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There seems to be a continued effort to malign Black activists and the people who represent them, so here is a brief thread on what I saw happen this election.
First, polls consistently show that Black Lives Matter is more popular than ever. A majority of Americans support the movement by *28 points*, a stark increase from just earlier this year. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/10/upshot/black-lives-matter-attitudes.html
Despite this, Trump explicitly used racism in an effort to win white suburban voters, repeatedly invoking loaded language like “thugs” and “riots.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/20/us/nationwide-protests-saturday/index.html
That failed. For all the focus on the supposed failures of the movement, Democrats made gains with white suburban voters, especially where racial justice was a major issue.
In my own state and district (the site of George Floyd’s murder), white suburban voters turned out in record numbers for Democrats. Many of them explicitly cited racial justice as a major reason. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/us/biden-suburbs-blue-minneapolis.html
When people single out a slogan like “Defund” as a catch-all excuse for underperformance, they are undermining a movement of Black activists who stared down police repression as they demanded change in the streets.
They're also playing into the Republican efforts to distort the success and popularity of the movement.
It is the job of activists to gain attention for their cause. It is the job of elected officials to translate those cries for justice into popular legislation.
It is the job of activists to gain attention for their cause. It is the job of elected officials to translate those cries for justice into popular legislation.
We do not win by shrinking away from the cause of justice. We win by organizing, meeting people where they are, and communicating a clear value set.
Those who fear justice will continue to use fear and misinformation to smear us. They did it during Jim Crow. They did it in the Civil Rights movement. Our job as Democrats is to have an affirmative values-based message that combats that.
We did that this election and we won. We should be proud of that. Let’s continue to organize and use our mandate to pursue the America we all deserve. Onward.
