Keep Your Vote, I Want My Agency
A response to well-intentioned Democrats
In his recent article “My Vote Belongs to the Oppressed,” Dan Krzykowski wrote that
My vote belongs to the oppressed. I will look to them, and I will follow. I will not demand a perfect candidate, platform, strategy or message. I will look to the oppressed. When I see 94 percent of black women voters behind a candidate or party, I will amplify their voices.
Anyone who makes a different choice can count themselves among the oppressors.
My husband and I are black voters who left the Democratic Party. In attempting to shed his privilege, Krykowski called me an “oppressor.”
I appreciate the spirit of Krzykowski’s argument. But amplifying a voice and fetishizing polling data are not the same. You would have to know why 94 percent of black women voted for a particular candidate to know how to amplify their voices, no?
If one cares about “the oppressed,” why not allow them their agency? If amplifying my message is the goal — and since you never asked — here is what I want you to do for me.
Care enough to be specific. Separate “the oppressed” into actual, nameable groups in your mind.
Ninety-four percent of black women are not representative of everyone who’s underprivileged in a patriarchal and neo-colonial system. And then there’s intersectionality, of course, which complicates who is oppressed and how.
In this piece, “the oppressed” might well have been “the other.” The only thing they have in common is that they’re not privileged. He framed them only by their deficit of power. A basket of the deplored, if you will.
The only thing that they actually have in common is that they’re exploited by the system that Krzykowski’s vote perpetuates. I write more about that here.
Of course, that’s not even attempting to see one identity group as itself complex and diverse. For instance, I am in the minority of black women voters, although I find my ideas about the Democrats to be in line with other black women I know.
This is why Democrats are hemorrhaging enthusiastic support of young black people. It’s analogous to trying to prove that you’re “down” because you can rap all the lyrics to Illmatic.
Don’t look at statistics and say, “I get you.” At best it’s hokey and at worst it’s condescending. And no matter what, it only further enforces the notion that Democrats don’t understand the people they have claimed as their base.
Promote diversity of political thought
Research policies that can help everyone — like ways to close the income gap, protecting the environment, universal childcare and healthcare, etc.
Vote for the candidates who will advocate for those things. If they don’t do a good job, don’t vote for them again. At worst, you can use your privilege to initiate recall and referendum.
“We don’t need better leaders,” Krzykowski wrote. “We need better voters. There is no perfect leader. There is no perfect platform. There is no perfect strategy.”
It’s true that there is no perfect leader, nor perfect platform. It’s equally true that there are more than two acceptable choices. Blindly following the choice of “the oppressed” in a system where both parties represent patriarchy and neocolonialism isn’t really using privilege to help.
Examine closely the idea that the problem is with the voters
When we’re talking about things like institutionalized oppression, is voting for a leader who is complicit in maintaining those institutions the best way to dismantle them?
Find out how many black women grudgingly voted for the woman who was “Not Trump” as opposed to those who were enthusiastic Clinton supporters. Also see #IGuessImWithHer.
I wonder, now that Keith Ellison has lost his bid to become DNC chair, whether “the oppressed” who apparently belong to the Democrats will start to make their exit.
Write about and amplify pundits who actually represent the communities you advocate for
Have you noticed that white people write most of the opinion pieces about third parties being for privileged whites? I’m tired of you speaking for me, as if I can’t analyze politics myself.
We need more critical thinking in politics, not less. And the two-party system means that “the oppressed” have two weak choices each election cycle — more of the same, or worse.
And if you think that “better than worse” is good enough for me, I am asking you to stop advocating for black women without citing us. I do not accept you as my advocate.
If you want to use your privilege to help, please clear the political discussion space and let ‘the oppressed’ speak for themselves.
Read Dan Krzykowski’s original post here.
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