Oh? You enjoy the freedom of invisible wars? And rape buttons? What the hell are rape buttons?
I didn’t see anywhere in that entire article that it said my name.
So a black woman shouldn’t sweat a racist, misogynist rant unless it contained her name? 
Don’t play games. You’re white, correct? You said the things in his list “sound like freedoms that are currently enjoyed by white people”.
The party and its leaders can perceived (and yes perception is all about the language and the marketing) as falling over themselves in pursuit a few white voters and shutting down voices that speak to the issues that get lumped as “identity politics” (because those voices somehow may offend these delicate pale flowers), telling them that they have to protest injustices, unjustified police shootings, so on, more politely. Don’t talk abut structural or institutional racism either - it annoys some white folk. That message would drive down the turnout in the demographics the Ds need enthused. The response to that would justifiably be “fuck that shit.” The response from folk like me, a straight white guy, would be fuck that shit.
Let’s back up some. THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS NOT UNWELCOMING TO WHITES. The majority of those who identify as Democrats are white. A majority of party leadership is white. It is OTOH inclusive of those who are non-white while the GOP is pretty homogeneously white and very unwelcoming to non-whites. That makes certain whites feel more welcome.
Overall Democratic ID and lean is increasing relative to GOP ID and lean. After Obama’s election some whites moved off a Dem ID and mostly into calling themselves Independent. Oh well. Still 39% of white voters ID as D or lean that way. And we feel welcome.
No question that a Democratic campaign for a national office has to hit the notes that both enthuse the base and that messages that we are all in this together. The Dems need to get more of their voters to be likely voters while GOP performance right now is doing a fine job keeping their voters to be less likely ones.
I feel pretty confident the politicos inside the DNC would be on my side (and Blalron’s, and a couple others). But this pragmatism is part of what the progressive wing disdains about the party, unfortunately.
Anyway, I’m off for the weekend. See you Monday afternoon or evening.
I doubt it. My guess is they mostly think along DSeid’s line. The growing base is younger people and people of color. They have to walk a bit of a fine line but generally they know they can’t be seen to be bending over backwards to assuage offended white voters.
I’ll jump in, because Coates is usually pretty copacetic to my worldview. I am white. And I absolutely agree with that list. Not de jure, but definitely de facto. If you don’t see it, you’re blind or in denial.
Thanks for laying The Truth on me. I will now go forth and start all those invisible wars and install all those rape buttons I didn’t realize were part of my privilege before the Dems screw it all up.
Matt Lauer had a button installed under his desk that allowed him to lock his office door without getting up from his chair.
I had just googled to figure that out. It is rather shameful that a successful black person like Cosby was reduced to using ludes to rape women when white people like Lauer get rape buttons.
I don’t really care if you’re offended. I’m not going to dilute the truth to spare the feelings of people who are in denial about their privilege. And I’m done here, because I personally think that arguing with people like that is a waste of time.
Last thing…you’ll notice that Cosby was convicted, which is the correct outcome. Lauer, Weinstein, Spacey, etc, have not.
Last thing, Cosby got away with it for 40 years.
One other last thing, I’m not remotely offended. I am disagreeing.
Coates uses words and phrases like “whiteness” in a specific way that’s familiar to his dedicated readers and scholars of black history, but different from what most others expect. Whiteness, and related terms like white freedom, when used by Coates, refer to systems set up with long histories, not based on biology or even skin color (though with some overlap), but based on various other socioeconomic and cultural factors, with overwhelming impacts to society and culture. He’s not talking about white people, he’s talking about systems.
I understand that, but it is still us white people that most benefit from those systems. And it is us white people that allow and even encourage those systems to continue. It is also us white people that look at other people that do not have access to those systems, and think poorly of their successes relative to those who do.
That’s my personal, working definition of “white privilege” anyway. I am not sure that there has been another term offered in this thread or elsewhere that better encapsulates it.
I’m curious, how much study do you need to understand his articles properly then? Like a BA in black history or a couple of years of reading him? Or a Masters/4 years of reading?
White privilege is not needing to know how racial sociology works.
:rolleyes:
All it took for me is consistently reading Coates’ articles for the past several years.