this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2025
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electoralism

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[–] MizuTama@hexbear.net 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

As a confirmed video watcher, hexbear's one and only, another pretty goated take from F.D.in regards to how white leftists (in actuality) and "leftists"(libs) are pretty poor at race relations and often quite literally trigger black folks in argumentation and rhetoric by madlibbing electoral candidates and movements with the same sentences otherwised used by blatant racist reactionaries. Summary for non-readers (read fellow Amerikkkans) over.

Mandami, from what I've seen, is smarter than this (maybe some of y'all should be forced to take Africana studies courses as part of re-education?), and my skepticism of him is funny for a bunch of other reasons. White leftists and liberals (collectively) are notoriously bad at navigating black skepticism, but frankly, at this point, I am of the belief that in the context of the U.S., that is gonna have to be a family issue (read black) to resolve internally, especially since the liberal brain worms seem to have successfully infiltrated us as a group.

It is why I sympathize with a lot of the non-US members who get irritated at us calling them doomers in regards to our revolutionary potential (generally talking US-Canada, but vaguely western countries all kinda apply). A lot of rebuttals I've seen towards them give the same chauvinist vibes I often see non-black leftists come into black-spaces with, which is coupled with anger at... well-earned skepticism?

Anyway, the soapbox under me is creaking, and my feet hurt. thurston

Edit: Steps back on soapbox, I do think there is a bit too much grace for a lot of Black elders as well as a bit too much faith in electoralism, but that comes with F.D. I think he is technically right about the low information voter comment he made (how leftists really need to be careful in how they use it in black spaces), but I feel he implies that it isn't true when in my experience it generally is, but wtv, I'm just pre-empting some potential arguments I don't care for.

[–] qcop@hexbear.net 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

As I’m not living in the US and not completely familiar with US politics, the video felt like F.D. was hinting at a lot of recent history that I do not get.

What I think I understand is that he’s mentioning a lot of people on the left are still deeply racist but presenting as antiracist. He also mentions that a lot of white people are onboard with leftist policies until they realized it will also benefit non-white people. The background I’m missing is the part regarding the "bernie bros" and the way they were turning away black people and that older black people as well have a lot of skepticism regarding these policies as they end up getting fucked over it.

Could you educate me on both these points please?

[–] MizuTama@hexbear.net 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I'm really tired so I may double back tomorrow to this, but in essence historically the American left has fairly consistently abandoned black people in almost uniformed fashion in favor of social democratic reforms with explicit carve outs to exclude black people. The easiest examples to trace are the exclusions carved into the New Deal.

This has lead to a fairly consistent skepticism for the left by black Americans, particularly in cases where it isn't black led. With Bernie's general social democratic policy, the skepticism was already there and it also met a cross roads with white-chauvinism whenever the skepticism was expressed essentially policing the historically earned skepticism with a combination of condescension, distain, and vitrol. Worker's parties and the like have historically seen black exclusion, and many of us are either vaguely or acutely aware of this phenomenon.

The exclusion isn't just throwing black people to the wolves for self benefit, but has also seen actively sabotaging movements at the inclusion of black people. If I recall correctly, there is a noticable drop in support for social welfare policies if they are phrssed in a way where there is active awareness that black people would benefit from it, even if the person being questioned would benefit as much or more.

It's beyond "fuck you I got mine," and veers into "fuck getting mine if you get yours."

Edit: I'd recommend a reading or video but I'm struggling to recall much with my current fatigue. lil bill's The Left has a Whiteness problem covers it however a massive disclaimer needs to be placed since he has little to no regard for MLs (he's from my gathering a black nationalist though does seem to think socialism is needed for black liberation). I also know sections of Revolutionary Suicide by Huey Newton covers how it manifested into organizational issues for the Panthers but I still haven't finished that so can't say to the full degree which it's covered.

For further off the cuff modern context, a decent amount of Bernie Bros deviated to the populist right or are part of spheres such as "Breadtube" where diamonds such as ContraPoints and Destiny were staples. Many people that nominally diverged from them still haven't shaken the chauvinism (though in some cases this seems to be willfully maintained) and frankly don't seem to really care for the concerns of Black Americans further than our use for coalition building for their re-elevation.

This isn't to pretend I think the Black-working class is a day away from revolution either, while I am a bit young from witnessing this, from what I've seen there was mass liberal buy-in during the Obama era, where much of the democratic stronghold before appeared tactical, a lot of it seems to have transformed into legitimate believe in the system.

[–] qcop@hexbear.net 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for taking the time! I’ll go dig a bit on the exclusions in the new deal. Feel free to double back tomorrow if you want to add more.

[–] MizuTama@hexbear.net 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Here is a quick article on how it effected housing for example (source is low-key cringe but I'm lazy rn):

https://www.history.com/articles/housing-segregation-new-deal-program

Some terms for search related to the housing parts are redlining, environmental racism, and exclusionary zoning. Housing in particular not only gives insights into the historic distrust, but also how the class war obscufates itself in America on its other fronts.

[–] qcop@hexbear.net 5 points 8 months ago

Thanks! I’ve got all I need to dig deeper now

[–] Feinsteins_Ghost@hexbear.net 3 points 8 months ago
[–] HumanBehaviorByBjork@hexbear.net 2 points 8 months ago

yeah, never surrender, don't get old, and spit in their face every chance you get

[–] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 2 points 8 months ago

I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The DNC holds the electorate in contempt and does not, can not be reformed. The party should not have any life support, including Zorhan.