Description
Book SynopsisBoldly challenges the conventional wisdom that a shared devotion to the Constitution is the essence of what it means to be American. In his careful analysis of US history, Jared Goldstein demonstrates how movements deploy the rhetoric of constitutional devotion to express their national visions and justify their violence.
Trade ReviewProfessor Jared Goldstein deftly explores how persons with exclusionary ideologies have claimed that those ideologies are rooted in the same Constitution that other Americans have claimed is committed to realizing the creed laid out in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.
Real Americans details the history of claims that the Constitution of the United States was designed for white persons, for Protestants, for native-born citizens, or for some combination of the three. An eye-opener and a page-turner on the dark side of American constitutional identity." - Mark A. Graber, regents professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
"From the country’s inception, Americans have used the language of constitutional fidelity and devotion not only to reaffirm desirable and civically unifying creedal principles but also to foment exclusionary, divisive, and morally reprehensible values. Racists, ethno- and Christian nationalists, and other illiberal extremists have consistently wrapped themselves in the mantle of the Constitution while casting themselves as the compact’s most loyal defenders. For this reason, we cannot afford to take pious invocations of constitutional faith at face value. Jared Goldstein’s seminal study is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand some of the most disturbing currents of contemporary American politics." - Ken I. Kersch, professor of political science, Boston College, and author of
American Political Thought: An Invitation"Goldstein’s illuminating book does a beautiful job of highlighting the ideological elasticity of the federal US Constitution—the way in which constitutional loyalty has served as a critical bedrock for a wide variety of American nationalisms. Through a series of compelling case studies,
Real Americans focuses especially on exclusionary and illiberal forms of national belonging that have been encased in constitutional rhetoric. This book is a bracing rejoinder to the more familiar and rosy presentations of American constitutional culture and deserves as broad an audience as possible." - Aziz Rana, Richard and Lois Cole Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
