Race and the making of American liberalism

"Race, Carol Horton claims, has been instrumental in creating some of the nation's most radically democratic forms of liberal politics. Movements for racial justice have led to the inclusion of the disenfranchised, an emphasis on socioeconomic equity, and, more recently, the promotion of cultural diversity. At the same time, racial politics have also ensured that relatively inequitable forms of liberalism flourish in the United States, including mainstream support for tremendously unequal distributions of wealth, power, and status."

"In contrast to accounts that cast liberalism as either a liberating or oppressive historical force, Race and the Making of American Liberalism demonstrates that liberalism has served both to support and oppose racial hierarchy, as well as socioeconomic equity more broadly. Correspondingly, Horton argues that race represents a flexible social category that has encompassed competing conceptions of racial justice, class relations, and civic equality."--Jacket.