Lauren L

“What if the leaders of the 1920s Klan didn't drive public sentiment, but rode it? A vein of hatred was always there for the tapping. It's there still, and explains much of the madness threatening American life a hundred years after Stephenson made a mockery of the moral principles of the Heartland.”
― Timothy Egan, A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them

“As W.E.B. Du Bois had written, behind 'the yelling, cruel-eyed demons who break, destroy, maim, lynch, and burn at the stake is a knot, large or small, of normal human beings, and these human beings at heart are desperately afraid of something.”
― Timothy Egan, A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them

“There's a small handful of very wealthy and powerful people who actively strategize and spend a lot of money (numbers with multiple commas) to make sure that you ignore politics and neglect your privileges that come with being an American citizen.”
― Emily Amick, Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives

“Civic apathy is not merely an indicator of disinterest in politics; it's a symptom of a deeper disconnect with our shared American life. As community bonds weaken, so does our engagement with democracy.”
― Emily Amick