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World War by Chad L. Williams.Photo Credit: MacMillan Press

Chad L. Williams was astonished when he encountered an 800-page unfinished and unpublished manuscript by W.E.B. Du Bois while working in the archives at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on his dissertation research during the early 2000s. Although he tackled other projects after coming across the unpublished manuscript, he came back to it because he was inspired to tell the story of this unknown bookwhy Du Bois decided to write it, what it was about, and why [Du Bois] ultimately failed to complete it. Williams shared, I wanted to understand the significance of World War I in Du Boiss life and work, while also exploring the meaning of World War I for Black people and the struggle for freedom and democracy in the 20th century more broadly.

W.E.B. Du Bois, an African American scholar, sociologist, historian, and activist, is familiar to many Americans in part due to David Levering Lewiss two Pulitzer Prize winning biographies W.E.B. Du Bois, 1868-1919: Biography of a Race and W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963. Given the nations familiarity and the significant number of books written about the venerable intellectual, I asked Williams what we can learn from his book and analysis. He shared, Du Boiss unfinished and unpublished manuscript on the Black experience in World War Iwhich is titled The Black Man and the Wounded Worldwould have been one of the sociologists most significant works. According to Williams, Du Bois devoted more than twenty years researching, writing and trying to complete the book. He added, For the first time, with my book The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois and World War I, we learn about Du Boiss forgotten project and gain a new appreciation for how World War I shaped Du Boiss life, work and political evolution.

In his classic 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois described the painful tensionthe double consciousnessof being Black and being American that Black people still grapple with today. One of the most powerful themes in Williams book is how Du Bois initially envisioned World War I as an opportunity to reconcile that tensionand his subsequent disillusionment.

Chad Williams, author of The Wounded World.

Photo Credit: MacMillian Press

As Williams discusses in The Wounded World, African Americans, and especially soldiers, faced a heart-wrenching question during World War I: how do you support your country, volunteer to fight and die for your country, while still not being treated as an equal citizen and often times not even as an equal human being? According to Williams, Its a question that Du Bois tried to find an answer to in 1918 and throughout his life. And its a question we are still trying to find an answer to in 2023.

At the very same time that African American soldiers were fighting for their country during World War I, Black citizens were being lynched in the United States. And during the summer of 1919, shortly after World War I a dire period in our history referred to as Red Summer White supremacists lynched 83 African Americans with 11 of those individuals having served in the military. Attacks on African Americans took place across 26 cities that summer, and membership in the Ku Klux Klan increased rapidly.

In writing this important book, Williams continues the struggle that Du Bois found himself in answering the question: What does it mean as a Black person to live in a world wounded by war, white supremacy and the failure of democracy?

I am the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and a Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. Ive written or edited 29 books, including Making Black Scientists (Harvard University Press, 2019 with Thai Nguyen), Educating a Diverse Nation (Harvard University Press, 2015 with Clif Conrad) andEnvisioning Black Colleges (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). My newest book is Doing the Right Thing: How Colleges and Universities Can Undo Systemic Racism in Faculty Hiring (Princeton University Press, 2022).

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War, White Supremacy And The Failure Of Democracy - Forbes

These are darkening days for global democracy. Notions that all the worlds people would engage in egalitarian self-governance seem like grains of sand slipping through our fingers.

Russia stabs at Ukraine with its full force while suppressing dissent among its own people. Chinas government entrenches autocracy as its population and economy both stagnate. Mexico clamps down on its judicial system. Israel restricts free speech and looks to weaken its highest court. India and Brazil, both huge democracies, now pulsate with extreme nationalism, teetering near the brink of something not quite democratic.

And the same may be said of us.

In the United States this year, a member of Congress spoke openly of dividing the country by creed. Its no longer news. Former Vice President Mike Pence, targeted for assassination in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, said that his former boss should be held to account for the riots.

Former President Donald Trumps response? It was Pences fault, apparently for resisting Trumps unconstitutional coup attempt and refusing to acquiesce to the mob. This, too, was just another routine political story covered like a press release about warehouse regulations. Old news by now.

Half our states have rushed to ban concepts and identities in the name of ideological supremacy. One of our largest states, Florida, enacted de facto book bans and sought to bar meaningful discussion of historical racism in schools.

Many Americans still believe this is the way. I live in the woods of northern Minnesota. My drive to work passes many homes where pro-Trump signs and flags have been displayed nonstop for more than six years, many of them full of profanities. My kids, and all the kids, see them on the school bus every day. This is an entrenched ethos, not a passing fancy. The culture wraps around this new reality the way a tree consumes an ax-head stuck into its side. The sick tree bends to swallow the contaminant.

Pro-Trump forces have lost more elections than theyve won, but theyre not letting up. I could admire their resolve, were I not aware of history.

Its hard to square that democracy is under threat when its still possible to cast a ballot at our local polling place. I voted last November at my township hall. The poll workers and I joked and laughed. I know my vote counted. Some of my candidates won and some lost, but thats how it goes. Why would I be worried about democracy?

Of course the United States has never been a true Athenian Democracy, where all citizens vote on all laws. It is indeed a republic formed on the basis of a constitution. But the founders, even ones that were objectively racist and aristocratic by modern standards, understood that democratic ideals were the backbone of this republic. Leaders serve with the consent of the governed, or not at all. The rule of law equal justice for everyone was the goal, even when unrealized.

The Trump administrations chaotic term in office demonstrated that attacking American democracy is really about excluding undesirables from power. The powerful decide who qualifies and whether its class, creed or color that will separate us. Look at Tennessee, where a Republican majority expelled two Black state legislators for relatively minor rule violations during a gun violence protest.

But this isnt merely driven by contemporary identity politics. The purpose of this charade is to resurrect an even older system: serfdom.

Lets look to the early 20th Century when global democracy was expanding. Across the world, people voted in their own leaders for the first time.

And, in all the countries of the world, one impulse is driving the people on from victory to victory, stated a Nov. 10, 1911 Duluth Herald editorial entitled Democracy, the World Conqueror.

That impulse is economic need. It is no mere sentimental desire to control government that is making history in these days, but the grim necessity that there shall be an end to conditions under which Special Privilege, in one form or another, reaps the richest fruits of humble toil. The day in which a few reap what the many sow, and in which the many toil that a few may riot in corrupting luxuries, is nearing its sunset.

If worrying about American democracy seems too academic, consider the pocketbook implications of that democracy.

Autocracies, be they left- or right-winged, are built to direct limited resources to the wealthy and powerful. Systems with democratic traditions determine fairer means of dividing the labor and spoils of society. Local culture and political tradition may vary, but the idea that prosperity should touch the many instead of the few is a bedrock principle.

The fantasy version of a country falling into autocracy suggests an arriving army and sudden change. Reality is messier, but the goal is simple: power. A force seeks unchecked economic, cultural and political power.

For instance, the Russian system is effectively an oligarchy led by an autocrat. Vladimir Putin rules with an iron fist, but must carefully manage the wealthy oligarchs who supply his political power. Sure, these characters fall out of buildings time to time, but Putin risks the same if he loses their confidence. Meantime, everyone else in Russia is cut out of both the discussion and the affluence.

In this kind of system, it takes energy to resist and genuine risk to speak up. Resignation and silence become a sad form of self-care. But this only applies to those with economic comfort to fall back on.

Lets look at the real outcomes of the Trump Administration, and what we could expect if he returns to power. Yes, name-calling and pot-stirring would occupy the masses, but the more lasting effects lie under the surface.

Trumps signature achievements included a tax bill delivering historic windfalls for wealthy Americans and a Supreme Court that enshrines corporate power with even more velocity than conservative social policies. A partisan judiciary allows permanent one-party control of half the states in the nation, states where above all else taxes stay low for those with the most.

History has proven that the shared prosperity of the masses makes for the most human progress. Shared prosperity will not come from autocracy, oligarchy, or anarchy. Weve learned that the dictatorships that rise from communism dont work either. These are temptations, not solutions.

Democracys value to the people isnt just a vote, its a stake in the ever-changing human power dynamic.

We rarely concern ourselves with dangers were told about, only ones that we see ourselves. In politics, this is doubly true. At our worst, the only real danger we see is that we might lose power. Thats when humanity scrapes bottom. When times get hard we might feel tempted to neglect democracy, not realizing that its the only thing preserving our seat at the table.

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Democracy checks power; that's why it's in danger - Minnesota Reformer

Like many states of the Global South, Nigerias task of political inclusion is complicated by its founding not as an expression of its residents desires, but as a profitmaking machine for an invading European empire. Since independence in 1960, Nigerian governments have struggled to build public trust that the state would share power and its benefits among all citizens, across the countrys hundreds of ethnic, religious and language communities. Nigerias early decades of openly authoritarian and military rule, including endemic corruption, often sowed mistrust instead a mistrust that for many has only been deepened by the February presidential election.

When Nigeria shifted to elected civilian rule in 1999, the two dominant parties papered over the lack of political inclusion with an informal agreement: They would rotate their presidential nominees between north and south, and balance their tickets, Muslim and Christian. So Nigerias presidency would rotate between the countrys biggest geographic and religious constituencies. Yet real power has remained with men whom Nigerians have called the kingmakers or the class of 1966 a gerontocracy of former army officers who led Nigerias first coup dtat and subsequent military governments, and those mens protegs, military and civilian.

Nigerians needs were never well served by concentrations of power and wealth in a rivalrous, corrupt oligarchy. After 24 years of such top-down civilian rule, the gap between governments performance and the needs of a swelling, younger population has only widened. Half of Nigerias 220 million people are now under 18, and recent surveys find as many as 73 percent of Nigerians saying that their constrained futures in Nigeria make them ready to seek those futures abroad. Young Nigerians face widened extremism; organized crime, including kidnappings; and unemployment that hovers above 30 percent overall and over 40 percent among youth. Conservatively estimated, deaths from Nigerias conflicts and political violence now approach 100,000 over the past 12 years. Emigration of young Nigerians to the United Kingdom alone trebled from 2019 to 2021.

Nigerians approached the February and March elections with high hopes of creating change. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) added nearly 10 million people, most younger than 35, to Nigerias voter rolls. It issued new biometric voter identification cards and created a computerized network that promised immediate collation of the vote results from nearly 177,000 polling places nationwide. But on election day, large parts of these systems broke down. From 94 million registered voters, only 24.9 million votes were recorded a record low percentage. The irregularities now feed arguments over INECs declaration that former Lagos state governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the race (with a reported 37 percent of votes). His rivals, Atiku Abubakar (29 percent) and Peter Obi (25 percent), petitioned courts for the election to be rerun on the grounds of irregularities.

Separate teams of African, European and U.S. election observers cited varied causes for the low vote count: polling places that opened late (or not at all); attacks on election sites, notably in areas of support for opposition parties; general insecurity; fuel shortages; and a paralyzing scarcity of cash before and on election day (caused by authorities transition to new banknotes) that prevented many Nigerians from spending time and transportation money to vote. Elections last month for 28 state governorships saw fewer of the technical problems but increased violence and vote-buying, according to news accounts and the Nigeria-based, nonprofit Center for Democracy and Development.

Still, even these troubled elections simmered with Nigerians democratic energies. The candidacy of former governor Peter Obi was in part a youth insurgency against the domination of the two main parties. No third candidate in the six elections since military rule had won more than 7.5 percent of votes, but Obis vow of reforms to improve governance and accountability drew 25 percent. Energized young voters in Lagos state, an ethnic Yoruba stronghold and home of Tinubu, swung the majority of votes there to Obi, an ethnic Igbo a striking repudiation of old appeals to communal identity as the basis for Nigerian politics. The pattern of results in both national and state elections showed voters readiness to oppose incumbents and suggest that voters decisions are linked to the performance of individuals rather than parties and to a growing emphasis on competence and personality of candidates over old party loyalties, the Center for Democracy and Development noted in a recent analysis. The results should provide momentum for further challenges to the long-dominant two parties, it said.

Nigerians have repeatedly shown in other ways their readiness to work for better democracy and governance. Thousands of young Nigerians organized the grassroots #EndSARS movement against police brutality beginning in 2017 and have broadened their activism into other movements for change, including the recent election campaign. A telling result of the February and March votes is that the broad public disappointment with their conduct did not ignite violence. Rather, candidates and political parties are seeking justice in the courts an affirmation of their commitment to nonviolence and to using the institutions of a democracy as the way to consolidate it.

Barring a contrary ruling by the Supreme Court, which Nigerian analysts and history suggest is unlikely, Tinubu will be inaugurated president in a few weeks. Before and after that point, Nigerians and allies of democracy can take several steps to help Nigeria lay solid foundations for the democratic renewal that is vital to meet the countrys needs. President Muhammadu Buhari took some steps in the past year by ensuring the full funding of the INEC election authority and the professional conduct of military and security personnel. By executive order, he created a Presidential Transition Council to facilitate his handover of power to his successor. Further steps to meet Nigerians democratic aspirations include these:

Chris Kwaja is USIPs interim country manager in Nigeria and a senior lecturer at the Center for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University in Yola.

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After Nigeria's Elections: Nurturing the Seeds of Better Democracy - United States Institute of Peace

Buckingham Countys elections director and her entire staff had had enough.

Enough of the lies about voting fraud. Enough of the accusations of wrongdoing and treason by county residents. Enough of the demented denialism stemming from the 2020 presidential election, in which too many people believed the bogus conspiracy claims of Donald Trump. The serial prevaricators falsehoods numbered in the tens of thousands while in office.

Lindsey Taylor felt she just couldnt take it anymore and recently quit the job shed held since 2019, NBC News reported. Two part-time staffers also quit, following a deputy registrar who had departed in February.

Mind you, all of this occurred in a conservative county where Trump won in 2020 with 56% of the vote. (He lost by 10 percentage points in Virginia to Joe Biden). In 2022, Republican incumbent Rep. Bob Good who also rejected the 2020 presidential results won Buckingham County by nearly 30 percentage points.

Some conspiracy.

Registrars all across the country report threats in letters, emails, voicemails and phone calls. Some find their personal addresses and information posted on-line, John McGlennon, a longtime government professor at the College of William & Mary, told me. Job security, attorney fees and the prospect of legal charges without any evidence of wrongdoing simply make the job of registrar (or employee of the registrar or election day worker) too hard.

The absurdities emanating from Buckingham County, in which a professional administrator felt hounded from her job by the Republican-majority electoral board and local Republicans, are more proof of the threats to democracy nationwide that have expanded significantly since the 2020 election.

Will we obey the rule of law, or capitulate to the unhinged braying of the mob? Do we look for facts, or do we accept baseless claims that only support our side?

Its easy to identify events around the county where the will of the people has been overruled, customs and norms have been abolished for political gain, or a majority party has choked off legitimate debate.

U.S. Senate Republicans denied then-President Barack Obama a chance to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court in early 2016, yet they rushed to confirm a new justice when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died six weeks before the 2020 election.

Several GOP-led states last month exited the Electronic Registration Information Center, which experts considered a reliable way for states to share voter registration data. NPR cited a sustained misinformation campaign from the far-right that contributed to the pullout.

Thus, politicians who have unduly worried about voter fraud have, in effect, discarded one resource to help prevent it. (Virginia remains a member of ERIC.)

In 2020, Floridas Republican-controlled Legislature basically rejected a citizens ballot initiative granting voting rights to possibly more than 900,000 former felons. Some 65% of Floridians had approved the 2018 ballot measure.

The attacks on election officials are particularly troubling. They could usher in a tainted system where party hacks not neutral administrators oversee voting. Thats noteworthy here in Virginia, where elections occur every year.

Efforts by election deniers to intimidate election workers and interfere with free and fair elections are not only illegal, they are a serious threat to our democracy, Michelle Kanter Cohen, policy director and senior counsel at the nonpartisan Fair Elections Center, said through a spokesperson.

A 2022 poll by the Brennan Center noted one in six election officials have experienced threats because of their job, and 77% say that they feel these threats have increased in recent years. More than one in four are concerned about being assaulted on the job, the poll said.

Dianna Moorman, director of elections in James City County, relayed a disturbing incident in her office during early voting in October. She said a man, who didnt live in the county, spurred a dispute over First Amendment rights and what words or signage he could display at a voting precinct.

The man later aired a YouTube video of the incident that, Moorman said, was edited misleadingly. Shes gotten up to 29 intimidating or threatening phone calls since January. They have provided my home address and doxxed my entire family, she told me Wednesday.

Moorman has been an election official for 18 years in the county and the chief of her office since 2016. After the October incident and the YouTube posting, shes had to increase security at her home and at the general registrars office.

Its not what Moorman expected the position would entail.

We are sworn to uphold the constitution of Virginia, she noted. Our job is to ensure fair, safe and transparent elections, all while being apolitical.

Let me be clear: One party, the GOP, is more guilty of hurling wild accusations with no support and of suggesting misdeeds not backed by proof.

The goal: Muck up the legitimacy of elections, frighten voting officials who are trying to be fair and cast doubt on the other sides victories.. Similar resignations some explained, some not have occurred in Montana, Arizona and Texas over the past year.

McGlennon, the William & Mary professor, started at the Williamsburg university in 1974, the same year Richard Nixon resigned during the Watergate scandal. The professor said the political climate in the country has hardened over the past half century.

We should all be worried.

The level of polarization is so high, and the tendency to not view your political adversaries as legitimate citizens with a point of view, and instead as mortal enemies, is strong, McGlennon said.

Indeed. Democracy isnt at a precipice yet, but its moving ever closer.

Buckingham County is one example of that ominous slide.

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Voting officials resignation, amid outlandish accusations, an ... - Virginia Mercury

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LETTER: Democracy requires participation | Letters to the Editor - Ashland Daily Press