Race Relations, Civics, and the Post-truth Soulcrafting of Young Americans

• In Event: Civic Learning on Campus: Bringing Political Science In Mini-Conference I: Countering Democratic Backsliding through Civic Education for All Students

Abstract

This study leverages the concept of “soulcraft” to examine the limitations of civics education in early 21st century America by unpacking how social identity, socialization agents, and structural inequality shape the civic understandings of young people on the precipice of enfranchisement. Studies on young Americans over the past decade indicate a loss of faith in democracy due to, among other things, disillusionment over political polarization, racial tensions, media bias, and class inequality. Similar forces have impacted public confidence in science and in scientific expertise. However, studies examining civic proficiency and civics education often neglect to critically examine how formal and informal learning about democracy happens, and often neglect to critically examine what these informal and formal lessons about democracy signal about the promises and pitfalls of voting. This project overcomes those limitations by examining multiple data, including federal data on the civic proficiency scores of young Americans (in the 8th and 12th grades) and original public opinion data from the youth sample of the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), a nationally representative public opinion survey of youth aged 16 - 17 years old. Findings from these data illuminate how lessons about racial groups could correlate with perceptions about those groups, correlate with perceptions about inclusive democracy, and correlate with participation. Findings from this project offer insights into three things: (1) the cognitive and emotive dimensions of civic empowerment and of civic proficiency; (2) the differences between civic empowerment and civic proficiency; and (3) why shifting civics instruction and learning away from civic proficiency to civic empowerment could reinvigorate faith in democracy. The implication of the findings is that the forces shaping the social studies curricula affecting civic inquiry-based instruction about racial groups perform similarly to those forces shaping the formal science curriculum affecting scientific inquiry-based instruction. Results therefore also suggest analogous parallels between ways to combat misinformation and skepticism in the political and scientific arenas. The study concludes by describing the benefits of a renewed focus on improving inquiry-based scientific knowledge. I assert that doing so can help young people navigate the post-truth era; can reduce racial/ethnic disparities in political participation; can reinvigorate the faith of young people in democracy; and can bring forth a more imaginative democratic politics.

Author

• Tyson D. King-Meadows, Norfolk State University