Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Democracy in Action: January Retrospective

Democracy in Action: January Retrospective
January calendar

Welcome to the first edition of Democracy In Action, insights and discussion about some of the most talked-about topics of the previous month with Fulcrum collaborators.

Consistent with the Fulcrum's mission, this program strives to share many perspectives to widen our readers' viewpoints.


As if fireworks weren’t enough to welcome in the new year, the return of Donald Trump to the White House brought with it its own set of fireworks, beginning with a slew of executive orders.

We also saw tragedy in the form of terror in the attack in New Orleans and the plane crash in Washington, D.C.

There was also a ceasefire in Gaza as Israelis and Palestinians negotiated peace.

Joining me to discuss these topics and more were:

Lynn Schmidt, the columnist and editorial board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Rev. Dr. F. Willis Johnson, a spiritual entrepreneur, author, scholar-practioner whose leadership and strategies around social and racial justice issues are nationally recognized and applied.

Steven Hill, former policy director for the Center for Humane Technology, co-founder of FairVote, and political reform director at New America.

We began the conversation with President Trump’s first weeks back in office and the growing list of executive orders.

- YouTubeWelcome to Democracy in Action, insights and discussion about some of the most talked-about topics of the previous month with ...


Check out:

Will Trump’s immigration crackdown be good or bad for the economy?

Countering Terrorism: Pushing Back Fear

Wicked: Art Mirrors Our Modern Social Divides

Don’t get distracted, stupid!

Hugo Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum. He is the publisher of the Latino News Network and a trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network.

Read More

Two speech bubbles overlapping.

Recent data shows that Americans view members of the opposing political party overly negatively, leading people to avoid political discourse with those who hold different views.

Getty Images, Richard Drury

How To Motivate Americans’ Conversations Across Politics

Introduction

A large body of research shows that Americans hold overly negative distortions of those across the political spectrum. These misperceptions—often referred to as "Perception Gaps"—make civil discourse harder, since few Americans are eager to engage with people they believe are ideologically extreme, interpersonally hostile, or even threatening or inferior. When potential disagreement feels deeply uncomfortable or dangerous, conversations are unlikely to begin.

Correcting these distortions can help reduce barriers to productive dialogue, making Americans more open to political conversations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Divided American flag

Rev. Dr. F. Willis Johnson writes on the serious impacts of "othering" marginalized populations and how, together, we must push back to create a more inclusive and humane society.

Jorge Villalba/Getty Images

New Rules of the Game: Weaponization of Othering

By now, you have probably seen the viral video. Taylor Townsend—Black, bold, unbothered—walks off the court after a bruising match against her white European opponent, Jelena Ostapenko. The post-match glances were sharper than a backhand slice. Next came the unsportsmanlike commentary—about her body, her "attitude," and a not-so-veiled speculation about whether she belonged at this level. To understand America in the Trump Redux era, one only needs to study this exchange.

Ostapenko vs. Townsend is a microcosm of something much bigger: the way anti-democratic, vengeful politics—modeled from the White House on down—have bled into every corner of public life, including sports. Turning “othering” into the new national pastime. Divisive politics has a profound impact on marginalized groups. Neither Ostapenko nor Donald Trump invented this playbook, yet Trump and his sycophants are working to master it. Fueled by a sense of grievance, revenge, and an insatiable appetite for division, he—like Ostapenko—has normalized once somewhat closeted attitudes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hand blocking someone speaking

The Third Way has recently released a memo stating that the “stampede away from the Democratic Party” is partly a result of the language and rhetoric it uses.

Westend61/Getty Images

To Protect Democracy, Democrats Should Pay Attention to the Third Way’s List of ‘Offensive’ Words

More than fifty years ago, comedian George Carlin delivered a monologue entitled Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” It was a tribute to the legendary Lenny Bruce, whose “nine dirty words” performance led to his arrest and his banning from many places.

His seven words were “p—, f—, c—, c———, m———–, and t—.”

Keep ReadingShow less