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I want to talk about the conservative backlash to the 1619 Project as minority rule propaganda. /1
Before I dive in - if you haven't read any of the Project yet, it's an infinitely better use of your time than this thread. The authors are the experts. I'm just a guy on twitter talking about how some idiots reacted. /2
A few years ago I made the argument we've always been a (rich, white, male, straight, abled) minority rule country, disguised as a democracy. Our history is largely a struggle between minority rule and people who want to build a more genuine democracy. /3
dailykos.com/stories/2017/8…
dailykos.com/stories/2017/8…
Propaganda plays a central role in maintaining minority rule. And here, it's not just the justifications you see with open minority rule - "they deserved it/it's better this way". Here we’re bombarded with propaganda whose purpose is to deny minority rule even exists. /4
That combination lets privileged people feel simultaneously justified in our privilege and in denial of it. Two ways of not feeling guilty, one that says we deserve the spoils of inequality and one that lets us say we believe in equality. We can have our cake and eat it too. /5
In short, American minority rule propaganda says, above all, that minority rule doesn't exist. And it tells its beneficiaries, "you're superior, and you're part of a fair, egalitarian system".
It's a completely self-contradictory message. The cognitive dissonance is strong. /6
It's a completely self-contradictory message. The cognitive dissonance is strong. /6
One way people deal with cognitive dissonance is to avoid information that challenges it. It becomes imperative to suppress such information, not just because it would reveal minority rule but because it's unpleasant at the individual level for people who benefit. /7
The conservative backlash to the #1619Project fits perfectly with all of this. It's full of self-contradictions and cognitive dissonance, which they can't avoid because the contradictions are baked in.
Some prime examples:
/8
Some prime examples:
/8
A common theme in the criticism of the 1619 Project is "discussing what's wrong with our democracy is the real threat to democracy". Suppressing information that threatens to reveal minority rule and increase the discomfort from cognitive dissonance. /9
Then there are critics who present a binary choice between unquestioning faith in the myth of true democracy, and anarchy. There's an obvious 3rd option - reform. But if you need the myth, and you don't want reform, you ignore that obvious option. /10
As Adam Serwer points out, a lot of the #1619Project critics are upset by the promotion of a black perspective on what America's origin story and story arc really are. /11
In the backlash version, the civil rights movement was enabled by The Founders, supported by white people, and successful because its leaders weren't threatening. We were always a democracy, we just made it more perfect. And to do that, you must keep white people comfortable. /12
The text of most of this criticism boils down to "things are fair and good now, because of our history". The subtext is "YOU don't speak. WE speak." And often "You only have democracy because WE gave it to you from our advanced culture." /13
And that combination of "everything's basically fair" text and "2nd-class citizens should know their place" subtext is powerful. It's a drug to people who want to keep minority rule and don't want to feel a shred of guilt or judgment. /14
.@nhannahjones writes about the real patriotism of fighting to create a real democracy. It's how we honor our professed ideals with more than lip service. And that effort has been led by black people.
That's exactly why her critics are freaking out. /15
That's exactly why her critics are freaking out. /15
@nhannahjones The dirty little secret of these critics is they don't really think democracy is legitimate. They don't think it's legitimate to truly share power with people they see as Other. .@nhannahjones's premise is diametrically opposed to that. /16
Of course, they can't say this out loud these days.
But the feeling that real democracy, shared with Others, is illegitimate - that's the key to understanding today's GOP. It's what gives them such an appetite for voter suppression, birtherism and, since 2016, treason. /17
But the feeling that real democracy, shared with Others, is illegitimate - that's the key to understanding today's GOP. It's what gives them such an appetite for voter suppression, birtherism and, since 2016, treason. /17
"Discussing the lack of real democracy is the real threat to democracy" is also an example of how fitting it is to view the GOP through the lens of abuse. They're claiming the whistleblowers are really the instigators. /20
dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/defineDARV…
dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/defineDARV…
The #1619Project's critics are acting as the mouthpiece of an abusive political party and an abusive minority rule culture. /21
rantt.com/brett-kavanaug…
rantt.com/brett-kavanaug…
Here's an example. Calhoun was a precursor to today's pluto-Christo-fascist GOP. He gave a moral framework for the plantation era and the violent end of Reconstruction. And they're putting his bullshit on the descendants of slaves. DARVO. /22
Another example from a certain felon who's always going on about how, gasp, Dems were hardcore white supremacists a long time ago. It's an aggressively facile way to imply that's still the case. It’s gaslighting. /23
The GOP has been the pro-minority rule party since the Southern Strategy. So they've naturally led the backlash to the 1619 Project. But I don't want to let all the left off the hook. Privileged people on the left bring our biases, indifference and obliviousness with us. /24
So if you're privileged and you don't want to live in a minority rule country anymore, it helps to seek out information that makes you feel the cognitive dissonance acutely. And if a bunch of idiots tell you not to read the 1619 Project, you should probably read it. /end
