Hey, Chandra, I I'm gonna read you a quote from Thomas Jefferson. Okay. Do we have to?

Just one more probably the last one

This is from a letter he wrote in 1789

Quote wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government

Was he right?

well, so basically what he's saying is

democracy is a good idea and

It's like a good way for society to govern itself as long as people get good information

Yeah, I mean, I would agree with that statement and

And yeah, I understand why you brought up Jefferson on that topic because you almost have to if you're considering the American context

But you know, he's not really the person that I would look to for guidance on democracy for lots of reasons

That we've covered in this season and previous ones. I hear you

TJ's pro-democracy credentials are

shaky overall

Yeah, you know, and I mean, I think we could probably both think of some people who've been more consistent

proponents of democracy and have thought more deeply about it

One great place to start actually is the research of Courtney Thompson who's written about black women struggles in democracy

But you know, I'm thinking about activists like Dorothy Height who pointed out that

One of Jefferson's legacies is that he kind of taught white people that full democracy only belongs to them

You know or the brilliant black feminist scholar Patricia Hill Collins who is basically pointed out that you know

When faced with struggles to make democracy live up to its promise

people in the political center

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