DEWEY STUDIES Volume 4 · Number 1 · 2020 SPECIAL ISSUE: CREATIVE DEMOCRACY IN THE AGE OF PANDEMIC AND POLICE VIOLENCE ISSN: 2572-4649 Mission: Dewey Studies is a peer-reviewed, online, open-access journal of the John Dewey Society, dedicated to furthering understanding of John Dewey’s philosophical work and enlivening his unique mode of engagement with the vital philosophical questions of our time. Please visit our website for more information about the journal, or to view other issues of Dewey Studies. Editors: Editor-in-Chief Leonard Waks, [email protected] Associate Editors Paul Cherlin, [email protected] Andrea R. English, [email protected] James Scott Johnston, [email protected] Jared Kemling, [email protected] Zane Wubbena, [email protected] Reviews Editor Daniel Brunson, [email protected] Submissions: To submit a manuscript for publication, please send an email to: Jared Kemling, Associate Editor [email protected] To submit a book review or inquire as to what books are available for review, please email: Daniel Brunson, Reviews Editor [email protected] Title flourishes designed by Vexels.com and used with permission EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Thomas Alexander (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) Douglas Anderson (University of North Texas) Randall Auxier (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) Thomas Burke (University of South Carolina) Vincent Colapietro (University of Rhode Island) Steven Fesmire (Green Mountain College) Michael Festl (University of St. Gallen) Clara Fischer (University College Dublin) Marilyn Fischer (University of Dayton) Roberto Frega (Marcel Mauss Institute at the CNRS) Jim Garrison (Virginia Tech & Uppsala University) James Good (Lone Star College North Harris) Larry Hickman (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) David Hildebrand (University of Colorado Denver) Denise James (University of Dayton) Alison Kadlec (Senior VP, Public Agenda) Alexander Kremer (University of Szeged) Erin McKenna (University of Oregon) William Myers (Birmingham-Southern College) Stefan Neubert (University of Cologne) Gregory Pappas (Texas A&M) Scott Pratt (University of Oregon) Melvin Rogers (Brown University) Naoko Saito (University of Kyoto) Charlene Haddock Seigfried (Purdue University) EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD (cont’d) John Shook (State University of New York at Buffalo) Giuseppe Spadafora (University of Calabria) Kenneth Stikkers (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) Shannon Sullivan (University of North Carolina Charlotte) Sor-hoon Tan (National University of Singapore) Paul C. Taylor (Vanderbilt University) Dwayne Tunstall (Grand Valley State University) Claudio Viale (National University of Cordoba) Emil Višňovský (Comenius University) Jennifer Welchman (University of Alberta) Krystyna Wilkoszewska (Jagiellonian University) Chen Yajun (Fudan University) DEWEY STUDIES VOLUME 4 · NUMBER 1 · 2020 SPECIAL ISSUE: CREATIVE DEMOCRACY IN THE AGE OF PANDEMIC AND POLICE VIOLENCE ARTICLES EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION 1 LEONARD J. WAKS TOWARD A CULTURE OF DEMOCRACY 18 THOMAS ALEXANDER VIRTUE AND INTELLIGENCE IN A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC 25 F. THOMAS BURKE FASCISM AND THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE 35 NATHAN CRICK ON (NOT) BECOMING A MORAL MONSTER: DEMOCRATICALLY TRANSFORMING AMERICAN RACIAL IMAGINATIONS 41 STEVEN FESMIRE RACIAL JUSTICE AND THE IMAGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH 50 MARILYN FISCHER LOOKING FOR GRACE 59 KYLE A. GREENWALT SCATTER-BRAINED: LIFE IN POST-COVID, POST-GEORGE FLOYD AMERICA 70 JESSICA HEYBACH BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL: PRAGMATIC LESSONS IN DISASTER DIDACTICS 78 MYRON MOSES JACKSON THE MASK AS METAPHOR: DEWEYAN REFLECTIONS IN THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC 96 TODD LEKAN GET IT TOGETHER: EDUCATION IN A DANGEROUS TIME 102 JOHN LUPINACCI DEWEY AND RENEWING DEMOCRACY IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 110 LANCE E. MASON PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS ON DEMOCRACY AND MEMORY 118 CORY MCCALL CAN SCHOOLS COMBAT PARTISAN BELLIGERENCY? 124 PAULA MCAVOY PHILOSOPHICAL MEDITATIONS ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SO FAR? 132 GREGORY FRENANDO PAPPAS TO SURVIVE PANDEMICS, LOOK TO INDIGENOUS LIFE 165 SCOTT PRATT IMPROVING DEMOCRACY BY TAKING UP CIVIC QUESTIONS AND HOPING TOGETHER 174 SARAH M. STITZLEIN DON’T TWEET! 178 NICHOLAS TAMPIO LOOKING TO THE TOOLS 183 KATIE TEREZAKIS WHAT WE HOLD IN COMMON: FAILED COMMUNICATIONS AND FRUSTRATED COMMUNITIES 190 WINSTON C. THOMPSON BELIEVING IN DEWEYAN DEMOCRACY IN TROUBLED TIMES 197 DWAYNE TUNSTALL BOOK REVIEWS STILL STAMPED: KENDI’S HISTORY OF RACIST IDEAS 204 CHARLES L. LOWERY EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION Creative Democracy: The Task Before Us in the Twin Crisis LEONARD J. WAKS Temple University, Emeritus Editor-in-chief Volume 4 · Number 1 · 2020 · Pages 1-17 Leonard J. Waks 2 he World Health Organization learned on December 31, 2019, that a cluster of cases of viral pneumonia had been T reported in Wuhan, China. A month later, with confirmed cases in 19 countries, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency. Nations around the world locked down non-essential economic activities. 30 Million U. S. workers filed claims for unemployment insurance. The UN’s International Labour Organization forecasted “massive damage” to the livelihoods of 1.6 billion informal economy workers.1 Globally, school and university closures had by April 2020 affected roughly 1.5 billion students.2 By October 2020, 34 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, with more than a million deaths. On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers responded to a "forgery in progress," and ordered the suspect, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, into their squad car. When he failed to comply, Officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd's neck for nine minutes while Floyd pleaded "I can't breathe.” In the last three minutes Floyd was non-responsive.3 1 Harry Kretchmer, 13 May 2020 How coronavirus has hit employment in G7 economies, World Economic Forum, accessed on October 3 2020 at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/coronavirus-unemployment-jobs- work-impact-g7-pandemic/ 2 N/A, April 29, 2020. 1.3 billion learners are still affected by school or university closures, as educational institutions start reopening around the world, says UNESCO, UNESCO, accessed on October 3 2020 at https://en.unesco.org/news/13-billion-learners-are-still-affected-school- university-closures-educational-institutions 3 Catherine Thorbecke, May 29, 2020. Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes, complaint says. ABC News. accessed on October 3 2020 at https://abcnews.go.com/US/derek-chauvin-knee-george-floyds-neck-minutes- complaint/story?id=70961042 Dewey Studies Vol 4 · No 1 · 2020 Leonard J. Waks 3 The COVID-19 pandemic and State Violence combined to form the Twin Crisis of 2020. While people were dying in intensive care from COVID, Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets, to be met with counter-protests by armed right-wing paramilitary groups. Responding to the pandemic, President Donald Trump announced on January 22, 2020 that “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” He repeated these re-assuring words on February 10: ““Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. …But we’re doing great in our country.” He repeated them again on February 24, ““When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”4 By late May, 100,000 U.S. residents were dead from COVID. On October 1, after mocking presidential candidate Joe Biden for wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, President Trump announced that both he and his wife had tested positive for COVID. Responding to the protests and counter protests, Trump called the protesters thugs, demanded that toppled Confederate statues be restored, shared doctored images of black people attacking white people, and accused former President Barack Obama of “treason.” 5 He refused repeatedly to condemn white supremacist groups, blamed 4 Tamara Keith, April 21, 2020. “Timeline: What Trump Has Said And Done About The Coronavirus”. NPR, accessed on October 3 2020 at https://www.npr.org/2020/04/21/837348551/timeline-what-trump-has-said- and-done-about-the- coronavirushttps://www.npr.org/2020/04/21/837348551/timeline-what-trump- has-said-and-done-about-the-coronavirus 5 Christina Wilkie, June 25, 2020, “Trump cranks up attacks on the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice.” CNBC, accessed on October 3 2020 at https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/25/trump-attacks-black-lives-matter-racial- justice-movement.html Dewey Studies Vol 4 · No 1 · 2020 Leonard J. Waks 4 violent outbursts on Black Lives Matter, and designated the anti- fascist movement Antifa a “terrorist organization,” 6 cementing his role as Crisis Provocateur in Chief. Pragmatism and Creative Democracy Pragmatism, among prevailing philosophical persuasions, is uniquely equipped to respond to crisis. For John Dewey, the Twin Crisis is a paradigm modern philosophical problem. Writing on his 80th birthday, while the nation was still plunged in the great depression, he stated that the problems of the day are “ found in the waste of grown men and women who are without the chance to work, and in the young men and young women who find doors closed.” He said we would have to re-create democracy for our times “by deliberate and determined endeavor.” 7 He added that the “powerful enemies of democracy can be successfully met only by the creation