The GOP is watching their political power diminish in an increasingly diverse nation. They built a base on top of fomenting white supremacy. And they're realizing that leads to ever-escalating extremism. The GOP leadership is morally and ethically bankrupt. It's a broken party.
We managed to dodge a bullet with this presidential election. I still believe things would've accelerated towards fascism and authoritarianism had Trump won a second term. But we are not out of the woods. The rot didn't start with Trump and won't end with him.
A lot of people in politics like to think about playing the "long game". You win a battle here and you lose one there. But the kind of legislation that GA passed today has impact on people for decades. It is a naked power grab meant to disenfranchise Black and brown citizens.
If the Democratic party can't figure out how to meet his challenge in a significant way, I'm not sure how any of this is going to change. The current GOP can't be negotiated with. We can't bi-partisan our way out of this. This is a fight.
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It's so wild how when you ask any random white person, they do SO MUCH for Black people. Sending us to college and everything. And yet somehow we still can't seem to make it. SMH.
8 out of 10 white people I talk to are adamant that they do their part to help the blacks. That should be highly visible no? I mean when you go to Black neighborhoods, they must be teeming with well meaning white people. Hang on, I'm gonna look outside and see.
Hm. I don't see any right now. Maybe it's an off day. It's still early though. Maybe they'll show up later.
"A middle-class lifestyle is defined as: owning a home, having two kids, saving for retirement, saving for college, going on modest vacations several weeks a year, and retiring in one's early 60s."
The way white people get to ignore race as a real factor in behavior is jaw dropping. Also, nobody said anything about "personality". And using that word betrays to a very shallow understanding of what we're actually talking about.
I keep talking about culture, and it's so clear that most white people don't see culture as a thing that happens to them.
FWIW, I believe it's *possible* that white people like Fergus are legitimately confused about what we're talking about. When they hear "race" they literally think "skin color".
Like he thinks I'm saying "a lack of melanin in your skin puts thoughts in your head". 🥴🥴🥴
I've been feeling this as well. I keep waiting for the victims to be centered and they never are. Even while we talk about #StopAsianHate we aren't giving these people names that would humanize them beyond the fact that they were Asian. Culturally we don't know how to do this.
I don't wanna start some shit. But I am interested in whether any Asian communities are working to humanize the victims. This feels like a moment to understand why the Black community works so hard at that. That's why we have to #SayHerName. Nobody else is gonna do it.
Part of this is on me as well. I need to work to connect with Asian communities. I need to understand better what's happening there and how I could be a better ally. I feel like I've been successful at that with other communities on here. I'm not sure what's different with this.
Me and @operaqueenie have been talking about this a lot lately. I'm backing into this realization on my own.
The default in America in "fuck you". You have to earn the right to matter by gaining power and influence. We see this consistently reflected in our govt and policies.
I starting to understand this is at the root of the way individualism impacts our society at large. People are not taught how to value the collective citizenry. Everybody is on their own and you can only "care" about individuals.
The most recent example from just this morning. This guy is literally like "why should I care if other people are getting scammed?"
Americans are conditioned to let anything happen to each other. We shrug and call it "freedom".
What bothers me is that nobody wants the hear the real answer to this question. The answer exists. There are whole areas of scholarship. But folks don't actually wanna hear the answer.
The most important thing though is that white America is not "cool" with Asians. We need to stop thinking that the ability to get money in white spaces is the same as an absence of white supremacy. American white supremacy manifests in so many different ways. It's not simple.
Every single racial and ethnic group has it's own *unique* experience with American racism. And there are ways we are played against each other that make the answer more complicated. Trying to "compare" does not bring clarity and it also harms solidarity.