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BumRushDaShow
(169,761 posts)
rubbersole
(11,223 posts)
Magoo48
(6,721 posts)
calimary
(90,021 posts)
Solomon
(12,644 posts)
yardwork
(69,364 posts)
dalton99a
(94,138 posts)
Scrivener7
(59,522 posts)all the time blaming black people, blaming white women, blaming someone and telling us we need to "up our game."
I'm a white woman. I do what I can to get out the vote, to talk to people about the issues, to be a good Democrat. I vote in every election and do my best to be an ally to other groups.
What, exactly, should I be doing to "up my game?"
If I could monolithically get other white people to vote for Democrats, don't you think I would? Similarly, the complaints referred to in the text complaining that black people didn't do enough, when clearly they are our most loyal and effective constituency.
Shouldn't we stop with the childish pointing at groups that underperform and blaming the Democratic members of those groups? The Democrats in those groups are Democrats. They vote for Democrats. How are they to blame for how republiQans in their demographic vote?
How does this do anything but divide us?
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,956 posts)the drive to dismantle white supremacy, because they benefit most from it.
Scrivener7
(59,522 posts)As a woman, I'd love to also "lead the drive to dismantle" civil rights abuses against women. But I don't see how either of those things happens outside of instituting legal protections. And that means voting. And those of us who are voting together are the ones trying to do that.
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,956 posts)instituting legal protections through voting every two years?
Scrivener7
(59,522 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(26,956 posts)And anti-racist work is a real slog, don't get me wrong, and it's because it starts with a lot of self-examination, which people tend to resist because "of course I'm not racist!" It takes a lot of effort to decide to dismantle a system you benefit from, and then learning as much as you can also gets pushback. It's also a slog because there's no one neat trick that brings the whole thing down -- it requires longterm resistance to the status quo, and there's no dopamine hit from casting a ballot.
But white people absolutely must embrace anti-racism, which means learning about the concept, reading books and attending lectures about it, donating money or skills to causes, learning about the racist underpinnings of business development and real estate where they live, learning about whose land it was before it was colonized and how was colonized, thinking about the concept of privilege and how they might spend it, learning about the racist foundation this country was built upon and how white supremacy is present in every major institution, digging into family history and seeing how homesteading and federal programs and local ordinances helped establish and preserve institutional wealth (no matter how small) in a way that wasn't accessible to others, and so on. It also requires being ready to fail publicly, and to be called in and maybe called out. These are all things white people are taught explicitly and implicitly to avoid, so it's hard to get it right all the time, and after awhile it feels easier to just let it go, which is why we are where we are today.
quaint
(5,082 posts)
Maeve
(43,457 posts)Pointing out things like---when people say "Black lives matter", there is an unspoken "too" at the end of that sentence. When people say "White lives matter" there is an unspoken "more" at the end. And the ones who insist "All lives matter" are missing the point that society doesn't act as if that were true.
TheRickles
(3,386 posts)Scrivener7
(59,522 posts)that ongoing effort more deeply than you probably would think, my self-examination and ongoing self-education is not going to change most white supremacists' views or actions.
My persistent calling out of racism in real life where I see it has changed some people's white supremacist views. I find that it works mostly with those who have been raised in households where those attitudes are simply inherited and unexamined. And many white people doing that together has more likelihood to succeed in changing more people's views. But I have noticed that those who have embraced their white supremacist views simply become more entrenched when they are called out for it. And then they very intentionally separate themselves from those of us calling them out.
So while I agree with you that it is important that I, as a white person, understand that white supremacist values are embedded in everything in our history, and white supremacy is still a primary economic and political force in our society, my understanding really does little to practically change people who have made a conscious choice to espouse white supremacist views.
So we are back to legislating protections.
happy feet
(1,279 posts)to ask the question is to imply that all black people did to gain civil rights was vote. History tells us otherwise. It's a long deliberate game of influence.
Scrivener7
(59,522 posts)
Wild blueberry
(8,296 posts)
iemanja
(57,757 posts)Or they would have said it.
yardwork
(69,364 posts)
judesedit
(4,592 posts) 
Phoenix61
(18,829 posts)
LeftInTX
(34,301 posts)Solomon
(12,644 posts)progress!
Sympthsical
(10,969 posts)Baitball Blogger
(52,350 posts)Thank you all!
bullimiami
(14,075 posts)we need our more diverse coalition to beat their less diverse one.
ismnotwasm
(42,674 posts)I think something like 72% voted for Kemp.
hibbing
(10,598 posts)
GreenWave
(12,641 posts)Then paint myself white. Shockingly I have human colored skin (ash brown to dark brown). I need to fix that. Because I am sure with billions of self appointed skin color geniuses, our skin colors have truly racist inspiring, polarizing opposites, which is why when a "black" person and a "white" person have a baby, it always comes out gray.
But OP, your point is well taken and greatly understood. Next will be why didn't more Native Americans vote? (Psst. There was this thing called genocide.)
panader0
(25,816 posts)is the more dominant trait? That brings to mind the old classifications of quadroon and octoroon, refering to the % of African blood.
I never understood that thinking. I'm mostly white (a little red) and my kids mother
is Hispanic. My daughter married a great guy who is half Filipino. Their daughter is gorgeous. Someday, down
the road, when more and more people share skin shades, we'll all realize we're all the same.
dawg
(10,777 posts)However, whites without college degrees overwhelmingly voted Republican. Which is kind of ironic, considering who would lose the most from Republican plans to scale back Social Security and Medicare.
And it's hard to even talk about this problem without sounding "elitist".
no_hypocrisy
(54,908 posts)Not necessarily white supremacy. The perks that come with White Privilege. Giving up and sharing power is tough.
czarjak
(13,639 posts)LeftInTX
(34,301 posts)increase turnout. However, this is census based, so voting eligibility, such as age and citizenship is not available.
US Demographics (2019)...Sorry, can't find the link
White: 60.1% (Non-Hispanic)
Hispanic: 18.5%
Black: 12.2%
Asian: 5.6%
Multiple Races: 2.8%
American Indian/Alaska Native: 0.7%
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 0.2%
multigraincracker
(37,651 posts)It is an invalid concept. There is only one race, the human race. When we look at genes, there are more differences with-in the so called races than there are between the so called races.
electric_blue68
(26,856 posts)multigraincracker
(37,651 posts)Opposites arise together. Without highs there would be no name for it or lows. Same for black and white. We are born knowing the universal truth and from that moment on we unlearn it.
but, hey that's just me.
Ferrets are Cool
(22,959 posts)
treestar
(82,383 posts)we are not responsible for what other people do because they are the same race, or same anything else.
This just show stupid middle class people who think they are upper class because they have a good job with health insurance and were able to buy a house.
If these polls were accurate, breakdowns by income level would be interesting. Too many people think voting Republican makes them higher status.
In my State Senate District, I voted yesterday for a white man over a black woman. Because he was the Democrat and she was the Republican. It's not always so simple.
WiseElder
(143 posts)addressing the white people's fears
Yavin4
(37,182 posts)The older White vote is lost forever.
Scrivener7
(59,522 posts)It looks like there is an opportunity to shave off a couple of percentage points of the oldest age group. I would bet we could do that with a message about Republicans threatening Social Security.
I wouldn't go after that demographic with anything else - like I wouldn't court them by "moving to the center" or any of that bullshit - but I would make sure they understand the difference between Republicans and Democrats on Social Security.
Scrivener7
(59,522 posts)position.
Dems need to do a better job with non-voting Dems and young voters. And from Pluvious's post 54 below, it looks like we could shave off a couple of percentage points of older white people, probably using fears of Republicans dismantling Social Security.
But "addressing the white people's fears" - as in the fears of Republican white people - is an exercise in pandering and working against our own base.
lambchopp59
(2,809 posts)Some years back prior to our dad's passing, my sister in law used to insist that dad was part African blood. Not only his olive complexion but some subtle facial features were telling of this. We had some mistaken impression of that until:
So, when it became affordable, my full brother swabbed his own cheek and sent it in. It vindicated her suspicions, although both of us only have a sliver (like 5 percent) African, it was enough for sis in law to shout "I knew it!!".
The odd irony is my dad was the most blatantly racist republican you'd never want to meet, so was his even more telltale faced mother. It was the source of irreconcilable differences of opinion he constantly brought up much to mom's chagrin. He absolutely shit a brick when presented with that information that our sliver of "blackness" came from his side.
Okay, relevance: more to do with that my mother's progenitors had severe objections to her marrying dad because he had the "bad blood". There are more stories related to that very germanic blood insisting on racial "purity". They eloped in the 1940's to California, where we were the "west coast' branch of that family line pretty much ever since.
About 20 years ago, I rode my motocycle through the midwest, in some interests of re-kindling ties with some of them.
Oops. that didn't go well in several instances exception of my also departed uncle who was well world-travelled.
I still tried to re-kindle some ties online--- that fell apart once Obama was elected due to their prejudices.
I'm mostly white. None of that racist shit ever passes the logic test. But I still say FUCK WIPIPO! (exception 39 percent)
iemanja
(57,757 posts)trying to prove something. That your dad had African blood and Nick Fuentes is Hispanic are but two examples. Interesting story, lambchopp59.
d_r
(6,908 posts)my screen shot:
d_r
(6,908 posts)I appreciate you trying, all I see is a blank box. Here is my screen shot.
electric_blue68
(26,856 posts)the low level of Recs (I don't see anything else off hand) it was earlyish on the East Coast when it posted, making it successively even earlier heading westward.
Not all of us are Early Birds if we're retired. Or in college, uni without early classes at point x.
It's doubled + since then. It's still 8:48 on the West Coast.
If you meant something else please tell me, cause I'm other wise missing it. Not being faecetious. I'm extra tired, too.
d_r
(6,908 posts)I meant I can't see anything on it. All I see is words "link to twitter" - I guess I am supposed to click the link to look at twitter to know what it says.
electric_blue68
(26,856 posts)there for me, and I didn't associate it w the link notice.
That's what was supposed to be showing IF you just got the "link square" notice but not the actual image, right?
d_r
(6,908 posts)electric_blue68
(26,856 posts)just in case you didn't know
d_r
(6,908 posts)Or certain states? I am guessing that more white people voted for gop than did the other groups. Especially rural and exurban, followed by suburban. In the Latin/Hispanic group I assume they lumped all the different groups together, and so there is probably some GOP vote there from the Cubans especially, but a rising GOP vote from Catholics. I am guessing that the data show those sorts of trends.
electric_blue68
(26,856 posts)No further breakdowns, nor actual "date of".
electric_blue68
(26,856 posts)BumRushDaShow
(169,761 posts)or setting in your browser that is blocking tweets (e.g, something that might block trackers or certain scripts).
d_r
(6,908 posts)BumRushDaShow
(169,761 posts)but I can see the tweets embedded on DU. I had to jump through a couple hoops with my Firefox to see them here.
d_r
(6,908 posts)I did not jump through hoops.
BumRushDaShow
(169,761 posts)I may have had some javascript blocking thing that I had to disable and the newer versions of Firefox have a "Tracking Protection" thing that needs to be modified depending on how it is setup.
d_r
(6,908 posts)I'm not sure Twitter isn't something that shouldn't be blocked or protected from, you know?
BumRushDaShow
(169,761 posts)I find the tweets at the webpage version of twitter so I can grab the direct links to the breaking news articles I post, because navigating the news websites trying to find the article can be a nightmare. I always include the text of it for those who can't read the embed if I post one here.
d_r
(6,908 posts)Text really helps for people who are visually impaired and using a screen reader also
BumRushDaShow
(169,761 posts)When I was a supervisor, I had a couple employees over the years who had screen readers (and some the early reader software programs were pretty finicky) so I know. At least the government requires Sect. 508 compliance for federal websites (including things like ALT tags with brief descriptions of graphics, etc).
JI7
(93,617 posts)waste of time. At least if you try to do it directly .
I think the numbers use to be even worse than this. And if you go to certain states they will be far worse with over 70, 80 percent of white voters supporting some of the worst Republicans .
Another thing is if White men voted similar to White women which is still mostly supporting Republicans but by less amount that would make a huge difference in outcome of many races also .
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)black nonvoters. (Black MAGAs are presumably incorrigible -- and no wonder only 14% is both a comfort and something to avoid mentioning.)
But that 82% who voted Democratic is not 82% of elible black voters. It'll likely be at a historic high for midterm elections of somewhat over half of those eligible to vote -- tends to be similar to the white percentage. 2018's historic high turnout was 48% for all.
And in presidential elections, @40% of both black and white "voters" STILL DON'T VOTE. I swear, thinking about them can make the MAGAs look better in comparison.
marmar
(79,741 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Last edited Thu Nov 10, 2022, 01:04 PM - Edit history (1)
because they're only 13% of the population but still horribly real. No one here's denying the despicable and dangerous behaviors of a majority of the white majority. Focusing only on that won't fix a black nonvoter problem that is in itself a huge danger to black people.
After all, 14% of blacks voting MAGA plus another possible 48% or so of blacks who refused to vote in these elections even to save the power of their own vote (!) adds up to a white-supremacist, fascism-enabling, democracy-endangering majority of the black electorate.
Talking to black people about what would happen to America's most discriminated against minority if they lost the power of their vote comes much better and more effectively from black leaders than someone like me, gotta admit. 
And that's the point. Many have been working to exhaustion and beyond at just that. But others work harder on documenting and stoking grievance against the white majority than changing behavior.
But black Americans who fight those attempting to subjugate them (and themselves) are actually within close reach of being a majority of the black electorate. And a lot of them should be movable -- the danger's horribly real.
Just think of the difference another...say, just 1% or 2% voting blue would make. To them.
happy feet
(1,279 posts)Sigh
DownriverDem
(7,014 posts)They are on the wrong side. They will be one of the minority groups by 2045.
ShazzieB
(22,591 posts)And check their (our) damned privilege. 
iemanja
(57,757 posts)Why?
Old Crank
(7,084 posts)as an old white male voter.
Yavin4
(37,182 posts)That's where the Dems need to focus. Their traditional base and young White voters. Build that coalition and the Republican party, as we know it, will become extinct.
former9thward
(33,424 posts)And they have never become extinct. People become more conservative as they age.
Yavin4
(37,182 posts)Yes. In past generations as people acquired wealth and assets like a home, good paying jobs with great benefits, etc., they did become more conservative because they had things to conserve. So, of course, they would vote against taxes and other govt programs.
Things are different for younger generations. They don't have the wealth. They don't have the assets. Many of them are drowning in debt, and jobs don't take care of you like they did in the past.
uponit7771
(93,532 posts)onecaliberal
(36,594 posts)I have nothing in common and really just want them to fall off the earth they think is flat. You can’t reason with people who want to hurt or kill your for shits and giggles to “own”
sarchasm
(1,310 posts)Thank you DU for keeping me informed. How do we positively move those numbers in the right direction?
As an older white voter I’m glad to be on the right side of history, but damn.
Pluvious
(5,395 posts)lambchopp59
(2,809 posts)We saw the ugliness of Vietnam as kids. We witnessed the horrible racist police state violence. We learned first hand how corrupt Republicans could be during Watergate.
Okay, Maybe it's my Californication marvels at this. Still, so many saw and chimed in with that crap in Trumplandia?
Hermit-The-Prog
(36,631 posts)
Wednesdays
(22,604 posts)Repugs would have to get 60% or more of the white vote, and that's a really difficult mountain to climb.
former9thward
(33,424 posts)They used to get about 8% of the Black vote and about 20% of the Hispanic vote.
3825-87867
(1,939 posts)they just don't know, care or want to know so long as it doesn't affect them!
Too many other things for them to enjoy, worry over or ignore. Too many preconceived thought and beliefs.
Plus, there's NO attempt from our "Liberal Media" to actually provide what's really going on, even if they'd take time to watch or listen.
But when it does affect them, rest assured, they will be the first to blame everyone else.
TygrBright
(21,362 posts)
progressoid
(53,179 posts)LeftInTX
(34,301 posts)
Polybius
(21,902 posts)14% of blacks and 38% of Latinos voted Republican. Is that up or down? Anyone know?
BComplex
(9,914 posts)I'm sorry, but I truly believe these polls (shown here) are flame bait, trying to put a wedge between white and black democrats...and by the looks of the posts on this thread, it's working.
Many many many white people support our black, hispanic, native and asian people in many ways in our daily and political lives. We're all fighting the same damned media. The same damned disinformation that is pounded into the ether every day.
inthewind21
(4,616 posts)and statistics are 2 different things.
Tommymac
(7,334 posts)Statistics are just numbers. Polls are just numbers.
And OMG there are zillions of ways to interpret them.
fightforfreedom
(4,913 posts)Good and bad. Color, race, don't matter. You are either good or bad. How people vote can give you a clue if they are good or bad.
How many of us were surprised when we had life long friends, relatives show us their true colors when they voted, blindly followed, one of the biggest assholes in American history. Good people don't do that.
Bettie
(19,704 posts)especially of a right wing variety, seem to hold as their primary values, racism and misogyny. Not necessarily in that order.
Look at Wisconsin. They voted for Evers, but not Barnes.
White evangelical churches preach hatred from the pulpit along with politics.
I have little faith in my fellow white people as a group, though there are a minority of us who aren't voting based on hate.
Ysabel
(2,081 posts)mcar
(46,059 posts)
ananda
(35,152 posts)Losing supremacy and majority status is hard
for so many white people.
Me, I love diversity.
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barbtries
(31,308 posts)to recognize that racism still rules after all these years. sometimes i just wish i was not white because i don't want these numbers associated with me. but there's no hiding it.
I'm in NC and it's never been clearer to me.
racism sucks.
Solly Mack
(96,943 posts)Neo-Nazi groups, the alt-right, and the like - all fall under the umbrella of white supremacy.
White supremacy is what those groups are trying to preserve.
Those who desire to maintain white supremacy will embrace any group or thinking that promotes white supremacy. (Christian Nationalism, for one example)
They will embrace any form of authoritarianism - to include fascism, or a dictator, etc. - if that serves their goal.
The majority of white voters voting for the GOP is them voting for white supremacy. A point that seriously needs to be understood.
So, no. I'd rather white people "didn't up their game".
Because, for the majority (that 57%) of white people, their game is white supremacy, and that's a "game" white people need to lose.
Just say Nofuckingway to white supremacy.
betsuni
(29,078 posts)That Democrats supposedly ignore white people who supposedly have unique extra-special economic anxiety, like:
"I think there needs to be a profound change in the way the Democratic Party does business. It is not good enough to have a liberal elite. I come from the white working class, and I am deeply humiliated that the Democratic Party cannot talk to where I come from."
Sympthsical
(10,969 posts)There was a class of people who were white, working class - and union. My father was a Teamster who was filled with loathing at the prospect of any Republican who ran, and all the people around him and in the family felt similar for similar reasons. Unions were everything.
Over time, unions have been gradually whittled away, and our party hasn't done nearly as much as it could or should to combat that significantly. In many ways, particularly in places like the Rust Belt, America feels like a post-union economy.
People like to say, "There is no economic anxiety! It's all racism!" Which is the dumb read on the situation. But because we're highly nuanced and intelligent people who are capable of understanding complex topics and would never resort to dumb, simplistic explanations of people, I'll allow a different explanation.
As this working class eroded and saw their lifestyles diminish over time (no longer one bread winner, not being able to afford housing in the same way, industries leaving the country, etc. etc. etc.) political forces were able to exploit what was happening and pivot to culture and race as a scapegoat. NAFTA was basically, "Immigrants are coming for your jobs!" as manufacturing and auto industries were slowly deflating.
Republicans took advantage of economic conditions to plant their little culture war seeds, and our party has never really gotten back to where it once was or pushed back against it while it was happening. I don't hear the same veneration and certitude of "I will never vote for Republicans!" in the white working classes that I heard growing up in the 80s and 90s.
It's a problem. It's been a problem for as long as I've been alive.
But doesn't just dismissing it all as racism feel so much smugly better? We get to feel superior while simultaneously not doing anything and not self-examining.
It's win all around for everyone. Republicans can keep exploiting it, and we can feel like we're awesome and eschew any obligation or responsibility for what happened.
betsuni
(29,078 posts)Sympthsical
(10,969 posts)But I am not surprised.
Ferrets are Cool
(22,959 posts)Or at least the majority of them.
The Jungle 1
(4,552 posts)I disagreed at the time. However now I agree his analysis is correct.
The right can see the demographics and the numbers scare the shit out of them.