John Adams defined democracy as “A government of laws, and not of men.” Lincoln famously called it a government of, by, and for the people. An unknown author once described democracy as a slow process of stumbling to the right decision instead of going straight forward to the wrong one, while Churchill declared democracy to be the worst form of government…except for all the others.
So who’s right? Well, all of them.
See, while saints and sinners alike try to co-opt democracy for their own agendas, the definition on K Street doesn’t really matter. What matters is how you define it on our street. After all, the truth about democracy is that, whatever else may be said about it, we’re the ones in charge.
Now, I mention this knowing that talking points from the left and right alike are saying that American democracy is in peril. In fact, an NBC News poll in September found “threats to democracy” as the top issue among voters beating out jobs, inflation, immigration, and more.
But what actually constitutes a “threat to democracy?”
Are we talking about foreign terrorist cells building bombs in poorly lit rooms or international powers threatening to entangle us in foreign conflicts? Are we threatened by Critical Race Theory or, you know, accurate American history or are the threats we fear somehow a natural product of Judy Blume?
Of course not.
Instead let’s look to the hundreds of bills to restrict further our most basic democratic right to vote since Black Americans came out in droves to vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Let’s see the boiling vitriol of QAnon conspiracy theories amplifying the worst angels of our nature. At the same time, they ignore Enrique Tarrio, and his Proud Boys found guilty of seditious conspiracy.
Let’s look at the MAGA extremists violently attacking our Congress and trying to overturn your democracy on January 6 and the apologists and election deniers that continue to tell us that we can’t believe our own eyes because they were nothing more than concerned citizens participating in a peaceful protest. That certainly looks like a threat to democracy.
What about the never-ending tide of mass shootings flooding our nation in sorrow and blood?
Four were killed and 32 were injured when gunfire erupted at a Sweet 16 birthday party in a small town in Alabama. Six people, including three 9-year-old children, were gunned down at a Nashville elementary school – 97 people killed in 19 mass killings already this year. That tops the previous record in 2009 when 93 people were killed in 17 incidents by the end of April.
And, remember, those numbers, as shocking as they are, aren’t counting Buffalo, Uvalde, Monterey Park, Parkland, Las Vegas and more. That’s a threat to democracy.
How about Tyre Nichols, beaten to death by Memphis police officers? What about the detective who killed Breonna Taylor hired by a Sheriff’s Office in rural Kentucky? A new report released by the FBI shows hate crimes across America have risen to their highest point since we started keeping track. Is that a threat to democracy, or should Disney threaten us more?
I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be glib. I don’t mean to make jokes because this isn’t funny. The threats are real.
And while I see how former President Trump and the MAGA extremists have and continue to fuel a lot of this violence by empowering and emboldening the racist right-wing, let’s be honest. They’re not the cancer that’s eating away at our democracy.
The problem is much deeper. It’s the fact that the cop who beats an unarmed black man half to death can look at the video from his body camera and honestly believe that he’s done nothing wrong. It’s the black teenager shot because he knocked on the wrong door. It’s the boss who doesn’t think twice about paying unlivable wages to workers of color because he thinks it’s “smart business.” It’s the white doctor who dismisses the pregnant black woman complaining of severe abdominal pain because what does she know? She probably wants sympathy or drugs.
What’s being done about that?
Well, for one, Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairman Steven Horsford recently announced that the caucus is ready to hold its first National Summit on Democracy & Race and launch its Summer of Action to Defend America.
Look, the fact is the CBC has always served as the conscience of the Congress, country, and now we know the Constitution. Preserving democracy is no different because we know democracy is not a spectator sport.
I often say, “If it is to be, leave it to the CBC.” So we shouldn’t be surprised the CBC continues to lead and to do the work that others can’t…or won’t.
Look, this is a scary time for American democracy. The truth is, compared to the rest of the world, we’re still a young country, and our future is far from set.
From ancient Athens to WW2 Germany and modern-day Nicaragua, history is filled with cautionary tales of failed democracies. Are we one? A lot of smart folks are worried we are or we will be soon.
I know how it feels to look at the deep divisions across America, to see the ever-increasing animosity and violence, and feel like you want to throw up your hands. But we can’t afford that.
We are at an inflection point in our nation’s history, and while I don’t expect all of us to agree on everything, when and where we can’t find common ground, we must find higher ground. I get it. Sometimes political horse-trading is necessary. However, we can’t be willing to trade our democracy.
You see, with all the different definitions, one reality remains constant, democracy is advanced citizenship. It is a system that knows that free people cannot be ruled. We must be governed…and we must do it ourselves. We are not a nation ruled by kings or queens but participants of this 246-year-old experiment called America—editors of this first rough draft of history, which means we are beholden to no one to save each other.
That’s democracy, and, if we don’t do something soon, that’s what we stand to lose.
Antjuan Seawright is a Democratic political strategist, founder, and CEO of Blueprint Strategy LLC, a CBS News political contributor, and a senior visiting fellow at Third Way.
