This is a word, a podcast from Slate. I'm your host, Jason Johnson.

The whole idea of democracy is you win by persuading people with the strength of your arguments.

And the losers accept the outcome without violence.

But as the January 6th insurrection shows, race plays a huge factor in who has to win or lose gracefully,

whether the stakes are political or life and death.

Why? And what can be done to change that?

Black grief, white grievance coming up on a word with me, Jason Johnson.

Stay with us.

Welcome to a word, a podcast about race and politics and everything else. I'm your host, Jason Johnson.

One of the most disturbing moments in recent racial history here in the United States came in August of 2017.

This was the Unite the Right Rally, where hundreds of white supremacists marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting racist slogans and attacking counter protesters.

Dozens were injured and anti-racist protesters had their hire was killed.

And the wake of that violence then President Donald Trump made his infamous remarks about being very fine people on both sides.

Our guest today argues that both movements do draw from the same emotional place, grief, the idea that some essential thing is being taken.

For black folks, it's the loss of freedom, dignity, and the often violent loss of our lives.

For white Americans, it's the loss of their undisputed place at the top of the political and socioeconomic hierarchy.

And the real fight is over who has a right to resist losses and who is supposed to bear them in silence.

Juliet Hooker has devoted her career to studying this tension.

She's a professor of political science at Brown University with a focus on how race and identity has played out across history and across the Americas.

Her new book is titled Black Grief, White Grievance, the Politics of Loss.

And she joins us now, Professor Juliet Hooker, welcome to a word.

Thank you Jason.

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