisis of U.S. Democracy

Joshua F.J. Inwood | We need a nationwide truth commission that would address the historical legacy of racism in U.S. democracy while focusing on contemporary injustices

An Immigration Approach To Match Our Values

Cecilia Muñoz | We must develop an affirmative agenda that speaks to the average American’s reasonable expectations about immigration

Towards an Inclusive Democracy: Next Steps

Aditi Juneja & Johanna Kalb | We asked 10 experts from a variety of disciplines to help us think through strategies for building a stable and inclusive democracy in the face of demographic change. Here’s what we learned.

* This symposium was supported by the Open Society Foundations.

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