Second, and even more significant, is the caution never to compromise on equality and inclusion. To a significant degree, segregationism and white nationalism—undergirded by scientific racism—pervaded the thinking of many Progressives, and limited their understanding of which of the downtrodden deserved to be championed, and just who belonged in a widening circle of “we.” The Progressive Era coincided with the rise of Jim Crow; Woodrow Wilson was one of the most openly racist presidents ever to occupy the White House; and much of FDR’s New Deal ultimately discriminated against people of color
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