Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Biden's answer on 'repairing the legacy of slavery' and 'inequality in schools and race' [View all]Garrett78
(10,721 posts)There are those who have convinced themselves that only Joe Biden can defeat Trump, based largely on a false narrative about what happened in 2016 and why.
Some honestly seem to think the key to winning is flipping Trump voters in PA, MI and WI. As opposed to boosting turnout among the Democratic Party base. Hundreds of thousands who showed up for Obama didnt show up for Clinton in key battleground states (it isnt that they voted for Trump; its that they didnt vote at all or voted 3rd party). But people think flipping Trump voters is the key (and that nominating an old white male will do the trick). Its madness. This will be a base election. We need to boost turnout among persons of color, youth and white suburban women. Thats what will bring some semblance of sanity back to the White House.
Jamelle Bouie, by the way, wrote a great piece about the Obama-Trump voter.
People cant seem to grasp that A) some racists voted for Obama (like the racists who are friends with or even married to a person of color and insist that they cant be racist) following 8 years of Bush-Cheney and B) some of those Obama voters had become completely blinded by racism after 8 years of racist attacks on Obama (and are never coming back). Instead, they insist that a key to winning in 2020 is winning back a fraction of a fraction of voters who happened to vote for both Obama and Trump (due to *white* economic anxiety, cause you know POC dont experience economic anxietyyeah, thats sarcasm). And, therefore, we need to nominate an old white man to defeat an old white man. Again, its madness.
Jamil Smith of Rolling Stone is exactly right that non-racism isnt enough. And being able to deliver a scripted speech is not enough. We need someone well-versed in anti-racism, especially in the era of Trump. That aint Biden. And Biden has made comments that suggest hes not even versed in non-racism. During the most recent debate, Linsey Davis of ABC News quoted Biden as saying he isnt responsible for the sins of the past and then asked him how we repair the legacy of slavery. Biden went on to suggest that poor is synonymous with Black, as hes done previously, and then suggested that Black parents need to be taught how to parent. These so-called debates dont offer a person much time to speak, but the front-runner (riding name recognition and Obamas coattails) for the Democratic Party nomination (in the year 2019) decided that was how he would address a question about repairing the legacy of slavery. WTF!
Im going to set aside the fact that the study Biden referenced has come under scrutiny and just focus on how absurd it is that a 21st century Democratic front-runner for POTUS would say what Biden said. While poor is not synonymous with Black and vice versa, there is an enormous wealth gap. And that wealth gap has everything to do with the sins of the past and present (from slavery to convict leasing to redlining to environmental racism), so Biden should have started off by admitting that he was wrong to suggest he (and all of us) dont bear responsibility for those sins (i.e., abhorrent crimes). He could have talked about addressing the wealth gap in any number of ways, about a culture that continues to see persons of color as less than human, about the hypocrisy surrounding affirmative action, about ongoing housing discrimination, about the wonderful platform of The Movement for Black Lives, and so on. Hell, he could have talked about the electoral college, a remnant of slavery. But, no, he chose to stand by his quote about not bearing responsibility and suggested that Black parents need to have people teach them how to parent. The man sounded more like Strom Thurmond than a 21st century presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided