Blasting Reproach and All-Pervading Light: Frederick Douglass’s Aspirational American Exceptionalism

Memory politics in the future tense: Exceptionalism, race, and insurrection in America

“…Second, and more importantly for this article, Williams (2020) claims that only accomplished exceptionalism is "amnesic" (p. 373). Indeed, accomplished exceptionalism may be associated with narratives that deny or dismiss past or present social inequalities.…”

“…While much scholarship on American exceptionalism has focused on its concomitant foreign policy (Forsythe and McMahon, 2017;McCrisken, 2003;Pease, 2009;Restad, 2015;Saito, 2010), competing versions have differing effects at home-lending support to conflicting stances on immigration, for example (Smith, 2010). Most recently, these competing strands have been dubbed "accomplished" and "aspirational" (Williams, 2020). The former is "uncritical, backward-looking, and self-congratulatory," while the latter is "self-reflective, forward-looking, and ameliorative" (p. 370) with President Obama its most recent exemplary advocate.…”

“…In memorializing past events to fit a narrative of linear progress, liberal forms of exceptionalism have been criticized for silencing more radical potentials found in America's past and present struggles, potentials critics see as essential for any substantive move toward racial equality and justice (Fong, 2015;Pease, 2009; see also Calhoun, 2011). As such, instead of fostering uncomfortable discussion as Williams (2020) claims, the result is what Jackson (2021) calls a "palliative neglect" of the ongoing impacts of racism. That is, history is remembered in such a way so as to ease the discomfort of remembering and absolve society from the responsibility to act in the present.…”

“…There is debate as to whether he and other prominent Black public figures (e.g. Douglass, Du Bois) nevertheless espouse American exceptionalism (see Byers, 2001;Lewis, 2002;Williams, 2020).…”