Tag: Karthik Ganapathy

It carries the baffling headline, “2020 Democrats go all-in on ‘identity politics.’” It opens (emphasis mine throughout): Democrats thinking about running for president in 2020 are dramatically changing the way the party talks about race in Donald Trump’s America: Get ready to hear a lot more about intersectionality, allyship, inclusivity and POC. White and nonwhite Democratic hopefuls are talking more explicitly about race than the party’s White House aspirants ever have — and shrugging off warnings that embracing so-called identity politics could distract from the party’s economic message and push white voters further into Donald Trump’s arms. Were these issues not on white liberal voters’ minds before? After going on to recount various (white) 2020 contenders’ steps, and missteps, on race in recent months—Elizabeth Warren’s strange messaging about that DNA test and Bernie Sanders’ talking about racism—among them, before getting to these two guys, who would seem to negate any argument about the Democrats’ embracing identity politics at their own peril: Other white potential candidates, such as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Vice President Joe Biden, are receiving renewed scrutiny over their records. You can’t run as a Democratic candidate for president in 2018 (or 2019 or 2020) without having to answer for things like this! If you can’t, you shouldn’t be our guy! The piece winds up to this conclusion: Trump’s dog whistles have made white liberals far more receptive to discussions of systemic racism. The percentage of Democrats who agreed that “racial discrimination is the main reason why many black people can’t get ahead these days” went from 44 percent in February 2014 to 66 percent in June 2017, also according to Pew Research Center. Among white liberals, 79 percent agreed with that statement. Trump’s overt appeals to white identity have, according to these polls, inspired white liberals to rally around underrepresented groups—a positive response to a dark, evil thing!—but these numbers going up mean must mean the other side’s numbers are going down, leading to the widening of the fabled “partisan divide.” By acting less racist, liberals are making things worse, somehow!