White guys
I appreciated former Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s perspective that “White Guys Matter” (Citizen Dave, Isthmus.com, 3/7/2017). Unfortunately, most of us Indian Americans and brown people in general are more concerned about being senselessly murdered in a hate crime like in Olathe, Kansas, Kent, Washington, or Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
I am all for knocking on the doors of so-called moderate, independent and blue-collar Trump voters and spreading the progressive message of economic prosperity. I have been doing that for the last 17 years. However, these days I don’t know if I will be greeted by a handshake or a barrel of a gun.
Yogesh Chawla (via email)
Cieslewicz is arguing for pandering to white men. And it’s a thing I struggle with a lot; on the one hand you want to win votes, but on the other hand, at what cost? A lot of the problems stem from the general white population not wanting to acknowledge there are problems or assuming they’ve all been fixed. Creating a message that makes white men feel engaged often requires sending a message that alienates the most marginalized. That being said, we need the votes, so we need to figure out something that can balance both.
Sam Abraham (via Facebook)
Win back just 5% of the people who used to vote Dem but no longer vote at all. Worrying about the 50% who already vote is how we got here.
David Esmond (via Facebook)
Local control
I appreciated Bert Zipperer’s “Keeping Communities Whole” article (3/9/2017). He is addressing an often-unrecognized need for more local control of a community’s own economy. Shouldn’t it be a right for communities to have first dibs on keeping job resources in their own locale? The power to make economic decisions should be vested in the hands of local people. His article is a great argument for economic democracy (in contrast to political democracy).
Jim Powell (via email)
Correction
In last week’s story “Where to Say I Do,” it was incorrectly stated that staff and former letter winners who are active members of the W Club could get married at Camp Randall. Camp Randall is open only to photo shoots, not ceremonies.