If people of color broadly and African Americans specifically are going to live in this country as full and equal citizens, racism just has to stop being a central force in electoral politics. How do we achieve that?
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The people that some folks say give race too much mystical power think we’re not going to do it until we name and uproot white supremacy (or more simply “whiteness”—not white people, but whiteness). Anything less is, to them, an ineffectual half-measure.
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On the other extreme is a large, ideologically diverse and mostly-white group that essentially says, “shrug, just beat the party of racial resentment in enough elections and they’ll straighten up.” They disagree on how to win those elections, but agree on the basic premise.
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There’s another group that sometimes overlaps with the previous, saying “if white folks suffer less, they’ll be more generous towards non-whites!” And another that says “just be more polite and warm and universal in how you talk about your grievances, they’ll be more receptive.”
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The former is, I suppose, less laughable than the latter, but also falls firmly into the “we’ve trIed that before, why will this time be different?” camp.
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As always I don’t think any faction holds the total truth. But I will say that my first allegiance is to whatever faction is bold enough to run politicians who can openly declare that an end to the centrality of racism to American politics is necessary for justice to come.
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Also yes, I imagine an end to the centrality of racism in politics would eventually also mean an end to the centrality of race in politics. But I promise you the racism has to go before race does.
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End of conversation
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