Michael Harriot Profile picture
Sep 14, 2020 15 tweets 6 min read Read on X
I've received a lot of hate mail and DMs yesterday from people who saw me on MSNBC

Asked about Donald Trump's racial philosophy, I said: "Donald Trump sounds like a white man." I am not above admitting when I've said some stupid shit (and lord knows I have) but...

A thread:
First of all, let's be clear: The Republican Party is a WHITE PARTY. No Democratic President has won a majority of the white vote in 50 years. White people are 62% of the population but 81% of the GOP.

And EVERY OTHER nonwhite DEMOGRAPHIC IN AMERICA votes Democrat
Maybe the Democratic Party has figured out a special technique that hypnotizes dumb poor black people. Everyone knows we don't wanna work because we want gov't "handouts."

But no one seems to be able to answer 1 question:

Why doesn't it work on poor, uneducated whites?
In fact, the MORE EDUCATION or the MORE MONEY a white person gets, the more likely they are to vote for the Democratic party
As you can see, Trump's talking points aren't REPUBLICAN talking points as much as they are talking points that reflect the political position of WHITE PEOPLE.

For instance, TRUMP doesn't think we pay too much attention to race. REPUBLICANS don't think that. WHITE PEOPLE DO.
When Trump dismissed the reality of white privilege to Bob Woodward, he didn't sound presidential.

He just sounds WHITE.

And if you have a problem with that, don't @ me. Holla at the 2 biggest and most respected pollsters in the known universe.
He dismissed systemic racism, despite the overwhelming amount of research and data proving disparities in every financial, educational and criminal justice institution in America.

So do MOST WHITE PEOPLE
But I know why white people don't agree with what I said:

They don't talk to each other about privilege or race
They don't see their whiteness as part of their identity (which is why they spout that reductive BS about "not seeing color" as if that is something to aspire to.)
But here's what I was talking about:

We don't know the America that Trump and white people are speaking of.

I can't count how often people tell me they grew up or live in a "diverse" neighborhood. But after I challenge them to look at the actual data, they are always shocked.
See, because America is still segregated, MOST WHITE PEOPLE people live in places where they are OVERREPRESENTED — EVEN IN THE MOST DIVERSE CITIES IN AMERICA
And when they do talk about race, it's with OTHER WHITE people.
Now, there are some people who think it's not fair to say "white people" when I'm talking about SOME white people. But I was referring to MOST white people. A statistically proven fact.

I didn't have time to list all the names, so I called them "white people"
The only reason it's racist to ask black people about black on black crime is bc 95% of us aren't criminals. If the MAJORITY of black people were, it would be fair.

See the difference?

I don't think wypipo are SPECIFICALLY talking about me when they discuss the "black vote."
If I were stampeded by a herd of elephants, and someone asked me what happened, I wouldn't list the elephants' names. I'd just say "elephants did it."

When someone mentions black unemployment, I don't scream: "I have a job!"
At my job, I use words. People actually pay me to use them. I like to think I'm decent at doing it.

Which is why, if I EVER mean "all white people," I would say it.

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More from @michaelharriot

Jul 2
If you're wondering how the "race-baiters" are going to make the SCOTUS ruling about racism, well...

Here's what the Trump decision has to do with the history of white supremacy, racial terrorism and even the death of George Floyd.

A thread.
It began with the passage of the 13th Amendment. If you don't go to school in Fla, you probably know about the birth of the KKK, White Leagues & other domestic terror cells responsible for racial violence during Reconstruction.

Well, it kinda didn't really happen that way.
The Klan was not really that popular until YEARS later. In fact, MOST of the racial terrorism during Reconstruction was committed by two groups:

1. Regular-degular, unaffilliated white people
2. Police officers.

Most pre-civil war cities & towns didn't have police forces
Read 25 tweets
Jun 17
Theyhe SC Dept. of Education canceled AP African American Studies, @thegrio spoke with teachers, school administrators & superintendents to find out why SC essentially canceled the ONLY accredited HS course in Black History.

THey all had the same answer.

A thread.
FIRST we must acknowledge that SC is central to ANY study of Black Americans.

Scholars estimate that 40% of America's race-based human trafficking cargo disembarked in the "slave capital of the new world." Image
SC's Negro Act of 1740 was the template for all state's slave codes, including literacy bans. And, because it was classified as PROPERTY LAW, the individual states would later decide that slave codes didn't violate constitutional rights.

calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…
Read 22 tweets
Jun 5
There are a few problems with Byron Donald’s idiotic statement, notion of Black “conservatives,” and even how WE THINK of Jim Crow

A thread
Byron Donald’s statement isn’t that uncommon. Every Black person has heard a version of this, whether it is “integration was the worst thing that happened to us,” or what Donalds said.

Those people are dumb
Image
Image
First of all, I will always contend that “integration” never happened. To be fair, my opinion is based on a book many people may disagree with:

It’s called a dictionary.

When did any of this happen? Image
Read 21 tweets
Jun 2
The conversation about Caitlin Clark reminds me of one of my favorite stories about of basketball’s forgotten GOATs and a strange NBA stat

A thread.
Regardless of how you feel about WNBA player’s treatment of Caitlin Clark, it is INARGUABLE that she is expected to be a generational talent.

Whenever someone is expected to dominate their sport, teams & player often use a common strategy:

“What if we beat them up?”
For instance, Shaquille O’Neal was so dominant, the NBA had to change its rules to address the “Hack-a-Shaq”

nytimes.com/2016/05/01/spo…
Read 24 tweets
Jun 1
Hypocrites

A thread.
Hypocrite @BasedMikeLee Image
Read 10 tweets
May 15
After the French Revolution, people who supported the old monarchy, feudalism and a heirarchal sat on the right side of presiding officer of French Parliament and the liberal, non-aristocrats and members of the third estate usually sat on the left.
During the 1900s Karl Marx’s ideas began to spread across Europe. In France, the people who supported monarchies (the right wing) were the most vocal opponents of communism, so they referred to Marxists as the “far left.”

But one guy changed that
Read 15 tweets

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