Chain Reaction: Th: Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics, by Thomas Byrne Edsall with Mary D. Edsall
Chain Reaction was published in 1992. It explains the decline in the New Deal Coalition that dominated American politics from the elections of 1932 to 1964.
Chain Reaction can be used to understand the elections of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and their subsequent reelections by landslides. It can also be used to understand the popularity of Donald Trump.
There were a number of reasons the New Deal Coalition died. Disappointments connected with the civil rights movement is the leading reason.
During the beginning of the civil rights movement - let's say the 1954 Brown vs Bord of Education Supreme Court Decision that found segregated schools to be unconstitutional - liberals were begrudgingly aware that Negroes tended to do poorly on mental aptitude tests, and in the class room, and that they had higher rates of crime and illegitimacy than whites. They thought that when blacks were given equal rights, they would emulate the behavior and performance of whites.
What happened instead was that white rates of crime and illegitimacy rose, and black rates rose even higher. Black intellectual performance improved little, if at all.
The civil rights legislation of the 1960's and The War on Poverty declared the same year were followed by five years of black ghetto rioting, and more enduring increases in black social pathology.
The popular image of Negroes held by most whites was no longer that of peaceful demonstrators singing hymns as segregationists beat them up. It became one of black criminals chanting "burn baby burn," as they looted and burned stores.
Liberals did not recognize the change, and continued to talk and write as though Negroes were unoffending victims of irrational color prejudice. While most whites wanted a harsh criminal justice system, liberals continued to advocate a therapeutic approach toward criminals.
The Watergate Scandal made Democrats think they did not need to reevaluate their racial beliefs and policies. Nevertheless, most whites who in 1974 thought Nixon should resign did not wish that they had voted for George McGovern in 1972. They wished that the Republican Party would give them a candidate with Nixon's policies but without Nixon's neurotic penchant for self destruction. When the GOP offered them Ronald Reagan, they voted for him in 1980 and 1984.
I am reasonably confident that Bill Clinton read Chain Reaction. The Crime Bill he signed in 1994, which increased the severity of the criminal justice system, and the Welfare Reform Bill he signed in 1996, which made cuts in welfare, indicate that he got the message.
Unfortunately, the sympathy many liberals displayed for the George Floyd riots of 2020 indicates that many of them still have not learned. That is why Donald Trump has a good chance of being reelected.
Chain Reaction was published in 1992. It explains the decline in the New Deal Coalition that dominated American politics from the elections of 1932 to 1964.
Chain Reaction can be used to understand the elections of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and their subsequent reelections by landslides. It can also be used to understand the popularity of Donald Trump.
There were a number of reasons the New Deal Coalition died. Disappointments connected with the civil rights movement is the leading reason.
During the beginning of the civil rights movement - let's say the 1954 Brown vs Bord of Education Supreme Court Decision that found segregated schools to be unconstitutional - liberals were begrudgingly aware that Negroes tended to do poorly on mental aptitude tests, and in the class room, and that they had higher rates of crime and illegitimacy than whites. They thought that when blacks were given equal rights, they would emulate the behavior and performance of whites.
What happened instead was that white rates of crime and illegitimacy rose, and black rates rose even higher. Black intellectual performance improved little, if at all.
The civil rights legislation of the 1960's and The War on Poverty declared the same year were followed by five years of black ghetto rioting, and more enduring increases in black social pathology.
The popular image of Negroes held by most whites was no longer that of peaceful demonstrators singing hymns as segregationists beat them up. It became one of black criminals chanting "burn baby burn," as they looted and burned stores.
Liberals did not recognize the change, and continued to talk and write as though Negroes were unoffending victims of irrational color prejudice. While most whites wanted a harsh criminal justice system, liberals continued to advocate a therapeutic approach toward criminals.
The Watergate Scandal made Democrats think they did not need to reevaluate their racial beliefs and policies. Nevertheless, most whites who in 1974 thought Nixon should resign did not wish that they had voted for George McGovern in 1972. They wished that the Republican Party would give them a candidate with Nixon's policies but without Nixon's neurotic penchant for self destruction. When the GOP offered them Ronald Reagan, they voted for him in 1980 and 1984.
I am reasonably confident that Bill Clinton read Chain Reaction. The Crime Bill he signed in 1994, which increased the severity of the criminal justice system, and the Welfare Reform Bill he signed in 1996, which made cuts in welfare, indicate that he got the message.
Unfortunately, the sympathy many liberals displayed for the George Floyd riots of 2020 indicates that many of them still have not learned. That is why Donald Trump has a good chance of being reelected.
