**One of our preeminent historians of race and democracy argues that the period since 2008 has marked nothing less than America's Third Reconstruction?**
In?The Third Reconstruction, distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph?offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of?recent history.?The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues,?marked the climax of a?Third Reconstruction:?a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just?as momentous?as?the movements?that?arose?after the Civil War and?during?the?civil rights?era. Joseph draws revealing connections and insights across centuries as he traces this?Third Reconstruction?from the election of Barack Obama to the rise of Black Lives Matter to the?failed assault on the Capitol.
America's first and second Reconstructions?fell tragically short of their grand aims. Our Third Reconstruction?offers a?new chance to achieve Black dignity and citizenship at last—an opportunity to choose hope over fear.??
