I've written before on here about the urgency of white supremacy.
Nowhere is it more blatant than in the way establishment Democrats frame elections, honestly.
Nowhere is it more blatant than in the way establishment Democrats frame elections, honestly.
Trump is absolutely an unprecedented emergency.
Politics, all of politics, is the art of negotiating unprecedented emergency.
Time and time again, we let ourselves get Shock Doctrined into ignoring our values/needs because of the horror of the emergency in front of it.
Politics, all of politics, is the art of negotiating unprecedented emergency.
Time and time again, we let ourselves get Shock Doctrined into ignoring our values/needs because of the horror of the emergency in front of it.
The fact is, we have always lived in a time of emergency.
For those of us that are white, it was an emergency in the distance, and emergency we could ignore.
Trump has made the emergency much harder to ignore, but it is not new.
It has always been there.
For those of us that are white, it was an emergency in the distance, and emergency we could ignore.
Trump has made the emergency much harder to ignore, but it is not new.
It has always been there.
This is an argument a whole lot of people make as a prelude to saying there's functionally no real choice between Biden and Trump, and that's not actually true.
Biden will let the fires recede back into the distance, back into the shadows of poverty and racism where they are safe for the more privileged to ignore again.
That's the "normal" he's promising to restore.
That's the "normal" he's promising to restore.
Trump will nuke the sites of those fires-- poor and POC and especially Black and immigrant community-- into oblivion.
White people won't be able to ignore it, and all but the most insulated will get radiation-poisoned.
White people won't be able to ignore it, and all but the most insulated will get radiation-poisoned.
Back during the primaries, people were like, "well, exactly, we should elect Bernie, he'll put the fires out."
I supported Bernie.
But Bernie wasn't going to put the fires out. He'd have dampened some of them, which would be a big improvement, but they'd still have been there.
I supported Bernie.
But Bernie wasn't going to put the fires out. He'd have dampened some of them, which would be a big improvement, but they'd still have been there.
Politicians, even good ones, don't save us.
We win shit on the ground, and we elect politicians we can force to shore up those victories.
At best, they follow direct action movement.
Not vice versa.
We win shit on the ground, and we elect politicians we can force to shore up those victories.
At best, they follow direct action movement.
Not vice versa.
Civil rights legislation followed and shored up the wins of the direct action of the civil rights movement.
Kennedy and Johnson weren't saviors.
If Bernie had won, he would have shored up the wins of the Occupy movement and more radical parts of Obama-era labor movement.
Kennedy and Johnson weren't saviors.
If Bernie had won, he would have shored up the wins of the Occupy movement and more radical parts of Obama-era labor movement.
One of the biggest mistakes actual liberatory movement organizers made during the 2020 primary was failing to speak up about the increasing racism and misogyny within the Bernie race.
I truly believe that failure to practice accountability is what cost us the nomination.
I truly believe that failure to practice accountability is what cost us the nomination.
We slept on the work of advancing liberation and focused on protecting Bernie.
We did that instead of holding and demanding space, respect, overt liberatory commitments for and to our women and POC (and especially Black) comrades.
We did that instead of holding and demanding space, respect, overt liberatory commitments for and to our women and POC (and especially Black) comrades.
We did it for the "right" reasons.
We slept on that shit because we thought Bernie would ultimately dampen the worst fires our comrades' communities faced.
We thought we knew better than they did.
We slept on that shit because we thought Bernie would ultimately dampen the worst fires our comrades' communities faced.
We thought we knew better than they did.
Not only did we fail to protect Bernie, we enabled the worst instincts of his campaign, his base, and frankly, his own political self.
We let them and him get away with reverting to a tired class reductionism, and that tired class reductionism ultimately cost him the nomination.
We let them and him get away with reverting to a tired class reductionism, and that tired class reductionism ultimately cost him the nomination.
And when I say "we," I don't just mean privileged liberatory organizers.
In a white supremacist society, it's all too easy for everyone to fall into the trap of false white supremacist urgency, even folks who are oppressed by white supremacy.
In a white supremacist society, it's all too easy for everyone to fall into the trap of false white supremacist urgency, even folks who are oppressed by white supremacy.
White liberatory organizers did have a special obligation to use our privilege to speak up, though.
Our dissent costs less and often gets heard more quickly than the dissent of the directly impacted.
We had impacted comrades who warned us.
We held back.
Our dissent costs less and often gets heard more quickly than the dissent of the directly impacted.
We had impacted comrades who warned us.
We held back.
When some of us did finally start to speak up-- admittedly too late in the game, for the most part-- we got hit big time with white supremacist false urgency stories.
We got told that in this emergency, speaking up and practicing internal accountability was akin to treason.
We got told that in this emergency, speaking up and practicing internal accountability was akin to treason.
I still get those accusations.
I still get accused of being a wrecker or an op for finally speaking up in the heat of the primary, for finally naming that dirtbag toxicity, misogyny, and racism was going to lose Bernie the nomination.
I still get told that was sabotage.
I still get accused of being a wrecker or an op for finally speaking up in the heat of the primary, for finally naming that dirtbag toxicity, misogyny, and racism was going to lose Bernie the nomination.
I still get told that was sabotage.
What I said then when people tried to use narratives of white supremacist urgency during the primary to silence critique of Bernie very much holds now as people try to use white supremacist urgency to silence critique of Biden.
There has always been an emergency at hand.
When we argue that we should drop issues of racism or other oppressions because of emergency, what we are really saying is we should drop those issues forever.
There will never *not* be an emergency.
When we argue that we should drop issues of racism or other oppressions because of emergency, what we are really saying is we should drop those issues forever.
There will never *not* be an emergency.
If we don't practice internal accountability with the racism and cop apologism of the Biden ticket now, we give them permission to tolerate and even stoke the fires of emergency later.
Internal accountability sucks.
Admitting that the home team has problems sucks.
Admitting that yeah, actually, the home team set some of those fires and is probably going to set some more later?
Jesus christ does that ever suck.
Admitting that the home team has problems sucks.
Admitting that yeah, actually, the home team set some of those fires and is probably going to set some more later?
Jesus christ does that ever suck.
The situation at hand is, our opponents are fucking firebugs.
They set fires in oppressed community to stoke the engine of capital, but they also just like to bomb shit and watch the horizon burn.
They set fires in oppressed community to stoke the engine of capital, but they also just like to bomb shit and watch the horizon burn.
The home team-- the Dems-- aren't quite as entranced by the fire.
They aren't fascists (which is to say, sadists) by and large, but they're absolutely capitalists.
They'll still set oppressed community on fire to stoke the engine of capital without blinking most of the time.
They aren't fascists (which is to say, sadists) by and large, but they're absolutely capitalists.
They'll still set oppressed community on fire to stoke the engine of capital without blinking most of the time.
Like, one is absolutely better than the other.
Our opponents are sadistically determined to set everyone that doesn't look like them on fire.
The home team is heads and shoulders better than team Nuke 'Em.
There's still zero reason to trust them to put out the fires.
Our opponents are sadistically determined to set everyone that doesn't look like them on fire.
The home team is heads and shoulders better than team Nuke 'Em.
There's still zero reason to trust them to put out the fires.
Oppressed people really aren't stupid.
There's this class reductionist narrative about how Black people are just too ignorant to realize that Biden's an embarrassing racist and craven capitalist, and, nah.
Oppressed people tend to be *more* skeptical of candidates, not less.
There's this class reductionist narrative about how Black people are just too ignorant to realize that Biden's an embarrassing racist and craven capitalist, and, nah.
Oppressed people tend to be *more* skeptical of candidates, not less.
Most Black comrades I talked to during the primary understood that Bernie's promises were better than Biden's promises.
They just pointed out that Bernie didn't have a track record of promise-keeping with Black folks one way or the other. Without that record there wasn't trust.
They just pointed out that Bernie didn't have a track record of promise-keeping with Black folks one way or the other. Without that record there wasn't trust.
If you 1) don't have a track record on promises made and kept, 2) you don't make an effort to convince oppressed people very much used to being sold out that you won't sell them out, & 3) a small but extremely vocal portion of your base is getting away with racism and misogyny...
What reason are you giving people to trust you to keep promises?
Why should oppressed folks believe that the no-track-record-on-race candidate wouldn't sell out on race FDR-style when it came time to negotiate the brass tacks of policy?
Why should oppressed folks believe that the no-track-record-on-race candidate wouldn't sell out on race FDR-style when it came time to negotiate the brass tacks of policy?
Most Very Online Bernie supporters, most especially the dirtbag left, never quite grasped that by staying quiet on when Bernie's backslid into class reductionism, we sent a very strong message that he had a base that would let him get away with that backsliding later.
People expect politicians to be accountable to their base.
If a base won't hold their candidate accountable for problematic shit in the primary, people have every reason to assume they won't practice that accountability if/once that candidate gets elected.
If a base won't hold their candidate accountable for problematic shit in the primary, people have every reason to assume they won't practice that accountability if/once that candidate gets elected.
If we'd held Bernie accountable on those issues then, it might have been more reassuring to folks wondering if he'd be accountable on those issues as a nominee and/or president later.
And, guess what.
That's just as true of Biden as it was of Bernie.
If we as Biden's base don't hold Biden accountable and make demands of him now, he's not going to make better promises & vulnerable people are *less* likely to expect him to be held accountable to promises made.
That's just as true of Biden as it was of Bernie.
If we as Biden's base don't hold Biden accountable and make demands of him now, he's not going to make better promises & vulnerable people are *less* likely to expect him to be held accountable to promises made.
I see so many white #bluewave Dems being like, "Trump is a fascist, we have to beat Trump, if we hold Biden accountable on race issues, Black people people won't vote for him and we'll have helped Trump win."
First of all, that is 1000% the language of false white supremacist urgency.
It is 1000% the strategy of appealing to the horror at hand to avoid having to talk about where that horror's roots are buried.
It is 1000% the strategy of appealing to the horror at hand to avoid having to talk about where that horror's roots are buried.
Second, it's hypocrisy.
You don't get to be #BlueNoMatterWho all spring while demanding that Bernie's base hold him accountable to antiracism on principle, then be like "nm we gotta beat Trump now, can't talk about Biden's stance on cops."
That's bullshit.
You don't get to be #BlueNoMatterWho all spring while demanding that Bernie's base hold him accountable to antiracism on principle, then be like "nm we gotta beat Trump now, can't talk about Biden's stance on cops."
That's bullshit.
Third and most importantly, it's nonsense.
Folks outside vulnerable populations may imagine a post-Trump Biden presidency to be a return-to-normal outside of emergency, but vulnerable populations will still be getting used as fuel to fire the engines of capitalism.
As usual.
Folks outside vulnerable populations may imagine a post-Trump Biden presidency to be a return-to-normal outside of emergency, but vulnerable populations will still be getting used as fuel to fire the engines of capitalism.
As usual.
It's beyond arrogant to think that oppressed communities have or will just FORGET all the racist shit Biden has said and done if we don't mention it.
If they vote for Biden, they'll do it clear-eyed. That's true no matter what we say.
If they vote for Biden, they'll do it clear-eyed. That's true no matter what we say.
The difference that our holding him internally accountable and pressing him to meet liberatory demands makes is, it signals that MAYBE there's some hope that MAYBE some of his white base will MAYBE remember that those fires are still burning post-Trump.
That's still a thin maybe, tbh-- white people aren't historically great at holding those memories in our head. I doubt it's really going to change too many minds by itself.
If it does have a turnout impact, however, that impact would be positive, not negative.
If it does have a turnout impact, however, that impact would be positive, not negative.
Nihilists running around being like "Biden is just as bad as Trump" are absolutely unhelpful and counterproductive.
That's not internal accountability, though, that's just counter-factual excuse.
That's not internal accountability, though, that's just counter-factual excuse.
Internal accountability can mean cancelling a candidate, which can be necessary but costly.
We're not talking about cancellation, either, though.
We're not talking about cancellation, either, though.
What we're talking about here is internal accountability practiced to hold a politician accountable to our values, values he may not share but values that we need to be clear we will enforce on the front end.
Usually, the election gamble is, how publicly do we practice internal accountability with a candidate knowing that our critiques might turn off undecideds.
But, lol, undecideds aren't a thing right now.
There are no undecides on a battlefield.
That calculus isn't necessary.
But, lol, undecideds aren't a thing right now.
There are no undecides on a battlefield.
That calculus isn't necessary.
Biden is *still* using that irrelevant math about phantom undecideds to try and get away with swinging rightwards in the general so he doesn't have to be held accountable to any left or progressive promises once elected.
That strategy *only* serves him, and capital.
That strategy *only* serves him, and capital.
Without meaningful policy promises now, there will be nothing to hold him accountable to later.
And he is doing everything in his fucking power to avoid promising us *anything.*
He wants us to think that because it's him or Trump, we're powerless hostages.
And he is doing everything in his fucking power to avoid promising us *anything.*
He wants us to think that because it's him or Trump, we're powerless hostages.
As long as we accept that framing and let him get away with that bullshit, we are handing over power we don't actually have to give up.
Holding him accountable and standing up for our values is not going to scare away oppressed people.
Oppressed people aren't stupid.
Holding him accountable and standing up for our values is not going to scare away oppressed people.
Oppressed people aren't stupid.
This election year hostage-taking has always been the game of centrist Democrats, and the stakes always seem so dire that we give up our power voluntarily during elections, during the time we have the most power over them and the commitments they make.
The fact is, this is not a year we can afford to give up even a smidgen of power, because we are going to need *all* of it come November.
If (when) Trump stages his coup, Biden and his donors will have relatively little to lose.
The privileged will still be protected.
If (when) Trump stages his coup, Biden and his donors will have relatively little to lose.
The privileged will still be protected.
For Biden, a stolen election is at worst a matter of a damaged ego and the disappointment of the corporate good ol' boys closest to him.
For oppressed community, it is a matter of the fires giving way to a blast of nuclear obliteration.
For oppressed community, it is a matter of the fires giving way to a blast of nuclear obliteration.
If we have already compromised and walked away from our values-- if the entire white Democratic base have already walked away from even the pretense of any meaningful solidarity with oppressed community-- the fight will be over before it has even begun.
We need to be saying in no uncertain terms that we have zero patience for sacrificing the bodies of the oppressed to either the sadism of fascists or the burning hunger of capitalists.
We need to claim our power, and practice wielding it.
We need to claim our power, and practice wielding it.
That "we" will never be all or most of the Democratic base, because we still live in a white supremacist and patriarchal country, and the majority of people who benefit from that system will find excuses to avoid helping eliminate the unfair advantages they hold.
Those of us who actually do care about the work of liberation, though?
Those of us who genuinely feel called to fight the fires of fascist sadism and capitalist oppression?
We can't let ourselves succumb to the temptation of "later."
Those of us who genuinely feel called to fight the fires of fascist sadism and capitalist oppression?
We can't let ourselves succumb to the temptation of "later."
Those of us who truly want to do the right thing can't let ourselves slip into the comforting excuse that the urgency of white supremacy offers.
We can't let ourselves pretend that it is possible for an emergency to be so massive that it justifies sleeping on justice.
We can't let ourselves pretend that it is possible for an emergency to be so massive that it justifies sleeping on justice.
We need to walk and chew gum at the same time.
We need to fight to get Trump out, and we need to fight for accountability.
We need to wrap our minds around the uncomfortable truth that even the most appealing politician will never be a savior.
We need to fight to get Trump out, and we need to fight for accountability.
We need to wrap our minds around the uncomfortable truth that even the most appealing politician will never be a savior.
Biden is there to serve us.
We are not here to serve him.
It is on us to tell him the sort of service we expect of him.
It is on us to demand service that serves justice.
We are not here to serve him.
It is on us to tell him the sort of service we expect of him.
It is on us to demand service that serves justice.
Nihilists looking for an excuse to peace out can fuck off.
This is a moment that requires work, not whining.
We need to hold this candidate accountable *because* the stakes are so high.
We cannot afford to negotiate ourselves down from our own values, now more than ever.
This is a moment that requires work, not whining.
We need to hold this candidate accountable *because* the stakes are so high.
We cannot afford to negotiate ourselves down from our own values, now more than ever.
Don't be a good soldier.
Be a person who makes good trouble.
Whatever happens in November, that's the only way we'll ever get out of this.
The end.
Be a person who makes good trouble.
Whatever happens in November, that's the only way we'll ever get out of this.
The end.
