“Why Hillary Clinton can get away with not talking about Ferguson”
“Democrats aren’t likely to get much of a primary campaign this cycle. And that’s a shame. Not because there’s anything wrong with Hillary, but because it’s a lost opportunity to put new issues on the table. So far it’s been left to idiosyncratic Republican Rand Paul to make the boldest statement of any prominent national politician. And good for him. But the Democratic Party, with its more multiracial coalition, is going to continue to be the political vehicle for the interests of people of color for years to come. The problem is the lack of a contested primary is denying the country the circumstances in which high-profile Democrats are forced to address the issues that Ferguson has placed squarely on the national agenda.”
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6046247/hillary-clinton-ferguson/in/5495477
I find this idea of the democrat party as the political vehicle for people of color really important. It sort of plays into this ongoing question about being a non-White American when not being White makes a person a special interest. It also points out the ways that being labelled a liberal is very distinct from being a social progressive, because liberalness can be so lazy.
I think there is a problem with people feeling that they can not be racist or sexist because they self-identify as liberal democrats and agree with all the issues liberal democrats believe in. In the highly liberal community where I grew up, there was a tendency to compare oneself to the caricature of the prejudiced Republican, find oneself to be favorable, and fail to engage in any real self-criticism or education. This constant self-congratulation led to a failure to see, for example, the absurd levels of racial segregation and the problematic ways that played out in my high school.
It is a shame that self-critique is not more a part of the ‘liberal tradition’.
