THREAD... Joe Rogan. I think it’s fine to accept the endorsement even as I disagree w highlighting him in an ad. Rogan has built much of his career by appealing to racism, sexism, trans and homo phobias among others. This contradicts Sanders appeals for solidarity rooted in the
2/ slogan “us not me”. Solidarity can’t be built on a faulty unity that assumes some of our acceptance of the repugnant ideas that continue to keep us divided. And receiving Rogan‘s endorsement w/o publicly challenging his backward politics is effectively to accept those ideas
3/ if we are really building a movement and not just a campaign then we have to challenge *all* instances of bigotry and bullying. This is not about moral posturing. Rather, anti-oppression politics are not just principally right, but they are the only foundation upon which
4/ an effective mass movement can be organized and built. Black and Brown people, Muslims, trans folx, women, immigrants will not downplay our struggles to accommodate anyone.
5/ it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t engage those with whom we have deep disagreements; we should concede no audience. We can fight for everyone but it must be on *our* terms—against racism, sexism, xenophobia etc.
6/ building a movement also means trying to politically influence those we aim to include, to win them to seeing the world differently. You can’t do that by pretending there’s not a problem in the first place. Stop denying Rogan’s bad politics, instead challenge them.
7/ Solidarity is hard. It usually requires struggle, the struggle to pick up someone else’s burden as your own; to see someone’s suffering as your own. That’s part of what it will take to win the world we want, not just an election.
8/ finally, to all the self righteous critics who never liked Sanders, yr critiques ring hollow when most of you have always made excuses for mainstream Dems that have championed war, repression, & anti-black racism. From Hillary to Obama, now’s not the time for yr tears
