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

Nov 5
People who say this election could be the "end of democracy" are so extra...

Or maybe they know the TRUE history of the election-denying white supremacist who led a violent insurrection, overturned a presidential election and ended democracy in America.

A thread
First, you should know that the US Constitution created a form of govt called a "federal republic" where elected officials represent the citizens (as opposed to a DIRECT DEMOCRACY, where people vote on every decision)

But a representative democracy is just A KIND OF DEMOCRACY Image
Image
Saying, "America is a constitutional republic, not a democracy," is like saying: "I'm a MAGA Republican, not an American."

BTW, this is your daily reminder that @laurenboebert is a pro-insurrection MAGA Republican HS dropout who failed the GED 3x... NOT an American. Image
Read 30 tweets
Oct 30
My uncle’s friend Hawk was a feared gangsta. He was ruthless but he was also a chess wizard. According to the streets, Hawk only lost 1 once, years ago, when he was in prison.

So imagine my surprise when my uncle told Hawk: “l bet $100 my nephew will kick your ass

A thread
Now I was like 12 or 13, so even though I was a chess prodigy, I was scared AF

What if I put Hawk in check and he slit my throat ? What if he sicced his goons on me to keep his streak alive? I hadn’t even reached goon-fighting age!

Then my uncle made a deal:
If I beat Hawk, I could keep the money.

A whole $100 dollars? Oh, hell yeah! I was down.

There was just one other problem with my uncle’s plan.

I had never actually played a chess match.

Not one.
Read 15 tweets
Oct 17
One of my former economics students recently reminded me about a concept I used to call "belief economics."

I haven't taught the course it in a long time, but ever since she reminded me, it perfectly explains why everyone is so focused on Black male Trump voters

A thread:
My "Race as an Economic Construct" class applied economic principles as a framework for understanding the concept of race.

I know you've heard that race is an SOCIAL CONTRUCT - it is. But MOST social constructs are ALSO economic constructs.

Even money.
A $100 bill is more valuable than monopoly money bc society constructed a monetary system. Take the pseudointellectual right-wing conspiracy about the gold standard

Why is gold so valuable?

Sure it's rare. But it's not as rare as rhodium or as useful as iron.
Read 29 tweets
Oct 2
While other organizations (hopefully, maybe) will be fact-checking, JD Vance & Tim Walz, as usual, I’ll be translating the dog whistles, white lies and overall Caucasity

The live vice presidential debate “BlackCheck”
JD Vance begins by blaming the “Kamala Harris Administration” for Iran’s nuclear progress.

When was that?Image
Apparently, Kamala Harris has done a LOT. She held a seminar in Iran on how to build nukes

She opened a fentanyl shipping company

She helped organize a human trafficking ring

Somehow, as VP, she passed executive orders to renam the whole South: “Kamala Harris’s open border”
Read 13 tweets
Sep 25
From now until the general election, my weekly “Downballot” series will explore lesser-known races on the 2024 ballot

This first 1 might be the greatest story in politics. It has everything:

A Klandaughter, a civil rights hero, white history, Black history & a map

A thread:
First, we must understand that this race takes place in one of the Blackest, poorest, most disenfranchised congressional districts in the country —Alabama’s 2nd district

It is a perfect example of the MOST COMMON voter suppression strategy:

Racial gerrymandering
This is the OLD Alabama 2nd congressional district. The boundaries do not follow geographic or political boundaries. It was SPECIFICALLY drawn to reduce Black voting power.

But because of population changes, the AL legislature had redraw its congressional districts
Image
Image
Read 28 tweets
Sep 20
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” -

Some guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence

Donald Trump:Image
“The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state: it ought not, therefore, to be restrained in this Commonwealth.” the oldest functioning constitution in the world

Donald Trump

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/11/07…
Read 22 tweets

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