Day, Dorothy, 154, 215
Dead Prez, 183
Dean, Howard, 2, 64–65
Debs, Eugene, 53
Declaration of Independence, 43, 47–48, 52
deep democratic tradition, 15, 63–105, 109, 110, 142, 199–200, 207, 212
Baldwin in, 67, 68, 78–86, 96, 97, 98
Emerson in, 67, 68–78, 80, 86, 91, 94
Melville in, 67, 68, 86–92, 94, 95–96
Morrison in, 67, 68, 79, 87, 93–101, 102
Twain in, 67
Whitman in, 67, 77–78
DeLay, Tom, 169
demes, 206
Democracy and Tradition (Stout), 159
Democracy in America (Tocqueville), 45–46, 192
democratic globalization movement, 178–79
Democratic Party, 2, 3, 4, 26, 65
paternalistic nihilism in, 31–36
demos, 68, 138, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 212
Demosthenes, 205–6
despotism, democratic, 45–46
Dr. Dre, 183
Dorsey, Thomas, 86
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 31–32
Douglass, Frederick, 22, 73, 92, 158, 217
Dover, K. J., 208
Du Bois, W. E. B., 45, 67, 77, 78
Dutch empire, 42, 54
Dyson, Michael Eric, 187
Edelman, Marian Wright, 102
Ehrenreich, Barbara, 103
Einstein, Albert, 126
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 116
elderly people, 34
Ellerbee, Linda, 187
Ellington, Duke, 91, 217
Ellison, Ralph, 19, 79, 90, 99, 202, 217
Emancipation Proclamation, 49
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 22, 67, 68–78, 80, 86, 91, 94, 212–13
Eminem, 183
European Union, 8–9
evangelical nihilism, 30–31, 33, 60–61
Exodus, Book of, 214
Fadl, Khaled Abou El-, 133–34, 138
Falwell, Jerry, 165
Farrakhan, Louis, 197
fascism, 54, 55
“Fate” (Emerson), 76
Federalist Papers, The, 211
Fire Next Time, The (Baldwin), 81–83
Fitzgerald, Ella, 218
Forbes, James, 168
foreign aid, 59, 117–18
foreign policy, 5, 10, 12, 85, 110, 123
Founding Fathers, 15, 152, 210, 211
Four Black Men Who Mean Business (4BMWMB), 185–86
Fourteenth Amendment, 51
France, 42, 54, 114
Franklin, Benjamin, 44
“Freedom of the Intellectual in Greek Society, The” (Dover), 208
free-market fundamentalism, 3–5, 7–8, 9, 13, 27, 40, 51, 54, 146, 158–59, 178, 204
backlashes against, 52–53
Friedman, Thomas, 124
Fugitive Slave Act, 48, 73, 91
Gandhi, Mohandas, 157
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., 190, 191
Genesis, Book of, 79, 114
Gibson, Mel, 124, 169–71
Ginsberg, Ruth Bader, 6
Glaude, Eddie, Jr., 187 Global Citizens Campaign, 178–79
globalization, 22, 61, 204
democratic, 178–79
protests against, 2
Gorgias, 207–8
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, 180
gratification, culture of, 175
Great Depression, 54–55, 56–57, 154
Greeks, ancient, see Athenian democracy
Greider, William, 102–3
Griffin, Farah Jasmine, 187
Ha‘am, Ahan, 125–26
Habakkuk, Book of, 113
Hansberry, Lorraine, 67, 79
Harrington, Michael, 33
Harvard University, 74, 189–200
Afro-American Studies Department of, 190–91, 193, 199
University Professors at, 191, 196
Harvard University, Summers-West encounter at, 189–200
issues discussed in, 190–94, 196
media coverage of, 194–97
“Hater Players,” 181
Hauerwas, Stanley, 161–62, 163
Healing Israel/Palestine (Lerner), 112–13
Heeb, 121
Heschel, Abraham Joshua, 115, 215
Heschel, Susannah, 121
Hewlett, Sylvia Ann, 187
Hill, Lauryn, 182
hip-hop, 15, 59, 85, 92, 174, 179–86, 199
author’s CDs of, 185, 196
Constantinian vs. prophetic, 182, 183–85
first stages of, 179–81
racist stereotypes in, 181
recording industry and, 181–82, 183
suburban white youths and, 181, 183
underground, 183, 185
Hip Hop Temple, 184–85
Hitler, Adolf, 54, 55
Hoenlein, Malcolm, 123
Holiday, Billie, 85
Honey and the Hemlock, The (Sagan), 206
Hoover, Herbert, 71
Hosea, Book of, 18, 113
Huerta, Dolores, 103
Hussein, Saddam, 58, 61, 111, 129, 137, 141, 142
Ice Cube, 181
Iceman Cometh, The (O’Neill), 55, 87
Ice-T, 181
ideological polarization, 7, 38, 65, 101, 202–3
Idolatry and Representation: The Philosophy of Rosenzweig Reconsidered (Batnitzky), 124–25
indigenous peoples, see Native Americans
industrialism, 51, 153
“Intellect” (Emerson), 76–77
International Monetary Fund, 59
Internet, 4–5, 29
Invisible Man (Ellison), 79, 90
Iran, 111, 128–29, 136, 202
Iraq, 128–29
Kurds in, 142–43
Iraq, invasion of, 6, 13, 29, 35, 36, 58, 61, 101, 204
postwar period of, 110, 141–42
protests against, 178
Isagoras, 206
Isaiah, Book of, 18, 113, 114, 214
Islam, 16, 17, 19, 105
clerical, 129, 135–37, 139
first state of, 139
fluidity of, 135–36
intellectuals of, 133–34
Judeo-Christian tradition and, 132–33, 141
justice in, 138
legalistic thought of, 134–35, 138, 139
modern literature of, 130–32
Muslim democratization efforts in, 138–41
new democratic identity in, 107–8, 128–43
polyvalence of, 135
revitalization movements in, 129–30, 134, 143
tolerance in, 139
women of, 134, 139
“Islam and the Challenge of Democracy” (El-Fadl), 133–34, 138–39
Islamic fundamentalism, 12, 129–30, 146
Isocrates, 207–8
Israel, 10–11, 36, 108–28, 136, 137, 141, 143, 146, 164–65, 197
evangelical Christian support of, 124
military force of, 11, 118
Six Days’ War of, 137
U.S. foreign aid to, 59, 117–18
U.S. military aid to, 116–17, 127
Yom Kippur War of, 117, 165
see also Palestinians
Israel Policy Forum, 121
Jabri, Mohamed Abid al-, 133
Jackson, Mahalia, 85
James, William, 77, 78
Jay-Z, 183
jazz, 16, 22, 62, 79, 85, 87, 91–92, 93, 216
Jefferson, Thomas, 43, 47–48, 87
Jeremiah, Book of, 18, 113, 114
Jesus, 19, 157, 159, 201–2
Emerson’s view of, 74–75
Roman execution of, 147–48, 150, 151, 169–72, 214–15
Jesus and the Disinherited (Thurman), 157
Jewish Peace Lobby, 121
Jewish Peace Network, 121
Jews, Judaism, 54, 55, 105, 164–65
American, 11, 110, 112, 118–24, 126–27, 165
anti-Semitism and, 10, 11, 40, 110, 123, 124, 128, 139, 169, 170–71, 197, 199
blacks’ relationship with, 199
in civil rights movement, 19, 84, 119, 127
idolatry and, 120–28
Islam and, 132–33, 139, 141
lobbyists of, 122–24
media influence of, 123–24
new democratic identity for, 107–28
organizations of, 121–23
prophetic witness of, 16, 17–19, 21, 112–15, 119, 121–22, 213–16
prophets of, 18, 113, 114
rabbinical 135, 170
Roman empire and, 148, 151, 159, 169–71, 169–72
see also Israel
Jim Crow, 50, 51, 53, 56, 58, 92
Johnson, Lyndon B., 29, 33–34, 84, 116
Johnson, Robert, 20
Kane, Cheikh Hamidou, 131–32
Kanye West, 183
Keeping Faith (West), 188
Kerry, John, 35–36, 61
Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah, 136
Killer Mike, 183
Kim Jong Il, 137
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 5, 19, 22, 57–58, 60, 79, 86, 92, 155, 157, 158, 159, 160, 162, 163, 164, 169, 215, 217
Kings, First Book of, 89
Kool Herc, 180
KRS-ONE, 85, 174, 180, 184
Ku Klux Klan, 53
Kurds, 136, 137, 142–43
Kushner, Tony, 102
labor movement, 34
Lakoff, George, 73
Lerner, Rabbi Michael, 112–13, 115, 121, 122, 197, 199
liberation theology movement, 166
Life of Poetry, The (Rukeyser), 63, 78
Lincoln, Abraham, 49–50
Second Inaugural Address of, 50, 157–58
lobbyists, 35, 36, 122–24
“Lost Ones,” 182
Lott, Trent, 122
Lucian, 19
Luke, Gospel According to, 201–2
McKinney, Cynthia, 122
Madison, James, 211
Mahan, Alfred Thayer, 109
Majid, Anouar, 133, 140–41
Manifest Destiny, 14, 51, 91
Mansfield, Harvey, 192
Many Thousands Gone (Baldwin), 84
Master P, 183
Matrix films, 187
Mays, Benjamin E., 156–57 M’Baye, Mariétou, 131
media, 2, 28, 29, 203
ethical breakdown of, 36–37
Jewish influence on, 123–24
market-driven, 7, 36, 38
sentimental nihilism of, 36–39, 60–61, 195
sex and violence in, 175
Summers-West encounter in, 194–96, 197
Web coverage in, 37
youth culture and, 175–76, 187–88
Melville, Herman, 22, 25, 48–49, 67, 68, 86–92, 94, 95–96
Meno (Plato), 17, 208
Mernissi, Fatima, 133
Micah, Book of, 113, 114
Middle East, 10–12, 60, 101, 104–5, 107–43, 146
Arab regimes in, 10, 110, 111, 116, 128, 129, 141
oil reserves of, 109–10, 116, 117, 128, 141
origin of term, 109
secular nationalist movements in, 129, 135, 136–37, 143
see also Islam; Israel
Milbank, John, 161, 162–63
militarism, see aggressive militarism
military-industrial complex, 57
military spending, 58–59
Miller, Arthur, 102
Million Man March, 197
mimes, 210
Mobley, Mamie Till, 20–21
Moby-Dick (Melville), 48–49, 89–91, 96
Monoson, S. Sara, 209
Monroe Doctrine, 51–52
Moral Majority, 165, 166
Morrison, Toni, 22, 37–38, 67, 68, 79, 87, 93–101, 102
MoveOn, 178–79
Muhammad, Prophet, 19, 139, 140
Multilateral Development Banks, 59
Murdoch, Rupert, 124
Murray, Albert, 202
Nader, Ralph, 103, 193
Naipaul, V. S., 131
Nasser, Gamal, 116–17, 129
National Parenting Association, 187
National Public Radio, 187
Native Americans, 13, 40, 69, 73, 88, 104
expansionist subjugation of, 13, 14, 43, 44, 45, 50–51, 149
Manifest Destiny and, 91
voting rights of, 33
neo-soul movement, 183
New Jewish Agenda, 121
Nick News, 187
Niebuhr, H. Richard, 145
Niebuhr, Reinhold, 211
nihilism, 16, 21, 25–62, 87, 88, 115, 142, 148, 159, 161, 162, 163, 167, 210, 218
evangelical, 30–31, 33, 60–61
market forces in, 27–29, 39–40, 78
in Moby-Dick, 48–49, 89–90, 96
paternalistic, 30, 31–36, 60–61
political, 27–40
racism and, 40–62
sentimental, 30, 36–39, 60–61, 195
of youth culture, 176–77
Nobody Knows My Name (Baldwin), 79
No Name in the Street (Baldwin), 1, 79
Notes on the State of Virginia (Jefferson), 47
Ogletree, Charles, Jr., 195
oil, 109–10l, 116, 117, 128, 141
O’Neill, Eugene, 55, 67, 87
Orthodox Union, 123
Other America, The (Harrington), 33
Ottoman empire, 8, 54, 109
Outkast, 179–80, 183
paideia, 39, 41, 91
Palestinians, 10–11, 36, 85, 108–28, 137, 197
democratic leanings of, 142, 143
suicide bombers of, 10, 110, 113, 115, 116, 119
Paris, 180
Parker, Charlie, 85
parrhesia, 16, 39, 209, 210, 211
Passion of the Christ, The, 124, 169–71
Pass-the-Mic tours, 187
paternalistic nihilism, 30, 31–36, 60–61
Patriot Act, 6, 29, 202
Peretz, Martin, 123–24 Pericles, 42, 206
Perry, Imani, 183
Pfleger, Father Michael, 168
Pharrell, 183
Pierre (Melville), 87–88
Place of Tolerance in Islam, The (El-Fadl), 138
Plato, 16, 30, 201, 207, 208, 212–13
philosophy of, 209–11
“Plato, or the Philosopher” (Emerson), 212–13
Plato’s Democratic Entanglements (Monoson), 209
Playing in the Dark (Morrison), 95–96
political correctness, 7
political leaders, 2–3, 4, 12, 64–66
black, 65–66
disaffection engendered by, 64–65
marketing of, 25
nihilism of, 27–28
political nihilism, 27–40
Poor Righteous Teachers, 180
populism, 52, 53
Prince, 185
Princeton University, 193, 195, 198
progressivism, 52, 53
prophetic witness, 41, 49, 50, 55, 57, 62, 141, 213–18
and Constantinian vs. prophetic Christianity, 147–72, 215
and Constantinian vs. prophetic hip-hop, 182, 184–85
definition of, 114-15
of Judaism, 16, 17–19, 21, 112–15, 119, 121–22, 213–16
justice in, 17–19, 113–14, 214–15
Prophets in the Hood (Perry), 183
Proverbs, Book of, 17
Psalms, Book of, 214
Public Enemy, 180
Pynchon, Thomas, 20, 102
Quintilian, 73
Race Matters (West), 1–2, 26
racism, 1–2, 14, 15, 74, 87, 90–91, 164, 181, 196–97, 199, 216–17
Baldwin and, 78–86
Middle Eastern, 116
nihilism and, 40–62
Rainey, Ma, 20, 91–92
Rakim, 180
Ramadan, Tariq, 133
Randolph, A. Philip, 92
rap music, 173–74, 179–86
see also hip-hop
Rauschenbusch, Walter, 153
Rawls, John, 138, 160, 161, 162, 163
Reagan, Ronald, 31, 165, 166–67
Reconstruction, 50
Red Record, A (Wells-Barnett), 156
Republic (Plato), 30, 207, 210–11
Republican Party, 2, 3, 4, 26, 32, 35, 36, 65, 164–65
evangelical nihilists in, 30–31
“Richard Wright’s Blues” (Ellison), 19
right wing, 9, 10, 37, 38, 123, 124
Christian evangelical, 2, 124, 165, 168
conservative rhetoric of, 73–74
religious, 66, 161, 165
robber barons, 51
Roman empire, 8, 10, 19, 42, 73, 211
Christianity in, 147–48, 150, 151, 159, 169–72, 214–15
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 33–34
Roosevelt, Theodore, 33
Rorty, Richard, 160–61, 162, 163
Rosenzweig, Franz, 107, 124–25
Rove, Karl, 32, 61
Rukeyser, Muriel, 63, 77, 78
Rushdie, Salman, 131
Saadawi, Nawal El, 133
Sagan, Eli, 206
Said, Edward, 107–8
Salih, Tayeb, 131
Samuel, First Book of, 18
Season of Migration to the North (Talih), 131
Second Message of Islam, The (Taha), 108, 140
secular liberalism, 159–61, 162, 163
secular nationalism, 129, 135, 136–37, 143
segregation, racial, 53, 58, 157
self-medication, 176
“Self-Reliance” (Emerson), 69–70
sentimental nihilism, 30, 36–39, 60–61, 195 September 11 terrorist attacks, 6–7, 8–10, 12–13, 20, 21, 40, 61, 202
Shadow and Act (Ellison), 79
Shakur, Tupac, 67, 181
Shapiro, Harold, 195
Sharon, Ariel, 115, 197
Sharpton, Al, 193
Shaw, Lemuel, 91
Simmons, Russell, 184
Simple Past, The (Chraibi), 131
Sims, Thomas, 91
Sketches of My Culture (West), 185–86
slavery, 14, 37–38, 40, 42–44, 45, 48, 69, 88, 92–93, 149, 157
emancipation of, 49–50, 73
in Massachusetts, 43–44, 91
Smiley, Tavis, 187, 188, 195
Smith, Bessie, 20, 91–92, 217
Smith, J. Alfred, 168
Snoop Dogg, 181
Social Gospel movement, 153
Socrates, 15, 16–17, 30, 79, 201, 204, 207, 208, 212–13, 217
Socratic questioning, 16–17, 21, 30, 31, 41, 49, 50, 55, 57, 62, 80, 81–82, 118, 141, 158, 204, 207, 208–18
Solon, 205–6
Song of Solomon (Morrison), 97–98
Sontag, Susan, 102
Sophists, 16, 17, 30, 207–8
Sophron, 210
Soroush, Abdokarim, 133
Souls of Black Folk, The (Du Bois), 78
Soviet Union, 8, 55, 56, 109, 116, 129, 166
Staub, Michael C., 119–20
Stein, Gertrude, 77, 78
Stoics, 18
Stout, Jeffrey, 159, 163
Street Knowledge (West), 185–86
Sulzberger family, 124
Summers, Lawrence, see Harvard University, Summers-West encounter at Supreme Court, U.S., 6, 45