Zerlina Maxwell

it's rare for me to read a book that is so "of the moment," as her examples are largely from the 2020 democratic primary campaign. even so, some of this already feels outdated, or maybe it's that she didn't give enough credence to people just wanting to vote donald trump out, and she mentioned nothing about their voting for whoever they thought most likely to beat him. (maybe she just didn't think that was a valid point.)

this wasn't an unbiased read, but it was still interesting. i especially found interesting her argument about identity politics, as i've been unsure what to think about the idea. she gives a pretty good initial takedown of joe biden, and makes me hopeful that some of the candidates from early in the primary season might come back to us in subsequent races (most especially julian castro and cory booker).

"...the result of marginalized groups finally overcoming centuries long efforts to erase them from the American political activism that will strengthen democratic rule, not threaten it. What those who criticize identity politics misunderstand is that it is simply a description of politics that will now actually consider the concerns of diverse communities and promote their rise to the ranks of political leadership and power. Women and people of color cannot ignore their identity, because it's not as simple as changing your outfit. You can't just take off your cultural identity or gender like a pair of pants. We can't simply choose to opt out of identity politics. I can't separate myself from my identity. And why would I? Our identities are a part of who we are, and they impact how public policy improves or harms our daily lives."

"We've always been doing identity politics in America. It's just that, up to this point in time, 'white' has been the only identity that has mattered. We've defaulted to white as if that identity is neutral. As if it doesn't coincide with unearned benefits and a long history of divisiveness, trauma, and violence. As if white supremacy doesn't still exist in America. But identity politics isn't something that people of color can choose to opt out of."

"Democrats haven't won the majority of the white vote since 1964."

"The consequences of the 1994 Crime Bill have been devastating for communities of color. This draconian bill ... exploded the American prison population. ... These arrests targeted drugs that were common in black and brown communities such as crack cocaine, while allowing for lighter penalties or no penalties at all, for drug arrests more common in white communities, including prescription drug abuse which ballooned into the opioid crisis, while black and brown people are still being jailed for marijuana."

i love the description of the remaining presidential candidates as "stale pale male politics."… (más)

By 2045, a majority of the US population will be people of color. This will change the electoral makeup and enable people of color to have a transformative political impact.
In Zerlina Maxwell’s, The End of White Politics - How to Heal Our Liberal Divide, the former staffer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign explains this is not a movement, it’s not a theory, it’s a demographic fact. To take advantage of this shift, the Democratic Party has to listen to the people of color and diverse groups, promote them to positions of power within the party, and let them lead the way.
According to Maxwell, when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression, and that applies to all white males including those in the Democratic Party.
Maxwell takes aim at the Bernie Bros, calling them “a manifestation of white male privilege”, and the “same as Trump supporters responding to the same perceived loss of privileges.”
She claims whitelash increased racial solidarity among white people with the shared perception that they were losing status, rights, and privileges they had traditionally enjoyed was the reason for the Trump win.
She endorses identity-based politics explaining in reality it is politics saying there is more than one experience to consider. That means embracing identities other than those that are white, male, and heteronormative and accordingly running political campaigns based on the needs and experiences of those African Americans, Latinx, and the LGBTQ+ communities and women. Though women currently are a majority of the US population, their numbers don’t reflect that in elected officials.
Critical of Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, she suggests he has a “long history of telling the black constituency he can be trusted, while simultaneously authoring and implementing policies that would hurt them.” This includes supporting Bill Clinton’s 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that has resulted in the current crisis of mass incarceration.
Maxwell identifies with The Squad, four young women of color recently elected to Congress saying, “there is no group more representative of how the next generation of leadership will look than The Squad.”
She’s a supporter of their outspoken candor on public policy saying that lived experiences make better informed policy making. To Maxwell, the impulse of most Democrats to be moderate “feels like a manifestation of the white privilege that has plagued us for so long. Being a moderate is not a virtue. Moderation does not pull us toward progress.”
The book is dense with facts and then some since Maxwell has a tendency to repeat the same arguments in different context. She’s also fond of political jargon and memes, ostensibly to enhance her insider credibility, but which frequently sent me on an internet search to understand.
As an analysis of the current state of America’s political system, The End of White Politics reads like the future, like an awakening, like common sense.
Written with passion and commitment, Zerlina Maxwell presents her argument persuasively and unapologetically, and with enough anecdotes to lift it above the political thesis. She reminds us when she quotes feminist Laura Duca, “At any given moment, you’re either actively fighting for equality, or you’re complicit in the system of oppression that prevents it.”… (más)