ABSTRACT
This chapter appeals to shared history, geography, or shared national identity do not offer neat and simple solutions to group-based conflict. When 'us versus them' conflict occurs within shared political community, ideal of 'justice for all' is reduced to 'justice for just us'. In the US, the politics of 'us versus them' are visible in several areas. Despite this post-Civil Rights narrative, racism and racial inequality remain powerful forces in American politics that reinforce 'us versus them' dynamics. First, when race and class interact, studies consistently show that white families have more net wealth than black families. Despite landmark legislation of 1960s that contributed to equal voting rights and civil rights, African-Americans continue to live under procedural injustices such as racial profiling, discriminatory mortgage lending, and sentencing disparities. And considering matters of distributive justice, African-Americans earn less than their white counter-parts and have unequal access to public goods and resources in areas of education, health care, housing, and financial services.
