Dear Lefty White Male

Em Burnett
Jul 21, 2017 · 3 min read

You’re right. You know what? Bernie would have won. He would have cleaned Trump’s clock. Maybe we’d all be in a socialist utopia right now if he had.

Maybe we’d also still have structural racism, sexism, and gigantic barriers to progress that continue to lurk beneath the surface of your socialist wet dream. Either way, we’ll never know. Either way, Bernie didn’t win. He lost. Big time. Sure, the Democratic Party establishment didn’t support his candidacy. Sure, there was definitely structural and institutionalized bias that existed in favor of the establishment candidate. You’re right there, too.

But Bernie absolutely sucked at connecting with nonwhite voters. Terrible! He SUCKED. He was TRASH.

Are you getting defensive? Don’t. Be strong. Be very strong! You can do it.

I know what you’re thinking: “Nonwhite voters just didn’t know. They just didn’t heed Bernie’s call!” Because of course you and only you truly know what nonwhite voters are thinking. Where does that impetus of yours come from, by the way? Keep in mind that everyone — everyone — who is white in a structural white supremacist society carries out daily acts of racism. Don’t think that’s some far away concept. It’s not.

But back to Bernie’s nonwhite problem and the fact that you, laughably, probably think you know what’s best for nonwhite voters more than those voters do. Let’s clear one thing up quickly here: You don’t.

You don’t know better than nonwhite voters and women voters. Why do you think you do? Is it the purity of your arguments? The clarity of your thought? Given that the Democratic electorate is nearly entirely reliant on women and people of color, why should your voice be our clarion call?

You aren’t the only one who knows that corporate cash is the rotten core of the Democratic Party. You’re not the singular force calling for a takedown of capitalism. You aren’t alone in the feeling that neo-liberalism is one helluva shitty drug. And you are joined by many — millions of us, even! — who can make that argument stronger than you can.

But you’re louder. You have more conviction. And you have more power, whether you want it or not. And I don’t mean to say that all white lefty men are terrible. Of course you’re not. Most of you are not terrible. But we can’t follow you, I’m afraid. Not until you deeply understand your own privilege.

Our solidarity lies in uniting all working and middle class voters. We don’t do that by tiptoeing around the giant chasm of racism and every other structural barrier that exists in our minefield of oppression (that you, for the most part, are likely unaware of on a personal level). It’s not easy. Our country has literally never done it. But we’re going to need you to try. Because you’re good. You’re the good white guys! And you know how important it is that we defeat fascists and planet-destroying corporate wealth-hoarders.

So please sit tight while we wait for a woman of color to take the reins. And when that happens, please examine your own sexism because we all know it’s fucking there.

Love and solidarity,

Us

)

Em Burnett

Written by

Digital strategist, writer & politico in Maine

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