Books about America and democracy ...

It’s nearly the 4th of July and an opportunity to write about several books having to do with American history and politics:  

SONGS OF AMERICA is a collaboration between Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer, and Tim McGraw, Grammy Award–winning entertainer and country music artist.  They have crafted a text that covers “patriotism, protest, and the music that made a nation.” The selections cover all periods of American history from The Revolutionary War era to present times.  It is filled with images such as Howard Pyle’s painting “The Nation Makers” and Bruce Springsteen singing “Born in the USA.” Unfortunately, SONGS OF AMERICA does not have any music – there is no accompanying CD, no links to online tracks and not even any sheet music to help readers “hear” the songs. And, as Ken Emerson pointed out in his Wall Street Journal review, lyrics are sometimes truncated due to copyright restrictions. There is, however, an abundance of interesting facts (e.g., about Susan B. Anthony registering to vote and participating in the 1872 election; about so-called forbidden verses of “This Land is Your Land;” and about the history of “We Shall Overcome”). Tim McGraw’s comments are often highlighted in separate boxes such as when he describes “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” as a beacon: “What we say as a people – and what we sing as a people – matters, for even if we fall short of the ideal, we’ve got to keep that ideal in front of us, like a beacon through the darkness.” Contains over thirty pages of notes, an extensive bibliography, and a helpful index. We will have a copy of SONGS OF AMERICA on our shelves soon, particularly since our AP US History students are reading Meacham’s The Soul of America. 

 

OUR AMERICAN STORY is edited by Joshua A. Claybourn and subtitled “The Search for a Shared National Narrative.”  This collection of essays includes contributions from writers like Yale Professor David W. Blight, former Senator John C. Danforth, and representatives from think tanks such as Rand Corporation and the Cato Institute.  Each is addressing Claybourn’s questions about “the unifying American story” so the comments tend to be repetitive in places (e.g., about adherence to a creed versus tribalism or references to the motto of e pluribus unum). I did especially appreciate Claybourn’s introduction where he said: “in a civic society immersed in echo chambers, one may be tempted to read only those contributions that affirm existing views. Avoid that temptation; instead, absorb and engage each approach.”  This seems particularly critical at a time when our headlines are full of news about the Nike decision to recall its sneaker with the Betsy Ross flag due to protests and the Arizona governor’s threat to pull incentives for a new plant in retaliation. Sadly, this all tends to support Claybourn’s contention that “trust in institutions – government, business, the media, and higher education – continues to erode. Cultural warfare further splits our society, exposing fundamental differences about our views of justice and human nature.”

In today’s Wall Street Journal William Galston asks, “What Makes America One People?” He opines that “shared principles and language are essential, but multiple cultures have always co-existed,” ideas that are explored in the next two books which offer an interesting dialogue about democracy and its future:

ILL WINDS by Larry Diamond is a text largely about the dangers of nationalism which Diamond has subtitled “Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency.” Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, notes that “we have seen 12 consecutive years of erosion in global levels of political rights and civil liberties.” He cites numerous examples, from the Philippines to Turkey to Hungary and prompts Kirkus to review this text as “a good addition to the growing library on fighting authoritarianism.” Commenting specifically on the United States, Diamond laments the “cynical politicians in both parties, calcified systems that don’t deliver public goods and complacent citizens who cannot bestir themselves to vote.” Outlining the ebb and flow of global democratization, a short excerpt with statistics from this thought-provoking text (“the problem is not just that democracies are declining; it is that autocracies are becoming steadily more repressive and aggressive”) was recently published in The Wall Street Journal. 

DEMOCRACY MAY NOT EXIST, BUT WE’LL MISS IT WHEN IT’S GONE is by Astra Taylor, an activist and award-winning author.  Taylor challenges her readers to consider this book as “an invitation to think about the word democracy from various angles, looking back through history and reflecting on the philosophy and practice of self-rule in hopes that a more contemplative view will shed useful light on our present predicament.” As a result, the text is frankly not an easy read, but it is an important one. She notes “while parts of the population have retreated to nationalism and xenophobia, they are outnumbered (though not out-funded or out-organized) by people who understand that acute inequality, global migration, and climate change demand a visionary response, not a nostalgic turn to the past.” Taylor’s basic argument is that “headlines tell us that democracy is ‘in crisis,’ we don’t have a clear conception of what it is that is at risk.” Similar ideas are explored in her documentary, What is Democracy?.  Taylor describes crafting DEMOCRACY MAY NOT EXIST, BUT WE’LL MISS IT WHEN IT’S GONE so as to place “the insights of school children, doctors, former prisoners, workers and refugees alongside the likes of Plato, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and DuBois partly to underscore people’s tremendous and mostly untapped capacity for reflection.”  As such, the text appears to be one that our Social Studies classes (especially Civics, World History, AP US History and AP Euro) could use to further explore and discuss the contradictions and tensions which she outlines.  As Publishers Weekly said in its review, “This unusual and challenging work is worth the effort.” 

This lengthy post was inspired in part by Steven Levingston’s recent article in The Washington Post profiling “40 new books that tell America’s Story.” It is a great list, full of variety, and some of those titles, like First or Upheaval, have been reviewed previously on this blog. Many more are worth investigating like the “civic sermons on love, responsibility, and democracy” in Eric Liu’s Become America. Consider, too, Jill Lepore’s This America: the case for the nation which received a starred review from Kirkus. Looking for music suggestions, too? Try NPR’s American Anthem, songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Celebrate America’s birthday with a good book and some great music and be sure to register to vote!