Thank you Frederick. Of all the things I have read the past two days, this piece had me nodding my head the entire time. Myself as a white woman must do so much more in dismantling white supremacy among the people in my life and the circles I move in. I loved this and will share it wide and far. I do hope that in the months Biden has left he also takes heed and makes some radical moves.
This is brilliant work. The kind of thing I needed to read as it collects a number of incomplete thoughts that have been bouncing around my aching brain like BBs in a blender. I thank you for slowing the tape and giving us (me) language for the pain. I hope you will see my restack.
Little is said about the disparities faced by men of color. Starting in PreK, Black Boys are pushed out of school. They are severely underrepresented in higher education and professional sector. Too often, this has been okay. It was okay to adopt their cultural identity and say words like, “ Bro” and to pretend that liking hip hop somehow made these disparities go away.
Mental health issues permeate every culture, but little is talked about when it comes to Latino men. Machismo patterns could make it hard to see; society has often rendered Latino men as invisible. Marco Rubio and his lot. We don’t know so many Latino men leading in places like Texas and New Mexico. They are invisible.
Another thought; we ultimately are responsible for ourselves. We can’t change every perspective. From white conservatives to Black radicals, we may or may not embody our family value system nor the traditional communities where we started and where we return. Do we walk away from our families because some of them don’t favor progressive views. Did we do it with every other social issue, including sexual identity, choice, human rights. Last I heard, families can be very very different. When did it become feasible and practicable to totally withdraw from each other over our politics? Let’s just be honest here. College aged youth need their parents and families. People raising children need the grandparents and aunts and uncles that make their lives complete. To thy self be true. Don’t replicate the damage that their beliefs may cause but continue to embrace your roots.
No one person or family created the Trump world. We did this together. We propped up weak systems that could be overrun by Trump world. The media focused on Trump while third party candidates were systematically excluded from the public domain. We didn’t have an outcry when the Democratic Party put resources into pushing out third party candidates instead of debating them and taking them seriously.
And then there is the campaign run by Kamala Harris drinking a beer on a talk show to prove something. Bragging about her gun ( Glock) to shoot and kill an intruder. Huh🤔. Thanking Dick Cheney for his huge contribution to society. 🫨 Dismissing the right to be heard of Palestinians at the Democratic National Convention while letting ‘ Never Trumpers’ speak after being begged to provide a forum for this human rights crisis funded by her administration. 😪Arguing for the right of women to have abortions while ignoring the murder of children and women in Palestine who must also be seen as having human rights if human rights are to mean anything. 🧐
If you want the right to abortion, ignore Palestine and the dying (killing) !!!🤔😬😞😶. If you can’t afford your rent and skimp on food, never mind the trillions sent to “ our friend” Israel which is trying to start a world war. Your children will dutifully and proudly fight in that war and die. Or be scarred emotionally! Take pride in their patriotism! 😞😪. There will be more working class among the dying than the rich!!😟🥲. Yes, many of the soldiers will be Black and Latino because they are over represented in the armed services but under represented in college and professional workforce. 😶
You are such a light. Thank you for calling us out and holding us accountable. People like you are the reason that we have a chance, even small, of surviving as a county.
I just read Robert Reich’s analysis and I would pay to hear the two of you in conversation, especially regarding the vision of who the Democratic party should be. My opinion is that the arrogance and elitism shut out people who are sick of being broke and they didn’t hear what they would get from Kamala. When a bag of chips costs $6 under Biden/Harris and it was $4 with Trump, the Dems needed to be more specific than what Harris offered.
Thank you for your words. I always appreciate reading them. I wonder how do we get the Dems and Biden off their asses to actually do something these next two months? I am doubtful it will happen. I am doubtful they actually care.
Thank you for this piece & for pushing this post to email this morning. As I read it, I handed my phone to my (cis, white) husband to read, highlighting the part about how we interact with family & friends, since next week he’ll be visiting them the red state of NC. We are constantly in conversation about the difference between anti-patriarchy and soft feminism. I will be getting us a copy of Patriarchy Blues. Appreciate you. 🙏🏼
Probably. But the argument I'm making is not a moral one but a practical one. Cutting them off just seems to make them more committed to their views and more susceptible to following someone more extreme.
But if it has been proven based on your efforts that you aren’t swaying them, what is the point to the relationship other than your comfort? The reality is that bandwidth is also finite, and it could be used to move the needle in other ways that combat what your loved one has supported.
The point is to avoid making them worse. Cutting them off makes them more committed to their view, more persuasive to others, and more prone to joining up with people who are even more extreme.
I’m scared for whoever dates you Frederick. You basically said if you cannot control the thoughts and actions of your partner then there is no point to the relationship other than comfort? How about accepting their views and the unique differences to yours? How about recognizing that there are more important things in the moment than someone’s personal free thought. I find many democratic narratives deplorable and I will still drive a relative to vote for their democrats because it is their free choice and not my job to influence them. I get more people writing me saying I was right all along than I do people upset at my vote.
I think you're mistaken about the efficacy of cutting people off for being bigoted. Everyone I've ever encountered who says racist things defends their stance by saying that they are oppressed by enforced tolerance. It's the exact reason they give for why they like Trump -- he looks like a rebel if you look through that lens. Empirically speaking, this doesn't seem to be a situation where shame and isolation work.
One of the things I identified was first challenging their stance. But if that doesn’t work and they are staunchly bigoted, then a person is just being complicit.
I understand your POV as you write it. But I will be a different voice. I voted AGAINST the dem party and would do so a million times over. As a pregnant woman during the VAX rollout, I was horrified by what the dem party was proposing with mandates and job loss and the rest. So I voted AGAINST that.
In New York they weaponized the pandemic. They attempted to force it for their own personal gain. Many of the people that pushed back were simply seeking an informed choice but were labeled conspiracy theorists and threats to the public and public health. Some people in the conservative community believe it was these actions that led to Roe v Wade being contested. Not giving us freedom of choice with our medical decisions gave conservatives the perfect opportunity to try and also control medical decisions. I don’t agree with 100% of what the republicans are pushing but I know I disagree with 1000% of what the democrats have been doing
Thank you for this piece. I'd stop reading articles for a few weeks now on the election. This is the first one I've read since the week after the election.
To the folks still in denial and saying/believing this election was about the cost of a bag of chips. Nah. So sorry, but disagree respectfully. This "vote" was NOT about the cost of a bag of damn chips or a carton of eggs or how much gas costs. RECORD holiday travelers at airports, bus stations, and train stations? RECORD travelers on the highways? HOTELS booked up. Nah. So sorry. This election was about white supremacy....or, if that term is too provocative for some of you, call it about the confederacy. If ppl are so broke, lack so many funds, how in the hell do folks suddenly got money to travel/spend three weeks after the election? We need to tell the truth about what happened here. And thank you Frederick Joseph for calling this out. I am so sick of ppl in denial about this.
Hilarious that these are your truths. Black Hispanic American here and the reason me and my friends all voted for him is because he IS the better candidate. The liberal campaign succeeded with you if you think Trump is racist or we voted for white supremacy. The irony is that the democrats are the ones obsessed with race politics and make me and my friends feel racially profiled. They are the ones who are deceptive with their motives and think we are incompetent enough to fall for their name-calling and cheap accusations. Every democrat voter is finding a new excuse to why they lost and yours seems to be tied with racist thoughts. It has nothing to do with race. Everyone is tired of what we experienced the last 4 years. Many of us voted for Obama and Clinton who were compelling candidates. Kamala has and will always be dumber than a 5th grader and her entire campaign was based on trying to make us scared of Trump and clearly it worked with 40% of the country. I don’t think all of you are incompetent just very impressionable and ready to believe everything you are told. Everything Trump saids we have seen with our own eyes. Welcome to the new era where the media has lost the trust of the people. If they produced a great person to run with an actual campaign and real ideas we would be open to vote for them but the democrats leaders showed their ass these last 12 years and no one can change us from thinking they’re racist pricks. MAGA is about uniting the country not tearing it apart.
Thank you Frederick. Of all the things I have read the past two days, this piece had me nodding my head the entire time. Myself as a white woman must do so much more in dismantling white supremacy among the people in my life and the circles I move in. I loved this and will share it wide and far. I do hope that in the months Biden has left he also takes heed and makes some radical moves.
Name checks out....
Sorry if that bothers you. Can´t help what my parents named me in 1962.
This is brilliant work. The kind of thing I needed to read as it collects a number of incomplete thoughts that have been bouncing around my aching brain like BBs in a blender. I thank you for slowing the tape and giving us (me) language for the pain. I hope you will see my restack.
Important analysis
Little is said about the disparities faced by men of color. Starting in PreK, Black Boys are pushed out of school. They are severely underrepresented in higher education and professional sector. Too often, this has been okay. It was okay to adopt their cultural identity and say words like, “ Bro” and to pretend that liking hip hop somehow made these disparities go away.
Mental health issues permeate every culture, but little is talked about when it comes to Latino men. Machismo patterns could make it hard to see; society has often rendered Latino men as invisible. Marco Rubio and his lot. We don’t know so many Latino men leading in places like Texas and New Mexico. They are invisible.
Another thought; we ultimately are responsible for ourselves. We can’t change every perspective. From white conservatives to Black radicals, we may or may not embody our family value system nor the traditional communities where we started and where we return. Do we walk away from our families because some of them don’t favor progressive views. Did we do it with every other social issue, including sexual identity, choice, human rights. Last I heard, families can be very very different. When did it become feasible and practicable to totally withdraw from each other over our politics? Let’s just be honest here. College aged youth need their parents and families. People raising children need the grandparents and aunts and uncles that make their lives complete. To thy self be true. Don’t replicate the damage that their beliefs may cause but continue to embrace your roots.
No one person or family created the Trump world. We did this together. We propped up weak systems that could be overrun by Trump world. The media focused on Trump while third party candidates were systematically excluded from the public domain. We didn’t have an outcry when the Democratic Party put resources into pushing out third party candidates instead of debating them and taking them seriously.
And then there is the campaign run by Kamala Harris drinking a beer on a talk show to prove something. Bragging about her gun ( Glock) to shoot and kill an intruder. Huh🤔. Thanking Dick Cheney for his huge contribution to society. 🫨 Dismissing the right to be heard of Palestinians at the Democratic National Convention while letting ‘ Never Trumpers’ speak after being begged to provide a forum for this human rights crisis funded by her administration. 😪Arguing for the right of women to have abortions while ignoring the murder of children and women in Palestine who must also be seen as having human rights if human rights are to mean anything. 🧐
If you want the right to abortion, ignore Palestine and the dying (killing) !!!🤔😬😞😶. If you can’t afford your rent and skimp on food, never mind the trillions sent to “ our friend” Israel which is trying to start a world war. Your children will dutifully and proudly fight in that war and die. Or be scarred emotionally! Take pride in their patriotism! 😞😪. There will be more working class among the dying than the rich!!😟🥲. Yes, many of the soldiers will be Black and Latino because they are over represented in the armed services but under represented in college and professional workforce. 😶
You are such a light. Thank you for calling us out and holding us accountable. People like you are the reason that we have a chance, even small, of surviving as a county.
Thank you for this thoughtful and insightful piece, Frederick. I continue to learn so much from you.
I just read Robert Reich’s analysis and I would pay to hear the two of you in conversation, especially regarding the vision of who the Democratic party should be. My opinion is that the arrogance and elitism shut out people who are sick of being broke and they didn’t hear what they would get from Kamala. When a bag of chips costs $6 under Biden/Harris and it was $4 with Trump, the Dems needed to be more specific than what Harris offered.
I’m a big fan of Robert’s I actually interview him for my YA book, Better Than We Found It.
I think your analysis is on point, there are so many things that took place this election.
So. Many. Things. I also agree with all of your points. The Dems need a come to Jesus. Will they finally get the message?
Thank you for your words. I always appreciate reading them. I wonder how do we get the Dems and Biden off their asses to actually do something these next two months? I am doubtful it will happen. I am doubtful they actually care.
Let’s hope Biden does something before he is out.
We must email, call, him and our reps to press him. Wishing and hoping won’t be enough, unfortunately. And we’re worth the effort❤️
Have you considered crying about it?
Thank you for this piece & for pushing this post to email this morning. As I read it, I handed my phone to my (cis, white) husband to read, highlighting the part about how we interact with family & friends, since next week he’ll be visiting them the red state of NC. We are constantly in conversation about the difference between anti-patriarchy and soft feminism. I will be getting us a copy of Patriarchy Blues. Appreciate you. 🙏🏼
Probably. But the argument I'm making is not a moral one but a practical one. Cutting them off just seems to make them more committed to their views and more susceptible to following someone more extreme.
But if it has been proven based on your efforts that you aren’t swaying them, what is the point to the relationship other than your comfort? The reality is that bandwidth is also finite, and it could be used to move the needle in other ways that combat what your loved one has supported.
The point is to avoid making them worse. Cutting them off makes them more committed to their view, more persuasive to others, and more prone to joining up with people who are even more extreme.
I’m scared for whoever dates you Frederick. You basically said if you cannot control the thoughts and actions of your partner then there is no point to the relationship other than comfort? How about accepting their views and the unique differences to yours? How about recognizing that there are more important things in the moment than someone’s personal free thought. I find many democratic narratives deplorable and I will still drive a relative to vote for their democrats because it is their free choice and not my job to influence them. I get more people writing me saying I was right all along than I do people upset at my vote.
I think you're mistaken about the efficacy of cutting people off for being bigoted. Everyone I've ever encountered who says racist things defends their stance by saying that they are oppressed by enforced tolerance. It's the exact reason they give for why they like Trump -- he looks like a rebel if you look through that lens. Empirically speaking, this doesn't seem to be a situation where shame and isolation work.
One of the things I identified was first challenging their stance. But if that doesn’t work and they are staunchly bigoted, then a person is just being complicit.
I understand your POV as you write it. But I will be a different voice. I voted AGAINST the dem party and would do so a million times over. As a pregnant woman during the VAX rollout, I was horrified by what the dem party was proposing with mandates and job loss and the rest. So I voted AGAINST that.
In New York they weaponized the pandemic. They attempted to force it for their own personal gain. Many of the people that pushed back were simply seeking an informed choice but were labeled conspiracy theorists and threats to the public and public health. Some people in the conservative community believe it was these actions that led to Roe v Wade being contested. Not giving us freedom of choice with our medical decisions gave conservatives the perfect opportunity to try and also control medical decisions. I don’t agree with 100% of what the republicans are pushing but I know I disagree with 1000% of what the democrats have been doing
Thank you. You crystallized and deepened my swirling thoughts since the outcome. Sending peace and fortitude for the work ahead.
Thank you for this piece. I'd stop reading articles for a few weeks now on the election. This is the first one I've read since the week after the election.
To the folks still in denial and saying/believing this election was about the cost of a bag of chips. Nah. So sorry, but disagree respectfully. This "vote" was NOT about the cost of a bag of damn chips or a carton of eggs or how much gas costs. RECORD holiday travelers at airports, bus stations, and train stations? RECORD travelers on the highways? HOTELS booked up. Nah. So sorry. This election was about white supremacy....or, if that term is too provocative for some of you, call it about the confederacy. If ppl are so broke, lack so many funds, how in the hell do folks suddenly got money to travel/spend three weeks after the election? We need to tell the truth about what happened here. And thank you Frederick Joseph for calling this out. I am so sick of ppl in denial about this.
Hilarious that these are your truths. Black Hispanic American here and the reason me and my friends all voted for him is because he IS the better candidate. The liberal campaign succeeded with you if you think Trump is racist or we voted for white supremacy. The irony is that the democrats are the ones obsessed with race politics and make me and my friends feel racially profiled. They are the ones who are deceptive with their motives and think we are incompetent enough to fall for their name-calling and cheap accusations. Every democrat voter is finding a new excuse to why they lost and yours seems to be tied with racist thoughts. It has nothing to do with race. Everyone is tired of what we experienced the last 4 years. Many of us voted for Obama and Clinton who were compelling candidates. Kamala has and will always be dumber than a 5th grader and her entire campaign was based on trying to make us scared of Trump and clearly it worked with 40% of the country. I don’t think all of you are incompetent just very impressionable and ready to believe everything you are told. Everything Trump saids we have seen with our own eyes. Welcome to the new era where the media has lost the trust of the people. If they produced a great person to run with an actual campaign and real ideas we would be open to vote for them but the democrats leaders showed their ass these last 12 years and no one can change us from thinking they’re racist pricks. MAGA is about uniting the country not tearing it apart.