Race Against Time: Keith Boykin Talks His New Book and the State of Politics

Can Keith Boykin save America? Since his early days at Harvard law school, the former White House aide to President Bill Clinton knew his purpose was to disrupt a system that was never designed for marginalized communities. From the moment Keith ran after the Dean of Harvard law school at the time, hoping to get him to speak to those who attended a protest for diversity, the spark for Keith’s purpose was lit. Now the New York Times best-selling author is putting America’s turning point in center focus with his latest book, Race Against Time: The Politics Of A Darkening America.

Watching Boykin as a CNN political commentator, and knowing the work he has done up to this point, one would think he would have run for political office.

“I like the freedom I have to be able to talk about politics and not be bound by political parties or ideology. I am able to evolve how I want,” Boykin says. “I worked for many politicians and a President, that was enough to convince me that I didn’t want to do that. I do think electoral politics is a noble worthy profession, but it is not for me right now.”

Instead of holding any political office, Keith chose to take the route of activism, often challenging how we view and speak about politics. In law school, Boykin found himself helping to lead the “good fight.” He credits his early days as a journalist as preparation for the trajectory that would have him speaking truth to power. “Even the most marginalized among us, we have power when we use our voices to stand up and speak up for truth,” Keith describes a lesson he learned in his early days of activism.

Going to three different high schools, Boykin was able to see people in a different light and experience different cultures. Throughout his life, he has lived everywhere from Little Rock Arkansas to Los Angeles to Miami to Washington, DC and the list goes on. Being exposed to many different walks of life, Keith learned that “we are pretty much all the same. A Lot of times when people talk about diversity in America they use this melting pot, that we all are supposed to blend in and be the same.” What comes to his mind is Rev. Jesse Jackson’s salad bowl analogy when it comes to celebrating each other. “You don't want everything to taste like lettuce.” Keith understands that what makes us special is “Our differences. Our differences can unite us if we learn to appreciate each other’s differences.”

Our differences should be celebrated but we are living in a time where division has led the US to be added to the annual list of “backsliding” democracies, for the first time. The International IDEA thinktank points to a “visible deterioration," which they said began in 2019 as the reason the US has been added to the list. The recent failure of our democracy is when Boykin knew that now was the time for his latest book. “Have you seen what is going on right now?” Boykin asks. From attacks on immigrants to the January 6th insurrection, America has witnessed what happens when division controls our government.

“The central reasoning that all of this is happening is because it is about Race,” Boykin explains. “Many white people are deathly afraid of the darkening of America. They see we had a Black man President. They see we have a Woman Vice President. They see we have marriage equality. They see the statistics that show that the white population will no longer be the majority by 2044,” he explains. “They are doing everything to stay in power on the micro and macro level.”

From the Ahmaud Arbery case to voting laws being threatened throughout the country, Keith sees this as a turning point in America. The tactics that are on full display by those who are afraid of change can make or break our democracy at this moment. And for those fighting for change, their voices are going unheard and it's frustrating. “I’ve never been one to give up. When things are bad, we are supposed to be more dedicated in fighting the good fight,” Keith says for those who may be losing hope. “We must rise to the challenge. We’ve had difficult points in our history, but at each point Black people did not give up.”

Boykin’s Race Against Time: The Politics Of A Darkening America is a timely reflection of America. Boykin says his book is about “how we got to 2020, about 2020, and where we go after.” As we continue on this turning point, Boykin says, “we have to listen to Black people."

Check out the full interview below.

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