ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses how the experiences of African Americans in the United States contribute significantly to a liberal democracy. First, the chapter begins by defining the meaning of a “public sphere” in a liberal democracy. Second, the chapter discusses civil society’s relationship to the public sphere and, in particular, highlights the importance of a civil society as the location of the discussion that – when successful – makes the case for, as well as helps to safeguard, a liberal democratic public sphere. Third, the chapter describes the significant role the experience of African Americans has in civil society with respect to this goal. In this context, the chapter proposes that we have a “moral obligation to remember radical injustice toward blacks.” Within this conversation, the chapter outlines the contributions of several black voices that manifest in different ways a moral obligation to remember radical injustice.
