Clifton Roberts’ “A Passionately Compassionate Nation”: Prophesying Multispecies Justice Through the American Jeremiad
Abstract
In 2015, Humane Party presidential candidate Clifton Roberts delivered “A Passionately Compassionate Nation.” This article argues that Roberts’ nomination acceptance address takes the form of an American jeremiad, a speech affirming a founding national covenant, diagnosing its breach, and urging its restoration. Yet Roberts creatively retools the jeremiad’s tripartite structure in light of the ideology of intersectional abolitionist veganism to promote multispecies justice. This finding augments scholarly knowledge of the jeremiad’s reach, function, and evolution. It illustrates the genre’s uptake in minor-party politics; displays its utility for systemic critique; and exemplifies a novel fusion of the African American and environmental jeremiads.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Race
Genetics
and Society
Religion
Ecology
and Ethics
Geographies of human-animal interactions
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Western Journal of Communication
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 539–560
- Publication date
- 23 January 2026
- Language
- EN