Like other areas, this is personal to me. We’ve been making great progress on race over the past 100 years, but for the first time, I feel that’s in jeopardy.
One major reason we risk going backwards is the strategy of the Democratic Party. It seems to me their game plan is as follows: 1) Divide Americans into groups and argue that each is a victim of discrimination or bigotry. Then 2) portray itself as the party that fights for each group against the bigots and oppressors. Those used as victims in this strategy are black people, Hispanics, gays, Muslims, women, immigrants, unskilled laborers, and others, and the message to each is always the same: “Vote for us, because the Republicans are bigots.”
Those identified as oppressors in this strategy are almost always whites, Christians, and men, and the message to them is, “You are responsible for the suffering of others. Admit it or you are a bigot.”
I find this approach problematic for two reasons: 1) The groups often portrayed as oppressed and in need of rescuing by the Democratic Party are often not actually suffering oppression, and 2) The alleged oppressors who are attacked and demonized for bigotry are often not guilty of oppression in the first place. This is not only dishonest, as it creates division for sake of acquiring and maintaining a political constituency, but also deeply negative and divisive.
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