Sharon Vanorny
Like a lot of other millennials and voters of color, I never had faith in a “big blue glacier.” I believed if the Democratic Party didn’t start speaking directly to my needs, and the needs of my black and brown brothers and sisters, a political realignment would come.
November proved this to be true. The Democratic Party and liberals will not turn the tide unless they fully embrace a multicultural coalition calling for an inclusive populist vision, and a party that lives up to that vision; not just pays it lip service.
In a March 7 blog post, Dave Cieslewicz wrote that Democrats must embrace working class white men in order to win elections. It’s interesting to note most of the people calling for this are white men. Cieslewicz, like the others, see the trees but not the forest. His argument implies that Democrats are already embracing voters of color, which they are not. It also will have the impact of further disenfranchising voters of color.
Voter turnout for Hillary Clinton by people of color and millennials was down in 2016, compared to turnout for Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008. This does not mean, as Cieslewicz writes, that Democrats have “essentially maxed out” with these groups. The opposite is true; there is much headway to be made into communities of color. It should also be noted all voters between 18 and 29 year olds had a 50 percent voting rate, and voted overwhelmingly for Clinton. With so much meat left on the bone, even in Wisconsin, one has to wonder why people look at white men as those the Democrats need to court?
One of the main reasons for lower turnout among people of color and millennials was precisely because Clinton was not running an election with “identity politics” at its center. Few people of color made the claim that Clinton ran on “identity politics,” so why does Cieslewicz claim this to be so?
Many voters of color did not turn out for Clinton, or vote at all, because they did not see Clinton supporting the needs of black and brown America. And millennials supported Bernie Sanders over Clinton in the primary, losing enthusiasm in the general election.
There is much evidence to show how voters of color are tired of lip-service from Democratic candidates and have long been disenfranchised voters.
In looking at election data we see that there are gains to be had in both youth and people of color. People aged 19 to 29 voted at about a 50 percent rate, with 55 percent of them voting Democrat this election, down by 5 percentage points from 2012. Trump received the same percentage of votes, 37 percent, as Romney did. The 2016 election saw a rise of those voting for a third party from 3 percent in 2012 to 8 percent. With half of voting eligible 18-29-year-olds not voting, that leaves a massive amount of people not engaged in the voting process.
Although millennials trust Democrats more than the Republican Party, the majority of white, black, and Latino youth don’t trust the Democratic Party to represent them. There is also evidence to show millennials are more likely to identify themselves as liberal than as Democrats. This shows us Democrats need to move to the left, not right; to appeal to progressive ideals, instead of specifically catering to white men. You don’t run away from your base, and with 94 percent of black women voting for Clinton, black women and youth that identify as liberal are the Democratic base.
For non-presidential election cycles, voter turnout of people of color and youth takes a nosedive, from 50 percent to 40 percent or lower. This suggests that Dems should focus on turning out votes of youth and people of color in non-presidential elections. But even in the 2016 presidential cycle of 2016 there was failure by Democrats and left organizations to reach out to voters of color.
Using a populist, inclusive multicultural platform and vision will appeal to young voters and voters of color. Clinton and the Democratic Party itself ignored this, as does Cieslewicz. These individuals must be fully embraced and engaged, not left further behind.
The suggestions Cieslewicz makes on how to reach out to these blue collar white male are straight out of the GOP “dog whistle” playbook. Prioritizing economic issues over social issues will do nothing but push people of color further away from the Democratic Party. For people of color, economic issues are social issues. Job opportunities, home ownership, wealth building opportunities, and more are impacted by race and gender.
Also, talking about “fairness rather than diversity,” “personal responsibility” and “bootstrapping” is straight out of Lee Atwaters playbook; adopting such language continues the Democratic Party's rightward march.
Dave, people of color face enough racism on the left and in progressive movements. Many have come to the same conclusion Dr. King did in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” that it is the white moderate who is truly holding back progress.
There is a constant battle with leftist whites, usually white men, about what is needed and how to engage with voters of color. These white men decide what they feel is best, which is exactly the problem.
Dave, are you saying that you know what is best for voters of color? Can you look at the racial disparity numbers, in cities like Madison, San Francisco, and elsewhere and honestly say the Democratic Party is properly serving communities of color?
Instead of running away from it, Democrats should be embracing inclusive populism; only then will things start to shift. The beauty of inclusivity is it addresses issues impacting rural America, farmers, and more. If people are turned off by an inclusive message, are those the people you want in the party?
Your liberation is bound in ours. More resources to “inner city” schools are more resources for rural schools; water protection for Milwaukee protects northern Wisconsin water supplies. Environmentally sustainable jobs, with job training, will help put all to work. But housing, jobs, and other economic initiatives must be equitable, otherwise we’re repeating the oppressive sins of our past.
Yet Dave, I imagine you’ll just dismiss this as another person of color “not getting it” as you do.
But how many people of color are going to have to say that the Democratic Party is failing in its outreach and engagement with communities of color? How can we make you believe turnout could be much higher from those communities if the engagement were more sincere? How many more people of color are going to have to say that the party isn’t serving them for these white leaders to do their job better or to step out of the way and let us lead ourselves? You need to figure this out before it’s too late, and it may already be so.
One last point. Mimicking the “Black Lives Matter” slogan to argue for an appeal to white men is tone deaf and dismissive of our struggle for our full humanity to be recognized.
Matthew Braunginn is columnist for Madison365 and a member of Young, Gifted and Black.
