A speechwriting technique known as the American Jeremiad has become popular in the political speeches of new conservative cross-racial alliances, according to Nancy Wadsworth, a DU professor discussing her research last Thursday.
Wadsworth, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, shared her recent research about the intersections of race and religion in American politics. The talk was given as a part of the DU Humanities Institute’s Faculty Lecture Series.
Multi-racial groups have formed around shared conservative religious beliefs and created political alliances, Wadsworth said her research showed. A major tool these groups use to promote their political attitudes is the American Jeremiad, she said. This is a method of speechwriting that aims to unify a group through a negative focus on the lack of social ideals in the modern world. These sermons generally begin with a focus on a sacred text, lament the community’s sins and then call for change in order to influence the audience.
Wadsworth specifically analyzed the use of these methods in speeches of several proponents of traditional marriage, including Colorado’s James Dobson. Dobson is the chairman of the board of a nonprofit organization called Focus on the Family that was founded in 1977. The organization is affiliated with the American evangelical church and is centered on protecting family values.
Dobson also founded the Family Research Council in 1981 as the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family. The FRC publicly promotes religious values as the basis for political action and utilizes the American Jeremiad in its work.
In spite of the influential power of the American Jeremiad, Wadsworth said the multiracial alliances are utilizing this rhetoric specifically against the legalization of same-sex marriage. However, the racial differences among these groups can cause internal controversy that may dilute the impact of their stand against same-sex marriage, Wadsworth said.
“These groups don’t have the tools to navigate their differences beyond the short term,” Wadsworth predicted.
The American Jeremiad, however, has been an influential tool in helping these groups to insert their views in the discourse of U.S. politics.
“I think we don’t understand how powerful this rhetoric is,” Wadsworth said.
Her research used critical analysis of such issues as the political affiliation of certain racial groups and their religious identification. She has extensively utilized the American Religious Identification Survey, investigated by professors Barry A. Kosmin and Egon Mayer in 2001 at the City University of New York’s Graduate School.
Additionally, Wadsworth has analyzed the speeches of political leaders, who have used or currently utilize the American Jeremiad, to better understand the technique.
She is currently revising a book based on her research about race and religion titled Ambivalent Miracles: Evangelical Racial Reconciliation Efforts in American Political Culture.
