We're Stuck With White People

[sheshe2]

In the weeks before the midterm elections, America was rocked by three separate acts of domestic terrorism. One, which took place in my hometown, was the deadliest act of anti-semitism in American history. Another was the biggest mass assassination attempt in American history. And then there was the killing of two black people in a grocery store in Kentucky—a hate crime that undoubtedly would have had an even larger death toll had the suspect been successful in attempting to enter a black church moments earlier.

Each of these terrorists are white men with politics aligned with the rhetoric and policies of the president, and at least two of them were directly influenced by the president and the president’s myriad satellites. Perhaps you can not blame Donald Trump for the evil committed by his most extreme supporters—you can and should, of course, but perhaps you can’t—but at the very least, you can say that his words and acts and status and position communicate a community to said extremists. They are, after all, very fine people, too.

And it’s because of this—well, this and 500 or so years worth of reasons too boundless and amorphous to list today—that I just can’t feel the optimism that I’ve been told I should feel about the Democrats winning back the House. Of course, I’m happy for all of the Ayanna Pressleys and Sharice Davids’ and the rest of the numerous firsts who’ll be representing us and fighting for us. For this I am thankful. For this I am grateful. Also, just because I don’t feel the optimism doesn’t mean I don’t see it. I do. It’s there. I can see, smell, and taste it, as much as you can see, smell, and taste something so intangible.

But I don’t feel it. Which means I don’t buy it. Which means I don’t believe it. Because what happened in Pittsburgh and in Kentucky and with the mail bombs should have torpedoed the entire Republican Party. It should have crashed Donald Trump’s entire foundation. It should have been a disaster for them, for Americans to be killed so close to an election by men merely following their leader, but it wasn’t. And if that didn’t convince the tens of millions of Americans who voted red last night -- knowing that a red vote is a vote for terror and hate -- to perhaps just reconsider, what would?

To be fair, I’m not devoid of optimism. The source of it exists in my home and in my family and in the people who’ve become my family and in God and in black people. (And by “black people” I mean “the black people who love and value black women and girls.”) But having political optimism, in America, means possessing an optimism that white people, collectively, will choose the rightest thing instead of the whitest thing. Which, these days, sounds less optimistic and more insane.


https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/were-stuck-with-white-people-1830284681


Yet still they vote for them.

[Blue_Tires]

1. k+r

Sadly, no matter how they performed in the races yesterday, we all know that the GOP will turn the crazy up another couple of notches and more people will die as a result...

[BeyondGeography]

2. Excellent

Depressing, because it’s true.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Truth hurts. K&R

[Tipperary]

4. And a black man committed the acts of arson

against Jewish places of worship. Lots of hate out there; whites don’t own hatred.

[sheshe2]

5. No, they don't own it...

However they are the leaders behind most domestic terrorism...and the President as the article states said of Charlottesville..."they are very fine people."

[Tipperary]

13. Yeah.

Sure you do. Gotcha too.

[sheshe2]

14. Whoa.

Tipperary
13. Yeah.

Sure you do.

Sure I do what?

Gotcha too.

What exactly do you "Got?"


I have to say your answer confuses me.

[still_one]

17. same here sheshe. I have no idea what that response to you meant.

[sheshe2]

19. Thank you, still_one.

I thought it was just me.

Perhaps they will explain.

[still_one]

20. I wouldn't count on it

[Hermit-The-Prog]

22. maybe a misplaced reply to EffieBlack's post #6?

It still wouldn't make a helluva lot of sense to me, but it shares a word with that post.

[sheshe2]

23. I just looked at the placement.

If so it was a miss by a mile.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

31. oh yeah? what about wrong-way Corrigan?

He was supposed to land in Long Beach and hit Ireland.

So there!

(Somewhere on the Internet there is a rabbit with a pancake on its head and that proves anything).

If I had a flounder right now, I'd wave it instead of sitting here scratching my head.

[sheshe2]

33. I can't best you on any if what you posted, HTP.

You win.

I will say it is a long way....

[Hermit-The-Prog]

39. omg

I remember seeing that exact 78 label when I was a kid! There was a shed on a neighbor's place that had a loose board. He was a little eccentric and rich, so I just knew some goodies were in there. I had to see. There was an old Victrola and boxes full of records -- waxy, thick, and heavy. That label stood out to me because I'd heard the tune in some old war movie. Put it on, cranked it a few times, put the big old heavy needle on and damn near jumped out of my skin! It was loud! Or seemed to be -- I was not invited into that shed. Maybe the old gentleman was a WWI vet. I did no damage but never went back.

Anyway, thanks for dredging that memory up.

As to the puzzling comment -- best I could figure out is it was a whataboutism on par with men being falsely accused of sexual harassment. Unfortunately, the numbers support the pessimism expressed in the article you posted. Domestic terrorism mostly comes in the form of radicalized white right-wingers and the current regime mostly depends on white voters. The fact that some of us old, white, males do not support the current regime does not change those other, depressing facts.

[sheshe2]

42. You are welcome for the memories.

And...

Domestic terrorism mostly comes in the form of radicalized white right-wingers and the current regime mostly depends on white voters. The fact that some of us old, white, males do not support the current regime does not change those other, depressing facts.

These are indeed the facts and you are correct it is not all white males old or young. You and I understand that. The poster does not.

PS. My grandmother had an old victrola. You are talking the hand crank one correct? We loved playing it as kids.

[EffieBlack]

6. Not only white people

Gotcha

[sheshe2]

8. Ummmhmmm

[brer cat]

9. :)

[superpatriotman]

7. The we better hone our message to those who aren't millionaires

But still vote like they are.

[sheshe2]

12. How do you hone a message to these people?

For example, I read here today that 73% of white women voted for a card carrying racist, DeSantis. He made no bones about it. He wore his white hood for the entire campaign. He said Gillum should stop monkeying around.

You can not reach these people, they wear their racism like a badge of honor . Wish it wasn’t true, yet it is.

[mcar]

25. 73% of white women voted for Kemp in GA

51% of white women voted for DeRacist.

Either way, it's a shameful number. Makes me embarrassed to be a white woman.

[sheshe2]

27. Thanks, mcar.

Read so much today and overwhelmed and tired after last night.

Thanks for the correction....and yes, the numbers are appalling since they are all attached to the pussy grabber in chief.

[mcar]

28. Both numbers are appalling

I hate how we women tend to eat our own. Stacy Abrams deserved better - especially against a crook like Kemp.

[LoverofDawgz]

30. And yet, 49 % did not.

Effectively equal. I just don't find threads like this helpful. It's campaigning FOR President Oink and the Repugs and I don't want to do that. After last night, it's clear as never before we have a real problem being framed out from large segments of voters for even considering us. It isn't all racism or Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida et al wouldn't have elected Obama TWICE. There's many reasons not the least of which is the GOP's well-oiled propaganda network, but that's the reality. When you're outgunned and outmanned you have to be smart, and tarring white people, religious people and other majority segments of the electorate - particularly given this is NOT a parliamentary system and to hold the Senate and government we MUST reach these segments again.

May not be popular food for thought by there it is.

PS - it's not white voters so much as OLD white voters. And why didn't Latinas turn out in the numbers they should have? There's reasons for this but you have to be ready to have an open mind.

My thoughts, do as you will with them. Back to lurking.

[58Sunliner]

40. Please get your facts accurate. It is not 73% of white women-

it is 73% of white women who voted which is a percentage of the total people who voted which in Florida was 51.3 % of eligible voters. In Georgia that number was approximately 57%. That is almost half the population of eligible voters who did not vote. So take your 57% and then do the math. Approximately half of the people were female and then do the math again adjusting approximately for race. What you will come up with is significantly smaller than your 73%-if it is accurate. Half of 57%=28.5% approx female voters (or just a little over half), who voted then separate that figure by race per approximate racial makeup. More white women statistically did not vote/or voted for Stacey than voted for Kemp. Same for Florida and the candidates in that race.
I get that any vote for these repubs is sick, but math matters. It gives us an accurate picture of what really happened during the vote, without, of course, fully understanding the impact of voter fraud etc..

[EffieBlack]

46. In other, fewer words, "not all white women"

Gotcha.

[wellst0nev0ter]

47. Sooo most female whites did NOT vote for Stacy Abrams

Still not a good look for them.

[58Sunliner]

50. No they did not, but the majority did not vote for Kemp either.

Throwing around statements that are factually untrue gives a distorted sense of power to the people who vote for repubs. I think it is important to focus on those who did not vote and voter fraud/suppression. The rest are ill. I think it fosters a sense of overwhelming odds when we use those distortions in the media. It may be contributing to people staying home.

[treestar]

60. People who didn't vote don't count

They decide that for themselves.

[58Sunliner]

66. Ha ha ha.

[EffieBlack]

34. I echo Sheshe'e question

How do you "better hone our message" to these people?

[Eko]

10. Im sorry.

We suck for the most part. I'm part something else but you wouldn't know it if you knew my family. Bunch of stupid freaking racist dumb scared Trumpsters. Ridiculous.

[philly_bob]

11. Democrats have to reject the inflammatory racial rhetoric of sheshe2

It's okay for ROOT, but DU is aimed at building a broad-based coalition, and you don't build a broad-based winning coalition by disparaging 60% of the population.

[Wintryjade]

16. Oh my. I think I will be standing with, and speaking out with, sheshe.

The voted for a dead pimp.

[sheshe2]

54. Thanks.

[still_one]

18. When Hillary refferred to a good number of trump supporters as deplorable, who do you think she was

referring to?

[sheshe2]

21. Please link to where trumpers are 60% of the poulation.

The article was in fact clearly talking about trump voters.

[philly_bob]

52. The headline did not make that clear.

The headline read "white people", not "Trump voters."

Specifically, the headline "We're stuck with White People"

You don't see how that headline is offensive? Like, who's "We"?

Your writing is aimed at The Root audience, not the DU audience. You seem to be trying for a journalism career. Editors will tell you to use different approaches for different audiences.

[sheshe2]

53. Okay.

The headline did not make that clear.

It was the headline of the article. DU states we post the correct headline.

The headline read "white people", not "Trump voters."

Specifically, the headline "We're stuck with White People"

That is why we read past the headline to get at the 'root' of the article. Did you see the image posted? Trump and Pence, both white...sort of white. Trump is orange.

You don't see how that headline is offensive? Like, who's "We"?

Sigh. That is why I said you should continue past the headline and read.

Your writing is aimed at The Root audience, not the DU audience. You seem to be trying for a journalism career. Editors will tell you to use different approaches for different audiences.

The author is Damon Young. I am neither black or a man in fact I am not Damon Young. I am white and female.

[philly_bob]

64. I stand corrected. I thought you (sheshe2) was the author of the article /NT

[JonLP24]

57. I love The Root

We really NEED more black perspectives especially more than ever. I find the racist campaigns in Georgia and Florida offensive more than the words "white people".

I have seen this conversation way too many times at DU.

[LexVegas]

58. I am part of "we". nt

[mcar]

26. "inflammatory racial rhetoric"

You are calling out a fine DUer. How dare you?

[sheshe2]

55. Love and hugs.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

56. how dare you "How dare you"?

The poster you're questioning didn't resort to an ad hominem attack in calling on Democrats to "reject the inflammatory racial rhetoric of sheshe2". Your argument against that is simply an appeal to authority, which is logically fallacious.

I think the poster is wrong to consider the article worthy of rejection rather than consideration, but that opinion is independent of the (subjective) value of sheshe2 as a "DUer".

The poster expressed a legitimate concern about "disparaging 60% of the population" with that "inflammatory racial rhetoric". I think that's wrong for 2 reasons:

1. The article expresses pessimism about the collective choices of white voters, based on history both recent and long-term. This is not disparagement but rather assessment of a demographic;

2. The article is not racially inflammatory, but rather racially motivating. It seems more of a challenge to white people to provide reason for political optimism in the face of "the tens of millions of Americans who voted red". Why should that young black man be optimistic when Nazis and white supremacists were elected and re-elected while strutting their racism as a feature?

[mcar]

61. Poster didn't resort to an attack?

Asking DUers to "reject the inflammatory racial rhetoric of sheshe2" certainly is an attack on a good DUer.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

65. that's not a personal attack

If I call upon people to reject what you say, that's not the same as calling on them to reject you. Consider if I proclaimed, "Reject the inflammatory racist mcar!" That's getting personal. It's doubly offensive because it provides no history, no explanation, no justification for asserting that the target is racist.

The poster apparently considered the article in the OP to be "inflammatory racial rhetoric" and attributed the writing to sheshe2. Yet, the poster did not attack the person, only rejecting the rhetoric while calling for others to do likewise, and gave reasons for doing so.

Your response to the poster was not a personal attack, either (but it did rely on appeal to authority). I just felt that it was an unwarranted attempt to suppress discussion about disagreement, hence my reply to you. Seeing other points of view helps us examine our own.

[violetpastille]

32. Disparaging Republicans? What's the matter with that?

Any white people that didn't vote Republican don't need to feel inflamed by the OP.

Black women are the base and the backbone of the Democratic party.

We Democrats who are white need to do more listening and less telling.

[EffieBlack]

35. Oh, please

No one's disparaging "60% of the population."

But there is a significant part of the population that NEEDS to be disparaged - and they don't get a pass just because they are white females.

[MountCleaners]

59. I don't see what's so "inflammatory" about it

The article just states a depressing FACT - Trump emboldens white terrorists and gives comfort and encouragement to a racist base. And GOP voters are just fine with that. Nothing inflammatory about an article that just says black people have to live with that. I don't want a "broad-based coalition" with people who don't consider Trump's encouragement of racist attacks a priority. 70-some percent of white people supported these racist candidates. A depressing percentage of white people didn't consider that an important enough issue to vote. The rest of us have to LIVE with these people - people who decided they can live with HATE.

[McCamy Taylor]

15. We need to teach white men to stop being ashamed of their tears.

They kill because they hate themselves.

[Jamaal510]

24. K&R

[jcmaine72]

29. The facts are the facts.

White people are at the root of everything that is both currently wrong and has been historically wrong with our society. White people need to start taking responsibility for that and change their behavior accordingly. Many, of course, never will, which is why we still have a Republican Party in this nation, but that's the score.

[EffieBlack]

36. And too many white people - even supposedly progressive ones - are very quick

to go tribal and circle the wagons if they think their fellow white people are being criticized.

[SaschaHM]

38. Yet let a survey come out saying that African Americans aren't voting....

or are going Republican, and everyone at DU comes out to take a shot. We also know how "Identity Politics" gets bandied around when black voters don't swarm to one's preferred candidate.

"They deserve what they get" "Why don't they care about their well being"

[EffieBlack]

44. Ain't that the truth?

SMH

No, actually I don't shake my head any more since I'm no longer surprised ...

[Awsi Dooger]

37. Not sure why anybody follows day to day developments

That entire article was day to day stuff. Tragic but completely irrelevant toward how devotees view Donald Trump

Trump is a cult. How many day to day developments do you think it takes to make cult members question anything about him? I don't have an answer other than any estimate is too low.

[Docreed2003]

41. A good assessment sheshe

Thank you for sharing the hard truth, even when it's unpopular! (FYI, voted to save this thread earlier tonight...more eyes need to see it and hear the message)

[sheshe2]

43. Wow.

Sigh.

Thank you.

[Docreed2003]

45. No problem...

[NeverTrumpDemocrat]

48. Thought that sounded familiar. At least this time it would fit on a bumper sticker ----

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210852118

"This is the America White People Wished For. This is the America White People Want." is what you came up with before the midterms. Memorable, but I guess a little long for the DNC. This one you've come up with is nice and punchy though, would fit so well on a bumper sticker...



Please, please NEVER try to get into the campaign business!

[LexVegas]

49. ...

[sheshe2]

51. ...

[Bettie]

62. My husband and I were trying to figure out why

we were both so depressed even though we took the house and we came to a similar conclusion.

We know now beyond a doubt that we can not trust or respect most of the people around us. We live in Iowa and our county returns were just depressing, but this is where DH's job is, so we live here, since his job is here.

We can't trust or respect most of the people we're related to either.

Aside from the people we know are decent human beings, white people are the problem, particularly older white men, who think the universe owes them everything.

People talk about "white pride"...I feel "white shame", no matter who I vote for (and I'm pretty far left), I've got the millstone of knowing that it is my race that is fucking everything up.

And I can talk to most of them until I'm blue in the face, can present facts and well-reasoned arguments and they are so blinded that they refuse to even consider that there is be another way.

[Tom Rinaldo]

63. The headline is unfortunately accurate.

The almost mindless reflexive acceptance by most whites of racism against people of color is appalling. I know whites. I've spent a lifetime in their company because 1) there are so many of them and 2) I am white - and whites tend to live and hang with other whites (not so surprisingly).

When I say the headline is accurate I mean exactly that: We are stuck with white people. Given the mind set of most whites in regards to other races (among other things) I look forward to a day when whites can no longer hide behind their superior numbers (majority status) to dismiss the daily reality of non whites in America, and the world. But roughly 200 million white people (no I didn't google the actual number but you get my drift) aren't going to simple disappear.

I'm 69 and have come to believe that most human beings harbor some degree of at least latent "suspicions" about those who they in some way consider "other" to them. I think that reality crosses all racial, ethnic, religious, national, etc, lines. Those suspicions, that lack of intuitive comfort with folks who are not your own kith and kin, exist like a latent gene inside virtually all of us. By latent I mean that they may slumber like some virus in some back corner of our bodies not doing a whole lot to effect our behavior, until something triggers it into more overt activity. In the worst instance that virus becomes weaponized and holy hell breaks loose.

In some ways I think overall American society will be better served, much like our U.S. government, by robust checks and balances. By that I mean the lack of concentrated power dominated by members of a single (in our case white) race. Let me hasten to add that I am very open to considering the possibility that predominantly white culture, for whatever set of reasons at this point in human history, is more susceptible to the latent virus of racial animus than some other racial majorities might be, but there are still plenty of examples world wide that prove that no race is free of potentially lording it over others should they be dealt a winning local hand. A truly multi-cultural society with no one group overwhelmingly dominant provides for checks and balances. That is one reason why Democrats generally do better with white voters in urban, culturally diverse areas than they do with white voters in rural areas.

What can we do about racism right now though? I think the key lies with the term "latent". A latent virus is very difficult to totally eradicate but it causes far less harm in its latent state then it does if it is activated and "weaponized". Trump is exhibit A for how to weaponize racist tendencies within the white population of America. When prejudices remain for the most part latent they still do significant harm, but much like treating the AIDS epidemic, with concerted and effective management that virus can be held mostly at bay.

We can not elect a government dedicated to social justice without the votes of a significant number of whites. When racism reverts back to a more recessive gene mind set, then other concerns can motivate significant numbers of white voters to seek common cause in political coalitions with voters of other races. History provides ample evidence of that also. Changing society is a challenge that exists on many fronts. That which can be changed through political means is accomplished by creating coalitions that control a majority of the electorate at any given time, in any given jurisdiction. The Democratic Party is our vehicle for doing that. Goal one for us is to build and sustain a strong multi-racial coalition within the Democratic Party. I see encouraging signs that we are doing so.