The Third Reconstruction

Peniel E. Joseph, a historian of race and democracy who teaches at the University of Texas at Austin, argues that the years since 2008 form a third reconstruction in American history. In his account, the racial reckoning of 2020 was the peak of a new fight for Black Americans to secure full citizenship and dignity, a struggle he places in the same league as the movements that followed the Civil War and the civil rights era.

Joseph follows this push from the election of Barack Obama, through the rise of Black Lives Matter, to the failed attack on the U.S. Capitol. Along the way he ties these events to older currents that stretch back across several centuries.

The first two reconstructions both ended without reaching their goals. Joseph contends that the present moment offers another chance to finally secure Black dignity and citizenship, and he urges readers to choose hope over fear.