Franciska A. Coleman, Multiracial, Interclass Democracy, 55 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1159 (2025).
Abstract
It has long been taken for granted that our current Constitution can meet the needs of a multiracial democracy with just a few tweaks and amendments. Yet, what many scholars and politicians want when they invoke multiracial democracy is a democracy in which political responsiveness to constituents is not limited by race nor by class. That is, no one seems to merely want more racial diversity among the political elites—arguably, we already have that. What people often want when they say multiracial democracy is the inclusion of those left behind and left out—a democracy in which individuals have the ability to collaborate with other members of society on fair and equal terms and with equal capacity for influence—to establish laws and norms and secure consideration of their interests regardless of the racial group or social class to which they belong. I call this a multiracial, interclass democracy.
This Article makes two primary contributions. First, it introduces the concept of multiracial, interclass democracy and identifies its prerequisites. Second, it demonstrates the need for a multiracial, interclass democracy by unpacking the limitations inherent in liberal democracy’s jurocentric approach to racial equality. This Article is not intended to provide a full articulation of the concept of multiracial interclass democracy, as that will be done in a subsequent paper. Instead, this Article is designed to highlight the need for multiracial, interclass democracy by underscoring the limitations of the Reconstruction Amendments and the jurocentricity of the current liberal democracy paradigm. These efforts failed to secure their aim of racial equality and thus cannot be expected to achieve the more substantial goal of multiracial, interclass democracy. A radically new paradigm is needed.
