Interesting Twists

Like many good conversationalists, Cohen begins Democracy Remixed by telling a story of a young black man whose unexpected life trajectory exemplifies the complexity of black urban youth in general. In this case, the young man was born into a hard-working two-parent household where education was valued and prioritized. The expectation was that he would benefit from a good education, earn a college degree, and go on to realize the American Dream. Those expectations have not materialized due, in part, to the substandard educational opportunities that are commonplace in urban areas, as well as to some poor personal choices that he made along the way. Her point in retelling the story is not merely to use it as a basis for depicting the larger structural issues that many black urban youth contend with daily, but also to highlight the role of politics, individual decision making, elected officials, and policymaking in facilitating the marginalization of black youth. To do that, Cohen does not merely utilize the normal definition of politics; instead, she contends that the definition of politics is and should always be in dispute, especially as she widens the traditional circle of black politics beyond incorporation, immigration, electoral politics, and discrimination to focus squarely on aspects of morality.

For instance, Chapter 2 explores the demonization of black youth by celebrities like Don Imus, but with particular emphasis on how black elites like Bill Cosby, as well as older generations of blacks, are condemning black youth for what they see as moral lapses that undermine the respectability of the black community. Cohen employs the concept of moral panic in an attempt to explore the harsh critiques of black elites like Wynton Marsalis, Oprah Winfrey, and Barack Obama, in addition to Cosby, who sometimes use their access to the dominant media to publically excoriate black youth. According to Cohen, these elites have exaggerated several aspects of the behaviors of black youth in ways that lead to increased marginalization of black youth in their own communities.

Cohen effectively argues that moral panics validate dominant norms of discrimination, which in turn lead to more policing and criminalization that have not been good for young black men and the urban communities in which they reside. Toward these ends, Cohen contends that moral panic and secondary marginalization undermine the efficacy and self-worth of black youth and affect negatively their membership in the American political community. While there are no data to show the actual link among moral panic, secondary marginalization, and a sense of alienation from the political process, Cohen's argument provides a compelling theoretical framework for subsequent analysis.

Another provocative twist is Cohen's operationalization of moral politics to explore topics that are usually deemed taboo in the black community and, therefore, are frequently unanalyzed in black politics: sex, abortion, and rap music. Her findings, inter alia, show that black youth acknowledge the lack of concurrence between some of their ideals about morality and their lived experiences. This is especially evident in terms of the ideal of marriage, which is often constrained by the sheer unavailability of eligible black men as marriage partners. When it comes to issues like rap music, the findings clearly show that many black urban youth are critical of the way sex and violence are offensively portrayed among black women and men.

Additionally, readers are offered useful information from discussions with black urban youth about sexual intimacy that are peppered with black youths' understanding of norms of personal responsibility and the existence of such norms in the black community. Yet, Cohen argues, moral issues among black youth do not occur in a vacuum; they must be assessed within the contexts of the disadvantaged environments that do not necessarily allow many black youth to achieve their ideals. Similar to the contents of the previous chapter, Cohen's arguments, in this regard, depend heavily on the sociological-cum-psychological literature. However, a major benefit is her ability to deftly expand the boundary of blackness in ways that cover new theoretical ground in black politics, with specific emphasis on black youth.

A third twist that Cohen introduces is what she calls a “groundbreaking” national survey that focuses on black youth. While her book does not include much information on the data set, the appendix suggests that it is a mix of standard political science variables–which include socioeconomic status, religiosity, and education—as well as other indicators on rap music, beliefs about sexuality, abortion, and sexual practices. The data set includes information about black youth, but also white and Latino/a youth, and it also includes rich information from focus groups that help to round out the data. The empirical material that Cohen provides should greatly enrich political inquiry for years to come.

A Sense of Urgency

Cohen underscores a sense of urgency about the plight of black youth and the discursive options that are available to them. What she says about parenting is true in general: “[I]f we do not create the opportunity or space to talk about, for example, single mothers raising our children, then we cannot develop effective policies that will empower those families” (p. 98). At least for Cohen, part of the solution to this moral dilemma for black urban youth is to “intervene in the discourse and change it from a rhetoric of striving to have two-parent households, striving to be heterosexual—to a discourse that highlights the true norms of family life in black communities with a focus on acceptance and empowerment” (p. 98).

I agree with the author that it is important to recognize the context in which most black urban families live, and to advocate as well as plan accordingly in terms of policy discussions and programmatic interventions. However, I am skeptical about any interventions that suggest an either/or approach to the empowerment of black urban youth, especially when the “true norms” of single-parent households are often the by-products of structural problems and discrimination. Any interventions that take place in urban areas must adopt a balanced approach of recognizing the current reality while also providing the discourse, as well as the resources, to move black urban youth individually and collectively to more advantaged positions.

Meanwhile, data from Cohen's groundbreaking national study also demonstrate that black youth are at a political crossroad. On the one hand, there is a clear sense of alienation. On the other hand, there is hope for the promise of opportunity that is evident in the lives of successful black entertainment moguls, as well as in the fortunes of President Obama. For example, black youth reversed previous trends of lower participation to engage in the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, and in focus groups they revealed that his presidency made them feel more connected to government. At the same time, black youth repeatedly confirm that one black president cannot change things alone and that the contemporary racial order continues to stack the deck against their odds of success. That is why Cohen says that we as a society must work to make sure that black youth are acknowledged and treated as equal and full members of the larger political community. While that plea is certainly rational, she does not provide a clear sense of how to make that happen, and so others are clearly needed to continue the conversation and offer explicit steps toward that end.

Multiple Audiences

A clear strength of Cohen's book is the extent to which it is clearly written to speak to multiple audiences. In some sections, it reads like the work of a public intellectual, in which the author is advocating for a particular group of policy objectives, ranging from accessibility to post-secondary education to ending violence and promoting civic engagement. In other instances, as she explains how her theories comport with, as well as depart from, conventional scholarly approaches, Cohen is clearly addressing the audience of professional political scientists. In still other instances, she appears to be speaking to the youth that she writes about, in an effort to convince them that others care about them and their future.

Yet the multiple audiences that are reflected in the book are also a metaphor for the multiple audiences that comprise black urban youth. Unlike the past, when the most noticeable differences among blacks were regional, partisan, or socioeconomic, the new immigration has resulted in intraracial differences in terms of ethnicity and religion, which scholars are increasingly assessing. Also important is the rise of multiracial identification. Yet while Cohen's analysis does allow for some parsing of differences among blacks in the analytical sections of the book, she tends to discuss black youth without clarifying significant variations among them. This is especially important in light of her concern that current discourse is limiting and exclusive in ways that undermine the political attachments of black youth. For if the goal is to enhance their political incorporation, then it is crucial to properly capture the complexity of this group.

Black Youth and the Future of Black Politics

One of the most important questions posed by Cohen concerns the role and future of black politics and whether or not the new generation of black politicians sees themselves as accountable to black youth and the black community. The question emerges as a result of the so-called success that some blacks have attained personally, policy gains in certain areas, and the election of Obama as the first African American president. Ironically, Cohen suggests—and the literature supports her in this regard—that many black politicians are attempting to live in a postracial society where they do not address race directly, which leaves the field open for racial conservatives to define an increasingly regressive racial agenda. The lives, hopes, and opportunities of black urban youth hang in the balance. According to the author, the first step in that regard is to match our democratic principles with our democratic practices in ways that allow for the full citizenship of black youth. Such words are fundamental not only to the political integration of black youth but also to the political integrity of our country.

In a nutshell, Democracy Remixed is a cri de couer that is focused on the plight of black youth and America's obligation to integrate them into the fold as equal and meaningful members of the general American society. Like all good work, it raises more questions than it can possibly answer. To a large extent, it provides a solid theoretical framework and a good foundation of data for future researchers of the subject matter to mine and, indeed, build upon.