It's not really a redefinition. The right, especially in the South, has long used "socialism" & "communism" to mean "things that help Black & non-white people."

That was true in the days of the segregationist Dixiecrats & the Citizens Councils. It remains true today.
What's changed is that a lot of national reporters are recognizing that many people who shout, "Socialism!" don't mean the dictionary definition.

Often when people bring up fears of socialism & I ask them to define it, they'll say something about POC getting special benefits.
Trump has also helped ensure that the once-coded cries of "Socialism!" are now more blatant in meaning.
What many white people fear when they hear, "Socialism!" is not that the people will seize the means of production & have common ownership. What they fear is that their "hard-earned tax money" will be support "less deserving" POC.

Many politicians, including Trump, exploit that.
That's why, to many on the right (and to Trump), Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton are just as "socialist!" as Bernie Sanders and AOC.

It isn't about economic policies. Bernie Sanders in 2016 deemphasized race compared to HRC & attracted some who later voted Trump.
Bernie Sanders joined other Democrats in 2020 in putting greater emphasis on structural racism; no surprise he couldn't win those people back.

The fear isn't about socialist economics. The "Socialism!" boogeyman is really about egalitarian, multi-racial liberalism.
And psst... there are a lot of white men who really like left-wing socialist economics, and may even identify as socialists or progressives, who nevertheless really, really hate the multi-racial egalitarian liberalism that so many white southerners misidentify as "socialism."
What do you think McConnell meant when he said it'd be "full bore socialism" to make grant D.C. & Puerto Rico statehood?

Did he mean, it'd be "full bore seizing the means of production"? Or was it about giving full representation to millions in two new majority non-white states?
This woman, explaining why she calls Joe Biden a socialist, does a great job of illustrating my point: "I define socialism as when you bring down your own country, your own race, because he’s not black."

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More from @ashtonpittman

16 Nov
NEW: Families who hold big Thanksgiving gatherings this year could be planning small funerals by Christmas, Mississippi's top health officials warned.

“We don’t really want to see Mamaw at Thanksgiving and bury her by Christmas," Dr. Mark Horne said. mississippifreepress.org/7014/after-big…
“Be careful, because there’s nowhere for you to go if you have a car wreck,” Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said, pointing to the fact that hospitals across the state are running out of beds. mississippifreepress.org/7014/after-big…
Dr. Thomas Dobbs. “I’m just going to be straight up with y’all. It is really bad. Our hospitals are full, we’re overloaded, our caseload is unbelievable. If you have any vulnerability, you really need to stay home, not go to church, not be socializing." mississippifreepress.org/7014/after-big…
Read 7 tweets
15 Nov
"You're a faggot & a traitor to Mississippi. I would not mind if you deep throated a revolver and repainted the wall with your own brains, but you probably oppose the 2nd amendment in addition to The Mississippi State Flag."

Welcome to the inbox of a gay Mississippi journalist. Email from Hermann of Teutoburg to ashton@mississippifreepre
I do love my state too much to let it stay stuck in the past—and definitely too much to let creatures like this person have more power & say over our state's government than the 38% of this state that is Black, or the LGBT people of this state... 2/
To his points:

1. I don't oppose the 2nd Amendment (only the fairytale version of it that enables our culture of mass murder); I have a gun. Haven't shot one in years, but I have really good aim.

2. I think our new official MS state flag is beautiful!
Read 8 tweets
15 Nov
NEW: A report the @OleMissRebels hid from public view found that 60% of university faculty said they seriously considered leaving UM over the past year.

"I was sexually assaulted in my workplace,” one said.

Others cited "corrupt" hiring practices. 1/ mississippifreepress.org/6973/um-closel…
"A director recommended his son-in-law for a management position that reported to him. When a person on the hiring committee pointed out that some might fear retaliation when coming with a complaint against his son-in-law, the director became enraged." 2/ mississippifreepress.org/6973/um-closel…
"The whole department was retaliated against. (No raises, given new job descriptions, refused to replace broken equipment.)” 3/
mississippifreepress.org/6973/um-closel…
Read 8 tweets
15 Nov
I edited Trump's tweet to remove all the false parts.
I have now edited this Trump tweet to make it factual, too.
I could not figure out what to do with this one.
Read 4 tweets
14 Nov
As a white man from rural Mississippi, it's just bizarre watching all these newspapers around the country treat white right-wingers like exotic zoo animals who require study.
When is the last time a newspaper dedicated its letters page to Black women who vote Democratic?

Or to trans people marginalized by Trump's policies?

Or to people at risk of losing heath coverage?

Or to the homeless?

Or to prisoners of victimless crimes?

Understand them!
Honestly, if you want to understand white Trump voters, Black organizers and leaders in the South oftentimes understand them better than they understand themselves, because Black southerners have HAD to understand how whiteness thinks.
Read 6 tweets
13 Nov
THREAD: For the past few days, there's been a lot of talk (& reporting by me) about Republicans in Mississippi talking like the Dixiecrats who once ran MS (Rep. Price Wallace wanting to "succeed from the Union").

BUT: They aren't the only Republicans in the Legislature. 1/
There are Republicans in the Mississippi Legislature who aren't left wingers by any means, but if given the chance to lead, would point the party toward a more inclusive future focused on solving problems, not winning & maintaining power with divisiveness & demagoguery. 2/
That includes Republicans who have worked to champion pro-LGBT legislation, like a bill to add LGBT people to Mississippi's hate crime laws.

It includes Republicans with strong pro-public education stances.

These are not Republicans who try to imitate Trump or focus on him. 3/
Read 6 tweets

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