Thread:

I'm white. I'm tired of seeing other white, self-proclaimed, Democrats complain about Kamala Harris bringing up the overwhelmingly bad disparities in the health outcomes of Black communities every time she speaks about that particular and horrific impact of COVID-19 1/

(or ever, really); About how uncomfortable it makes them to see race brought into political conversation; calling it "the race card," or saying it's just unnecessary. Stop it. It's embarrassing. It's humiliating. I don't know where we white Democrats lost our way. 2/

Honestly, I don't care. It's ridiculously racist and it needs to stop. Now!

As Democrats, we need to honestly and transparently re-up our promise, our pledge, our contract, with Black America, particularly, and all Americans, in general; to lift up, not tear down; to serve 3/

and protect, particularly, the least among us; to work toward equity and equality for all humankind. We need to revisit 60 years of our party platform to see how little and how much progress has been made.

We believe in science. We believe in math. Why do we refuse to see 4/

the honest results of science and math when it comes to the overwhelming unjust disparities in Black communities? Why do we default run to support white candidates every single time we also have a brilliant representative from the Black community asking to represent their full 5/

community?

How do we resolve choosing a white, long-term Republican, who only ever lived a life of full privilege; never felt the pain or hindrance of systemic and institutionalized racism, over a Black woman, who not only personally experienced it (as did her her parents) 6/

but learned its history and studied its repercussions and worked to find viable, economically feasible ways to address it, then actually put in the hard work to begin resolving it?

How do we teach ourselves and our children to not only see and acknowledge systemic and 7/

institutionalized racism, but refuse to accept it and understand that, in order to dismantle it, we MUST respect and elect demographic representative experts in every corner of government and then let them actually represent without fear? How do we erase this discomfort we 8/

have about accepting that systemic and institutionalized racism exists in our own *open-minded* party of inclusion long enough to accept real representation and let it work?

At best, we have 25-30 years to figure this out. For every ounce of discomfort you feel whenever 9/

Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, John Lewis, Jim Clyburn, Frederica Wilson, Maxine Waters, or any other member of the CBC, mentions the every day realities of the very people they *represent* (not their full constituency but specifically the people within their constituency that 10/

look like them), remember the 400+ years of *discomfort* they have had to live with/through and still do; Chattel Slavery, Jim Crow, Civil Rights Movement, and Black Lives Matter, as examples. Think about the reality of them having to wake up every day, their entire lives, 11/

wondering if it would be their last because of any one of the multitude of injustices America continues to perpetrate upon them, simply because of the color of their skin.

We're Democrats. If you've either forgotten or, perhaps, never understood what that really means, 12/

please, I'm begging you, start with the 1960 Democratic Party Platform and read every single one, written and voted on every 4 years, through 2016. Then, check the progress - good, bad, and otherwise. Did you help? Did you fight? Do you really care? Has progress been made? 13/

Is it enough? Here's a hint. It's not even close to enough. It's hardly even begun. Here's why. When given a choice, we all too often choose to fund and support a white candidate, with no resume of Civil or Human Rights work, over a Black candidate of impeccable credentials 14/

and real-life experience, who fully understands the existing disparities. When we make that choice, we're choosing to blatantly ignore the absolute need for true, demographic representation; we're not fighting to dismantle the very systemic and institutionalized racism that 15/

creates those multitudinous racial injustices. We're fighting for the Patriarchy, not racial equality and equity.

What too many of us don't seem to understand is that the CBC is fighting for #AllThePeople, not just those that *look* like them. I have to imagine that many of 16/

them enter public service with hopes of bringing full representation to their communities. They work hard to get elected as full representatives of their communities, then, as soon as they spend one minute of their time focused on the members of their community that do look 17/

like them, we (white Democrats) shut them down, ending their capacity to create necessary, representative change. We accuse them of pulling a race card, or playing identity politics, or ignoring the rest of their constituency. This is full on white privilege, by the way. 18/

As long as white Democrats refuse to fully support the dismantling of systemic and institutionalized racism, the CBC can't do the necessary work of true and full representation because our refusal to support that necessary work threatens their ability to even stay in office. 19/

We have to acknowledge our part in this and support them in their fight for justice that requires them to freely acknowledge and work to end the disparities within their communities.

As Democrats, it's our obligation and should be our honor to vote for and support 20/

demographic representation then allow it to work. 21/21

PS1: I have to apologize for how long it took me to get this thread posted. My phone is a mess and I literally had to restart it in between every tweet. Sorry