Hate it when people try to make everything about economic inequality as if racial divisions don’t exist within each economic class
A white person in the working class does not experience the same things as a black person in the working class
The “white working class” doesn’t have it as bad as communities of color, and statistically African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans have higher rates of poverty anyway
Also, being poor and/or uneducated IS NOT and will never be an acceptable excuse for racism. Understanding and realizing that Black lives matter is not some higher form of enlightenment that you reach when you “know more.” It’s a matter of basic human decency.
Even if you’re in the working class, you should still be expected to treat other human beings with basic respect.
I shouldn’t have to be saying this, but there have been so many thinkpieces and philosophical arguments being published lately which blame “economic anxiety” for xenophobia.
Improving the economy won’t stop racism. There is still racism within the criminal justice system. Black and Latino men are incarcerated for drug use at higher rates (relative to their portion of the population) than white men are, even though white, Black, and Latino people use drugs at the same rate. There is still implicit, unconscious bias in hiring.
Poverty is not an excuse for racism, and politicians should focus less on trying to “compromise with” the white working class and more on trying to solve both racial and economic problems, even if fighting for racial justice does alienate those rural voters.
Finding solutions to issues of racial justice - rather than disregarding those valid concerns for fear of “thinking too much about identity politics” - is both the empathetic AND the pragmatic strategy for Democrats. From an ethical standpoint, it’s important to address police brutality, prison reform, and the racial wage gap, because these issues affect innocent people.
And from a practical perspective, America is becoming more diverse each year. The percentage of minorities, especially Asian Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans, living in this country is rapidly increasing. If Democrats focus so much on trying to court the white working class vote, they aren’t going to win. They shouldn’t try so hard to win back voters who have already been slowly drifting away from them.
Instead, they (we) should listen to the concerns of people of color and give them a voice in our party's platform. *mic drop*
