Rollingstone's Jamil Smith: Dems need an antiracist nominee to go up against Trump

[pnwmom]

and Biden isn't up to the task.


https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/drop-out-joe-biden-democratic-primary-884047/

Democrats need an antiracist nominee against a racist like Donald Trump. The third debate confirmed that the former vice president isn’t up to the task.

SNIP

Donald Trump is not merely a bully, but a racist one. Bigotry has been the marrow of his presidency, so whoever hopes to face him next year will need to at least be fluent in the language of antiracism, if not be practicing it. It is not enough, as author Ibram X. Kendi writes in his new book How to Be an Antiracist, to simply claim that you are “not a racist.” Democrats, particularly white liberals, have skated on that for generations. There is too much institutional cruelty for the next president to undo should a Democrat defeat Trump next fall.

SNIP

However, Davis later directed a question at Biden concerning his alarming 1975 comments on school segregation. She read the full quote, “I don’t feel responsible for the sins of my father and grandfather, I feel responsible for what the situation is today, for the sins of my own generation, and I’ll be damned if I feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago,” and Biden smirked oddly as she did so. The correspondent followed up by asking, “What responsibility do you think that Americans need to take to repair the legacy of slavery in our country?” Without missing a beat, the Democratic front-runner delivered a response that was considerably more disqualifying than anything Castro said all night.

SNIP

I should mention that there is a c): Biden never truly gave Davis’ question any serious consideration. Whether or not white political candidates like Biden consider repairing slavery’s legacy to be a more abstract and amorphous notion than protecting Obamacare or ending Trump’s policies of migrant persecution, it is at the very heart of the fight to end systemic racism and white supremacy. Metastasizing both have been top agenda items for the Trump administration. Yet the top contender appears not to have even the vocabulary to engage in an antiracist conversation, let alone combat Trump’s agenda properly. He chose to use that stage to proselytize about record players in the homes of poor families of color who need the teachers to raise their kids for them. Who chooses to do that in a party that needs black voters to win?

[Mr.Bill]

1. Another reason for him

to pick Harris as his VP. She'll know how to handle Trump's racism.

[Skittles]

5. or maybe SHE should be president

[Mr.Bill]

7. That would work also. n/t

[DesertRat]

8. +1

[pnwmom]

11. +1. n/t

[Garrett78]

14. She should be. We need contrast. Younger, Black, Female.

As I've said before, a Harris-O'Rourke ticket would produce record Democratic turnout. Arizona and Georgia would likely go blue, and Trump would be forced to spend big money in Texas.

This notion that we need an old white male to defeat an old white male has always been nonsense, and it's based on a false narrative about what happened in 2016 and why. And there are reasons why Biden never came close to winning the nomination in his previous attempts.

[Docreed2003]

30. I think that would be an incredible ticket

[Hortensis]

36. Otoh, Garrett, @10% of GA's black males who voted for Obama

refused to vote for a black woman to be GA's governor. Thought I'd toss that in, because to me this racist, ageist thread using a woman candidate as an argument for Biden's unelectability just begs for a little discussion of the "shadow" of that elephant in the room.

So examining the bigotry that's always a factor, could it be that Harris would be just too much "contrast" for some black men AND men of other colors, a little commonality bringing them disastrously together? If we've already forgotten all those white male Democrats who OD'd on too much equality and voted for Trump, let's go ahead and remember them now.

And somehow I don't think giving Harris a white male running mate would really offset the disadvantage of her contrast with bigoted voters of any color, not our fine white working men or those of any color who could prefer a white male criminal like Brian Kemp as governor to voting for...contrast.

Oh, and young people may make noise about wanting younger candidates, but funny how many still can't bother to vote on election day. A function of age. Have to remember that when talking about turnout. Sanders' demographics, for instance, are heavy on noisy no-show types.

Just some things to consider when using a black woman as an argument against an "old white male." Who knows, in the end she might turn out to be more electable than Biden, but I'm guessing not for any reason pushed here. It would be because she inspired positive reasons to believe in and vote for her, not because she triggered less mean-spirited opposition than her opponent.

[JI7]

39. more white women voted against Stacey Abrams than white men

[Hortensis]

40. Yes. Female misogyny is huge, and I certainly thought of it,

but I was already introducing complexity to a simple theme. Didn't want to overdo it.

[pangaia]

54. Why would AZ and GA go blue?

(Jeeze, I typed glue and caught it!)

[True_Blue]

23. +1000

[PunkinPi]

24. +1

[Hortensis]

32. :) Harris would slice and dice Jamil Smith if he continued

with this stuff against whoever's our eventual nominee (not saying he would). After all, beating off attacks, while the candidate stays above the fray, speaking to ideals and goals, is the running mate's job, and she'd be quite good at it.

[Owl]

47. +1

[JI7]

2. Beto O'Rourke may be the only one that can beat Biden

[UniteFightBack]

3. The more they do this the more Biden's support will harden. nt

[Thekaspervote]

9. Indeed!! All the nasty comments and snipes do not win over voters

But...seems they didn’t get the text

[Tipperary]

12. I disagree. Biden was my pick until recently.

Last night reinforced what I was already thinking. I am not yet sure whom I will be backing, but I think Biden is having some real difficulties. I dislike his thinking that black families “don’t know how to help” their own children. The record player comment was puzzling too.

[Blue_true]

16. He didn't say that Black families don't know how to help their children.

But what certainly does seem true is that a good percentage of Black families have issue directing the education of their children. That dynamic is changing as Black families get better opportunities for jobs and college level educations, but there is still a large gap that segregation, and after that ended, institutional racism produced. The crux is how do we most efficiently close that gap. Even as he hashed it up pretty bad, Biden provided an achievable plan for closing that gap.

[Tipperary]

17. His plan is for teachers to come into homes?

And tell people how to raise their children? And ensure they have record players? Did you go to the link and read the entire piece?

[Blue_true]

21. No and you should know that he did not say that.

I do think that having social workers come into the homes of poor families and have discussions on issues like study habits and getting tutoring for children will help close the attainment gap between Black and White students.

One of the unfortunate realities, and I pointed that out in another post, is that low income housing has ghettorized Blacks. The ghettorization can be taken advantage of to centralize services like advice from social workers and help with homework and understanding of subjects from tutors.

[janterry]

28. As a social worker who has gone into homes

I found the comment marginally racist and clearly paternalistic.

The whole of it was very upsetting and out of touch. Kamala Harris said some great things about education in African American communities - as did Corey Booker. Biden's comments were old school and tone deaf (imo)

[Blue_true]

37. How would you go about it? You have a good vantage point on the issues. nt

[StarfishSaver]

43. The attainment gap isn't caused by a lack of social workers and bad parenting

That assumption feeds into an ugly stereotype about black families.

The attainment gap is triggered by external racism, which created some of the conditions that leads to the need for social intervention, not the other way around. Arguing that the answer to this problem that created the need for more social workers is more social workers misses the point and is insulting to black parents, who are no less caring or knowledgeable about child-rearing than their white counterparts.

Yes, parental involvement helps all children. It's not the answer to racial disparities. Claiming that the attainment gap can be addressed by having social workers educate black parents about good study habits and getting tutoring is like saying that we can reduce discrimination against women in the workplace by talking to them about how to work more efficiently. Yes, being more efficient at work improves any employee's chance of success, but it doesn't address the gender discrimination that women face that disadvantages us regardless how efficient we are.

And trust me - if the attainment gap were reversed and it were white children falling behind, NO ONE would claim that the solution is tutoring and more social workers to talk to their parents about study habits. They would immediately conclude that the white children's lack of success demonstrated the ENTIRE SYSTEM was effed up and they would dismantle it and start over eliminate the cause of the disparity.

[Blue_true]

45. You make good points, but the problem has to be attacked.

Anyone who has spent any time at all reading my posts on work discrimination should know that my solution there is to cut the balls off those caught discriminating, and put in real and robust systems to catch them, and make amends to those discriminated against - with more pay and promotions.

But the fact is that not enough of some groups are getting into position for well paying jobs. We can keep talking about how discrimination caused that, or we can say there is a problem, we need to insure that students are prepared AND stomp the shit out of anyone that discriminates, unfortunately due to our national history, both of those must be executed simultaneously.

[StarfishSaver]

48. I agree

We need to insure that students are prepared AND stomp the shit out of anyone that discriminates, unfortunately due to our national history, both of those must be executed simultaneously.

That's what Biden should have said (maybe without the cursing).

Instead, he fell back on the right wing trope of blaming the problem on black families without calling for a dismantling of the racism you describe (or even mentioning it at all).

[Blue_true]

49. I think he means to get the right thing done, it is just how he says it.

Yes, I have a problem with cussing online (interestingly, not in the flesh). I need to have my phone's mouth washed out with soap .

[StarfishSaver]

50. I hear you, but think you're going out of your way to cut him slack

Biden is a veteran politician who wants to be president of the United States. He can't expect to always rely on people trying to divine what he meant to say, especially when he keeps saying things that are so tone-deaf and insulting. I can't think of any other candidate who would be given such a pass. He needs to do better.

I don't mind the cursing - I just don't think Biden should do it on the debate stage.

[Blue_true]

52. I don't disagree with you on Biden. I think he is a good man, but need advisors

that force him to hash out what he wants to say so that rhetorical red flags get caught.

[StarfishSaver]

53. At this stage of his career, should he really need advisors to help him communicate?

[Blue_true]

55. Him? Yes. He has a foot in the mouth history. nt

[StarfishSaver]

56. As I said, he gets cut a lot of slack that most other candidates aren't given

Especially female and minority candidates would never be give a pass like this.

[Blue_true]

57. You are right. But life often isn't fair.

My belief is that he will not win the nomination and Elizabeth Warren will become our next President. She is being steady and only has to clean up putting out detailed financials on her plans (though, her numbers are not likely to be Bernie type outliers).

[BlueWI]

58. Or perhaps we could support a candidate that doesn't need advisors to address racial issues

in a debate without reinforcing stereotypes.

There are several candidates who would meet this standard - most of them, in fact.

[Blue_true]

67. Valid point. nt

[still_one]

31. It is interesting that some want to simplify this as an either or issue, for political convenience I

would aruge, when in fact the issue is far more complex, and involves not only the rights of parents, children, and society.

Isn't this one of the arguments to justify busing, moving a child into a better learning environment?

To imply that environment and home life does not mold someone growing up, I believe ignores much

The answer is not so easy or simple though, because it infringes on the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit.

For example, a child brought up in a family which advocates the views of racism and bigotry, how will that child turn out?

It is not that far different than those who say, no one can tell me whether my kid can be vaccinated or not. While it can be argued legitimately, that this represents a public health hazard that affects the well-being of everyone, the environment a child is brought up in will also have an impact on society.

"No one tells me how I am going to raise my child"

At what point, if ever, should society intervene?

That is easy to determine if the child is provided with drugs or other concrete things that endanger that child, but that can't be done in cases with parents who don't involve themselves in what their children are doing, because it infringes on our freedoms.

[Blue_true]

38. One of the cruelest acts of Nature, IMO, is that some individuals are literal baby

factories, while some that would be far superior parents in every category can't produce children at all.

The question that we have to ask is how long are we going to have schools being affected by disruptive kids whose parents don't care or don't know how to make them achieving students? How much longer are we going to tolerate kids coming to school in dirty clothes and not properly bathed? Those are not issues of poverty, they are issues of parents not giving enough of a shit to make a small effort to put their kids into a more competitive position in school.

[still_one]

41. It is a complex and difficult issue, and I am skeptical if people really want to have an honest

discussion on it, because it brings up some uncomfortable realities

[Blue_true]

42. It sure does bring up some thorny issues.

And you are right, some simply do not want to discuss those issues in a mature and constructive way.

[loyalsister]

6. Unfortunately the title is such a turn off that a lot of people miss out on a valuable piece

Not nearly enough liberals understand the importance of going beyond not being racist in this moment. We have candidates who do get it and are being overshadowed by the all knowing party elder.

[Tipperary]

15. I just read the entire piece.

This is a very good read. I agree with everything written.

[loyalsister]

19. It really deserved a better title

It was about so much more than one candidate.

[Tipperary]

20. Yes, good point.

But the author is correct; Biden seems not to be up to it.

[loyalsister]

22. Agreed

I knew he couldn't defend his record and call himself anti-racist. I had hoped he would make a sincere effort, but he's not even trying. He seems to really want to embrace the thoughtless "not a racist bone in my body" mantle.

[Kurt V.]

26. +1

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. K&R.

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. Blunt, direct and honest op-ed

Better to have this painful conversation now, rather than after the voting starts.

[betsuni]

18. At first I thought this was: Dems need an antichrist nominee to go up against Trump

[JI7]

25. i would easily vote for the anti christ

[Loki Liesmith]

27. Meh

[Owl]

46. +1

[Kahuna7]

60. I never liked him. I never cared what he said or thought.....

If anybody wants to come at me about how he's a DU favorite, save your breath. I'm not into group think.

[still_one]

29. This conversation does not just apply to one demographic, it applies to all, and to imply that

Last edited Sat Sep 14, 2019, 09:36 AM - Edit history (1)

environment and home life does not mold someone growing up, I believe ignores much

The answer is not so easy though, because it infringes on the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit.

For example, a child brought up in a family which advocates the views of racism and bigotry, how will that child turn out?

It is not that far different than those who say, no one can tell me whether my kid can be vaccinated or not. While it can be argued legitimately, that this represents a public health hazard that affects the well-being of everyone, the environment a child is brought up in will also have an impact on society.

"No one tells me how I am going to raise my child"

At what point, if ever, should society intervene?

That is easy to determine if the child is provided with drugs or other concrete things that endanger that child, but that can't be done in cases with parents who don't involve themselves in what their children are doing, because it infringes on our freedoms.

That is why things like the school lunch programs, big brothers, head start, etc. are so important to try to address those deficiencies.

This is not the first time this issue has been brought up. This discussion has been going on for some time.

It is related to the reparation issue.

It is related to the busing issue. To try to move students into a better environment where they can be in a better learning environment.

This is not simply a binary issue, it is far more complex, and involves individual rights, parents rights, and societies responsibilities, and I would argue those who want to simplify it to absolutisms, that if you go one way you are a racist, and if you go another way you are not, I believe are ignoring the compmlexities of the entire issue

[StarfishSaver]

44. If white children were falling far behind black children, no one would be arguing that remedial

efforts like social workers and school lunches were the solution. They'd dismantle the whole system and fix it.

But when it comes to black children, we keep hearing that we need to give them "extra help" but not do anything about the system that consistently leaves them behind.

Black children don't need social workers and tutors. They need a system that allows them to succeed WITHOUT the intervention of social workers and tutors.

[bullwinkle428]

33. Joy Reid talking about this right now.

[Garrett78]

34. Jamil published a pre-debate article that's also worth reading.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/joe-biden-black-support-pastor-primary-883552/

[Baclava]

35. Why not use the actual article title... "Why its time for Joe to go"

Rollingstone and its youth vote is a no go for Joe?

"He should end his campaign"

wow

[EveHammond13]

51. which Democrat ISN'T anti-racist?????

[treestar]

59. Exactly, what the hell is that sentence supposed to mean?

Absurdity. They know the Black vote is crucial, and that Biden polls best. So they think they can win by convincing black voters not to vote for Biden? By using strained interpretations of anything he does or says?

It just proves they can't win. They don't have enough to offer, so they have to try to cut down someone else. If only he'd drop out! If only the black voters would turn on him! That's all they've got for their candidate - says something about that candidate.

Hillary didn't win the swing states and the lesson was supposed to be that it was not enough to run on how horrible The Orange Idiot is. We can't have a nominee who is merely Not Someone Worse.

[Kahuna7]

61. Exactly. If their candidates had anything of substance to offer...

they wouldn't be so stressed out about Biden.

[pnwmom]

63. Maybe the one who bragged about how he worked "across the aisle"

with one of the biggest racists in the Senate in order to pass anti-busing-for-desegragation legislation?

[EveHammond13]

64. christ.

[loyalsister]

66. Lots of them actually

Unless they are talking about the school to prison pipeline, and how it is perpetuated by stereotypes like those that inform Biden's remarks about inadequate parenting and the way infant and maternal mortality rates that correspond with the decimated social service supports.
Or the fact that white people still benefit from the institution of slavery, because the version capitalism that is in place relies on subjugation of poor people who are disproportionally black. It was given a large boost with the welfare reform of the 90s which served to provide a workforce of desperate laborers. No one who will defend that or the criminal justice legislation from that period can legitimately say they are doing anti racist work. That double punch was devastating to many families who were then blamed for any resulting difficulties imposed by an expansion of institutional racism.
It's not enough to not be racist anymore. It's not enough to like Obama, or to have supported civil rights. Anti-racist work begins with a rejection of white privilege/supremacy and working to dismantle the system that continues to support it. Joe needs to catch up with how the way thinking about race has changed. The racist sociological research that solidified the assumption of whiteness as the superior norm has been discredited. It has been internalized and translated into stereotypes of inferior parenting as opposed to recognition of policies and a system that refuses to support parents and families who are exploited and operating at a disadvantage in a system of capitalism that was built on slavery. While white people are also exploited, we benefit from the stereotypes that paint us as poor working class people trying to get ahead rather than women who are intrinsically and morally flawed oversexed, lazy, baby machines and men who are oversexed, lazy, deadbeat criminals.
Too many "not racist" people still embrace the stereotypes, believe there is some truth behind them, or know better and still refuse to challenge them when they hear it. I hear and see it among liberal people frequently. If someone is sincerely ready to do anti-racist work, rather than accepting the white supremacist norm, it begins with admitting to being a racist. Robin DiAngelo's book on white fragility is a start. In Dear White People, Tim Wise did a good job of deconstructing the "research" and assumptions which inform various stereotypes that have been used to oppress Blacks and Latinos for centuries.

[Gothmog]

62. Joe gave a great speech today on racism

Today Joe gave a truly great speech

[peggysue2]

65. Yes, he did!

Calling for the continuation of the fight for what we know is right and true, a blistering condemnation of hate and racism and bigotry while underscoring the message that we are involved in a fight for the soul of the country. Hate never truly goes away, Biden said. Hate hides under rocks, in dark corners. Hate is never truly vanquished but it can be subdued and diminished.

It was delivered with passion. It was delivered from Joe Biden's heart. The congregation responded in kind.

Good one on Joe!