Race, Immigration & Belonging

A fair, humane, and orderly immigration system should think of the US as the top destination for top talent from around the world, as well as a beacon of hope. Changing the law to give permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship would fix the current failed immigration system.

We discuss the role of collective memory in the myth-making of American exceptionalism.

We discuss how out of date immigration laws are and why the only cure is comprehensive immigration reform from Congress. In the face of rising arrests and deportations by ICE, this is the perfect episode to remind us that we still need immigration reform.

We discuss how the Democratic party continues to ignore AAPI voters in schools despite their increasing power at the ballot box and the necessity to build coalitions with them to win elections. Between 2016 and 2020, voter turnout in this community increased by 47%. The near doubling of AAPI voters in Georgia and Arizona effectively made the Biden victory in 2020 possible.

We discuss why American democracy should not treat the Latinx community as a monolith, what actually matters to this community, and how the strength of their engagement in U.S. democracy will play out in this year’s presidential election.

Wajahat Ali is a Daily Beast columnist and the co-host of Democracy-ish. He's also the author of Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American. Together, Mila and Waj discuss what it means to be American and to love a country that often doesn’t love them back.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick is the Policy Director at the American Immigration Council, a non-profit organization that strives to strengthen the United States by shaping immigration policies and practices. We discuss how out-of-date immigration laws are and why the only cure is comprehensive immigration reform from Congress.

Juliet Hooker is the author of Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss and the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in Political Science at Brown University. We talk about how racism has narrowed the political imagination of both black and white citizens.

Christopher Paul Harris is Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of To Build A Black Future: The Radical Politics of Joy, Pain, and Care. We discuss why addressing our society’s hard-wired prejudices must be a substantial part of our endeavors toward a truly multicultural democracy.

Hajar Yazdiha is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences and the author of The Struggle for the People’s King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement. We discuss the role of collective memory in the myth-making of American exceptionalism.

Kurt Andersen is a prolific writer and author of Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History. We discuss the conservative playbook to move our society culturally, economically, and politically to the right, and why continuous civic engagement and investment in Americans can restore basic fairness.

Norman Chen is the CEO of the Asian American Foundation or TAAF. We discuss racism against Asians and the pursuit of belonging through philanthropy, civic engagement, and education.

Frank Guridy is the Executive Director of the Eric H. Holder Initiative for Civil and Political Rights at Columbia University and the Dr. Kenneth and Kareitha Forde Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies. We discuss social movements in the past, present, and future.

Danielle Moodie is a cultural connoisseur, a political junkie, and, in addition to Democracy-ish, also hosts the Woke AF Daily podcast. Wajahat Ali is a Daily Beast columnist, public speaker, recovering attorney, and author. His most recent book is Go Back To Where You Came From: And, Other Helpful Recommendations on Becoming American. We discuss the struggle toward a multiracial democracy and the role of civic action to achieve it.

Steve Phillips is the host of the Democracy in Color podcast and the author of How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good. We start off a new year of civic engagement and fighting for democracy with a conversation about his political leadership, thought leadership, and coalition building.

Rebecca Cokley is a disability-rights advocate and the first U.S. Disability Rights Program Officer for the Ford Foundation. From 2009 to 2013, she served as an appointee in President Barack Obama’s White House. We discuss the lived experience of being disabled in America. It's an important conversation that truly exposes the inequities of our society.

Sung Yeon Choimorrow is the executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, whose mission is to elevate AAPI women and girls to impact policy and drive systemic change in the United States. We discuss age-old and hardened stereotypes, changing the narrative about who Asian-Americans are, and activating Asian communities to take civic action.

Ian Haney López is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in race and racism. His focus for the last decade has been on the use of racism in electoral politics, and how to respond. We discuss strategic racism and its antidote: race-class fusion politics.

Chris Lebron is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. His latest book is The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of An Idea. We discuss the nature of racial disadvantage, the opportunity for love to deliver equality and fairness, and the risks of racial marginalization to the future of American democracy.

Neil Roberts is Professor of Africana Studies and Faculty Affiliate in Political Science and Religion at Williams College. He’s working on a new book titled How To Live Free in an Age of Pessimism. We discuss the legacy of Charles Mills’ scholarship on the racial contract, freedom, and transforming society from the bottom up.

Eduardo Porter is a journalist at The New York Times and the author of American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise. We discuss the intersection of public policy and racism as well as the long-term negative outcomes of exclusionary policies in our society, regardless of race.