I’m a pastor’s kid and I was raised to believe in Martin Luther King Jr.’s inspiring assertion that the arc of history may be long, but it bends towards justice. And, I was raised in a family that had to flee our country when Brazilian democracy collapsed into military dictatorship. So I know from bitter experience that democracies – however undemocratic they may be in practice – can and do fail.
Tarso Luís Ramos has been researching and challenging the U.S. Right Wing for nearly 30 years. He joined PRA as Research Director in 2006 and lead PRA as Executive Director from 2008-2024. At PRA, Tarso launched major initiatives on A form of oppression targeting Jews and those perceived to be Jewish, including bigoted speech, violent acts, and discriminatory policy. Learn more , An aggravated form of sexism that is a primary motivation for the Right, both as recruitment for and justification of its agenda. Learn more , A form of top-down political system that concentrates state power in the hands of a single leader and/or group of close allies. Learn more , A social movement based on a belief in biologically determined racial hierarchies, often with the ultimate goal of establishing an all-White nation state. Learn more , and other threats to democracy.
Ramos is a sought-after public speaker and his work has been featured in The Guardian, The New York Times, and Time Magazine, among other outlets. Before joining PRA in 2006, Ramos served as founding director of Western States Center’s racial justice program, and exposed and challenged corporate anti-environmental campaigns as director of the Wise Use Public Exposure Project.
