2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: White progressive analysis of politics is fundamentally broken. [View all]Garrett78
(10,721 posts)"As long as a super majority of White people vote against cultural and racial inclusion and tolerance, it won't matter what economic appeals we make, because their understanding of economics is framed through that visceral hatred of inclusion and tolerance."
"Make America great again" and "Take our country back" are examples of dog whistling. So is the "white working class" narrative.
If "progressives" can't even recognize the primacy of racism and keep propping up this "working class whites/economic messaging" dog whistle, we won't bring about the unity necessary to change the economic structure of society. That's the irony of suggesting we should dismiss the role racism plays.
Now, does that mean we scold people for being racist, demand that they stop being bigots and think all will be well? Of course not. But we have to recognize the role racism has played in enabling the very economic conditions that we decry. Recognize and address. Strategically diminishing racism is key to changing the economic structure of society. It's the key to sustainable progress. If we fail to acknowledge and address racism as a root cause, we'll just keep swinging back and forth on the pendulum of power.
I think Reverend Barber, NAACP President in North Carolina, is probably on the right track. And there are organizations like one I'm a part of that are working on building a multiracial alliance through recognition of the role racism has played in our nation's history.