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Race and the Politics of Fear is a study of the role of race in American political history. It takes a novel approach by using Aristotle's theory of the mixed regime to analyze the American system. Aristotle's mixed regime - containing elements of oligarchy and democracy - was well-known to the Founders, who used it to design the Constitution. Accordingly, American political history has unfolded as a struggle between oligarchic and democratic forces. Oligarchs have frequently used race to divide the people and maintain power.
This book traces the oligarchic construction of race from its creation in the Colonial period and through a study of four major figures. James Madison helped formulate the Constitution to provide protection for the Southern oligarchies and was a founder of the Democratic-Republican party dominated by Southern interests. John C. Calhoun's theory of the concurrent majority provided a blueprint for the South's political strategy in the Jim Crow era. Ben Tillman redefined race primarily as a feeling as an excuse for the South's violent oppression of the black community. Ronald Reagan retooled the traditional racist myths and made them palatable to a national audience.
Readable yet extensively documented, it is appropriate for general audiences and scholars.
List of contents
Introduction
Section 1: Background
Chapter 1. Race as an Oligarchic Construct
Chapter 2. The Construction of Race in Colonial Virginia
Chapter 3. Aristotle, Oligarchy, and the Mixed Regime
Section 2: James Madison
Chapter 4. James Madison, Slavery, and Excess Democracy
Chapter 5. The Constitution and the Oligarchic Mix
Chapter 6. Madison and the Protection of Southern Oligarchy
Section 3: John C. Calhoun
Chapter 7. Calhoun and the Racist Myths
Chapter 8. Calhoun and the Need for Oligarchy
Section 4: Ben Tillman
Chapter 9. Ben Tillman and the Restoration of Southern Oligarchy
Chapter 10. Tillman and the Consolidation of Southern Oligarchy
Section 5: Ronald Reagan
Chapter 11. Ronald Reagan and Old Myths in New Skins
Chapter 12. Reaganomics and Race
Chapter 13. Reagan and the Oligarchic Turn
Conclusion
About the author
J. Noel Hubler is Professor of Philosophy and Politics at Lebanon Valley College and a student of U.S. Political History and Ancient Greek Philosophy. He is the author of Overcoming Uncertainty in Ancient Greek Political Philosophy (2021), a study of the role of opinion in Greek political theory.
