Where it Starts

The Duke University Center for Documentary Studies podcast Scene on Radio recently rebroadcast a highly relevant episode from April 2020. Part of a season entitled “The Land That Never Has Been Yet,” which takes a critical look at the gap between democratic ideals and the history of U.S. democracy, “The Second Redemption” locates the 1950s as the birth of the anti-democracy right-wing movement that spread its wings under President Trump. This history may cause appropriate discomfort for educators in independent schools, as hosts John Biewen and Chenjerai Kumanyika describe the privatization of schools in the South as the beginning of a systematic push to erode public trust in government and, indeed, in democracy itself – especially because a more fully democratic society presents a threat to white supremacy. Featuring debates on the meanings of libertarianism, neoliberalism, and social justice, this episode correctly predicted the battle over pandemic-era voting access during the 2020 election, and provides valuable historical background for educators looking to help students understand the power dynamics that led to the damaging post-election battle over democracy itself.

Season 4, Episode 8 -- The Second Redemption by John Biewen and Chenjerai Kumanyika
Scene on Radio (Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University), April 15, 2020