revolutionary, an ideologue on behalf of white supremacy and the author of the egalitarian words of the Declaration. And these contradictions were not merely intellectual; nor did they exclusively belong to Jefferson. They were mirrored in the social structures of antebellum America. Antebellum racism helped to accommodate an aspiring democratic society to the institution of human enslavement. However, in of my use of the language of contradiction it would also – – be wrong to assume that anti-Black racism was entirely extrinsic to the ideology and practices of Jeffersonian democracy (or, for Walker’s context, Jacksonian democracy). The positive correlate of racism is racial solidarity the feelings of – unity and equality with members of one’s racial group engendered by the oppositional logic of racism and this solidarity served as an important social – supplement to the democratic institutions of antebellum America, particularly in the old South. the degree that blacks were regarded as nonpeople and rigidly “To excluded from the community of citizens or potential citizens, a kind of in-group or herrenvolk democracy could be encouraged by the sense of social status accorded by the color line to all whites,” argues George Frederickson. Democratic inclusion was given a greater depth and significance by virtue of racial exclusion. As Judith Shklar formulated the point in her seminal essay on American citizenship, chattel “black slavery stood at the opposite social pole from full citizenship and so defined it…. The value of citizenship was derived primarily from its denial to slaves, to some white men, and to all women.” This is not to say that there is anything intrinsic to the ideal of democracy as self-rule that requires such profound forms of exclusion and oppression. Rather, my intention here is to illuminate some of the key challenges
revolutionary, an ideologue on behalf of white supremacy and the author of the egalitarian words of the Declaration. And these contradictions were not merely intellectual; nor did they exclusively belong to Jefferson. They were mirrored in the social structures of antebellum America. Antebellum racism helped to accommodate an aspiring democratic society to the institution of human enslavement. However, – in of my use of the language of contradiction – it would also be wrong to assume that anti-Black racism was entirely extrinsic to the ideology and practices of Jeffersonian democracy (or, for Walker’s context, Jacksonian democracy). The positive correlate of racism is racial solidarity – the feelings of unity and equality with members of one’s racial group engendered by the oppositional logic of racism – and this solidarity served as an important social supplement to the democratic institutions of antebellum America, particularly in the old South. “To the degree that blacks were regarded as nonpeople and rigidly excluded from the community of citizens or potential citizens, a kind of in-group or herrenvolk democracy could be encouraged by the sense of social status accorded by the color line to all whites,” argues George Frederickson. Democratic inclusion was given a greater depth and significance by virtue of racial exclusion. As Judith Shklar formulated the point in her seminal essay on American citizenship, “black chattel slavery stood at the opposite social pole from full citizenship and so defined it…. The value of citizenship was derived primarily from its denial to slaves, to some white men, and to all women.” This is not to say that there is anything intrinsic to the ideal of democracy as self-rule that requires such profound forms of exclusion and oppression. Rather, my intention here is to illuminate some of the key challenges