In many ways the 2016 presidential race has been one which has turned America on its head. A race which has explored new channels of conservatism, showcased the ugliest most bigoted versions of America, presented the stale yet ever present classic polished version of liberalism. But perhaps most interesting is an old white haired seemingly mad-scientist like self proclaimed socialist. It is this "socialist" which has arguably sparked the most optimistic growth in American political imagination since - well perhaps, ever. Yet even in the grandest, the most lucid and courageous expansion of the American political mind it is apparently impossible to envision an America separated from white supremacy. The 2016 race has shown us that while universal health care, free college, and general massive re-distributions of wealth are now seemingly political possibilities, the dismantling of anti-black racism is, to even the most "radical" leftists, "not feasible". In his own words (paraphrased of course) Bernie Sanders' plan to solve white supremacy somehow does not include ending white supremacy. Instead, when it comes to racial equity in America, the imagination of this apparently daring political maverick is limited to the same liberal policy formulations which for over the past 40 years have already done virtually nothing to help ease the weight of blackness in America. We have seen in our history that "liberal" and "anti-racist" are not synonymous. The new deal had sharecropping stipulations. The FHA had redlining. The Homestead act and GI bill had anti-black clauses. Welfare reform had work for pay options. Prison reform had the three strike policy. Obamacare had the public option. In nearly every step that we have taken towards a more progressive America white supremacy has found a niche in which it not only survives, but becomes more profound. Policies supposedly aimed at assisting the most downtrodden in our society actually serve as a mechanism for further entrenching white supremacy. What I mean to say is: white liberal policies help white people. Why? Well honestly, it shouldn't be that hard to understand: If you throw resources into a society which bends towards white people, why should it be surprising to find that the resources also ends up disproportionately in the hands of white people? Yet it seems that in large part black people have again forgot what the past has taught us. What is frustrating to me is that we don't need to go to the history books to know that liberal policies don't translate into anti-racist policies. We have a liberal president - a black liberal president - who has presided over 8 years in which black people have lost ground in every major category. In which the police state continues to occupy black communities. In which the carceral state has grown while crime declined. In which k-12 school segregation and inequality remained at massive proportions. In which black healthcare accessibility remained dismal. In which housing disparities went nowhere. We are not even out of this presidency and yet we are already experiencing Democratic amnesia. Some of us still refer to Bill Clinton as the man who presided over America's glory years. A man who was in many ways worse for Black America than was his successor. Some have argued that Sanders' self proclaimed title "democratic socialist" (which itself should be put up to debate) separates him from liberal policies of the past, that somehow socialism (which is pretty much a more intense liberalism) can by itself bring an end to systemic racism in America. These people have been fooled, confusing the idea of economic equality with racial equality. We must understand that socialism, just as with liberalism, is certainly compatible with white supremacy. Bernie Sanders is not a breath of fresh air; he is the same rancid odor that has filled the lungs of Black America for over a century. My question is; How long are we going to keep voting to extend the deadline on white supremacy?
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October 2018
Matt BruceViva DSM!! |