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Social Values, Democracy, and the Problem of African American Identity

Fort Valley State University

Aristotle in The Politics argued that an effective government must allow a good man to become a good and decent citizen. Democratic processes, institutions, and practices must strive to provide assurances that public policy are of high quality and in the public interest, which means they are a manifestation of, and embody the values of, a society in a simultaneously reinforcing mutual relationship. This article attempts to demonstrate that assuming a similar line of reasoning, American political practices would make public policies that reflect its core democratic social values. Yet the negativity in the political location of the African American challenges and deflates those democratic credentials of the United States. Much worse is that this creates an inexorable duality that shapes the political identity of the African American and sidelines him or her from the American political mainstream.

Key Words: public policies • social values • democracy • political identity

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