"Never Complain"

Kamala Harris is moving away from identity politics. This will have a profoundly positive effect on political culture in America.

Image via KamalaHarris.com

by Ben Cohen

I wrote about Kamala Harris’s speech at the DNC earlier this week and praised her for sending a stern message to the identity politics crowd. It was a very small part of her speech, but it marks a significant shift for Harris, who ran for office in 2020 courting the exact same crowd.

I want to dig into Harris’s message a bit more because the ramifications for the Democratic Party, and potentially America, are extremely important.

We need to look at exactly what Harris said, why she said it, and where the party goes once it moves away from the ideology that has dominated liberalism for over a decade.

Here’s what Harris said last Thursday:

“My mother was a brilliant, five-foot-tall brown woman with an accent. And as the eldest child — as the eldest child — I saw how the world would sometimes treat her.

But my mother never lost her cool. She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women’s health, and she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night. She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it. Do something about it.”

The language Harris uses is interesting. Firstly, she refers to her mother as a “brown woman” — the popularized term in left wing identity politics circles for anyone not of African American or European descent. This signifies Harris is speaking directly to that crowd. Secondly, she acknowledges the discrimination her mother experienced, telling the left that she believes racism is very real. Thirdly, she imparts the lesson her mother taught her about how to deal with racism — specifically not to complain about it, but to take action.

In short, Harris is telling the left that racism is a thing, but the politics of oppression is pointless.

Other than this brief parable, Harris notably did not speak about race or identity for the rest of her 37 minute speech. This of course was deliberate and another message to the left that identity politics was not going to play a part in her campaign.

This shift away from what is commonly referred to as “wokeism” will pay enormous dividend for Harris in the coming months. Outside of liberal bubbles, Americans of all colors intensely dislike politics that focus on race and identity, and they vote accordingly. Republicans have made major inroads with Hispanics and African Americans in recent years, upending liberal narratives that minorities automatically vote for Democrats. They don’t, and like many white liberals, have been running away from the party.

Kamala Harris has clearly recognized this problem, and by moving away from identity politics she is set to fundamentally redefine culture in the Democratic party.

The currency of oppression

I jokingly refer to neighborhood just outside of Washington DC as “ground zero” for left wing identity politics. Most of my neighbors have signs outside their houses professing their support for LGBTQ people, Black Lives Matter, or whoever the most progressive politician in the state happens to be. I know that their lawns are “bee friendly” (because they have multiple placards loudly saying so), and the local Facebook page regularly features intense arguments between white liberals on how to be a good ally to black and brown people.

While I broadly support most of these issues, I do find the constant virtue signaling a little irritating, and the lack of support for issues that would make a real difference (like affordable housing) is quite noticeable. But for the most part, the intentions are good, and the neighborhood is a good place to live.

There is however, a dark side to my neighborhood and the politics it has embraced, and it has shown me first hand why left wing identity politics has become too extreme.

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A good idea taken too far

Taking Kamala Harris’s advice, don’t read this as a complaint, but more of an observation.

At this point, I have lost count of the overtly anti-white comments I’ve heard in my neighborhood. I have been insulted for being English, told my Jewish heritage doesn’t make me a minority, been ignored by staff in coffee shops, demeaned in swimming pools with my kids, lectured randomly on British colonialism, and made to feel ashamed of my country and heritage.

In the far left world view, this is all perfectly legitimate. I am not an officially oppressed person, so insulting my skin color, country and heritage is entirely acceptable. I have “white privilege”, and have been told by other white liberals that it is my duty to grin and bear it because it is “our turn” to experience discrimination. The fact that my ancestors have experienced far more racism and prejudice that almost any other ethnic group on earth is ignored, because in the hierarchy of oppression defined solely by skin color, Jews are “white” so don’t count.

If you are an officially oppressed person (black, brown or indigenous), in my neighborhood you get to lecture your “oppressor” friends (like Jews/Brits etc) on their privilege — even if you live in an expensive house, drive a nice car, and pay for full time care for your children. If you are a white “ally”, you can shame others for saying the wrong thing and prove your virtue by expressing more guilt/allyship than everyone else.

I often worry that I’m being paranoid about this, so I check in with my wife (who is Latina) to see if I am misreading things. To my surprise, she almost always tells me I’m actually downplaying how bad it is and making excuses for people.

I am always struck by the number of neighbors I know who experience exactly the same prejudice I do, but are too scared to say anything. I certainly relate to their fear, and worry every time I publish a piece like this. But I believe it is important to speak out about these things to stop the left turning into what it claims to hate. Because by fetishizing oppression and weaponizing it to gain power over your friends and neighbors, the left has helped radicalize the right and alienated otherwise sympathetic liberals.

The election of Donald Trump was in many ways a reaction to the left’s obsession with safe spaces, white privilege, cultural appropriation, intersectionality, gender pronouns, equity, antiracism, etc, etc. While these issues are important and should be discussed, they have become religious dogma in left wing circles, and the backlash has been severe. To prevent it from happening again, the left is going to have to find a new language to talk to the American people, and a new ideological framework not based on inverting racist hierarchies or worshipping oppression.

New Kamala, new politics

Kamala Harris’s speech at the DNC was a strong signal that she believes it is time the left moved on from this fundamentalism. It was in many ways a reclamation of traditional liberalism — an ideology with proven electoral success. By supporting affordable health care, funding public education, supporting unions and pledging to support the middle classes, issues of economic and racial inequality can be addressed in tangible ways.

Kamala Harris’s presence on the Democratic ticket is in itself a testament to the power of action over complaining. She is a brown woman rising rapidly to power in a country traditionally dominated by white men, and it is proof that for all its sins, America really is a place where anyone can succeed.

The speech Harris gave last week laid out a vision for a new era of politics in America, one where the fringes don’t get to dictate how we speak and interact with one another. Ideologies that divide us into endless categories and hierarchies have had their day in the sun. Now it is time for something different, and that is what Americans must fight for in November.

Read an excerpt from the latest for Banter Members and get 50% off a Banter Membership:

Trump's Campaign Is In Even More Trouble Than You Thought

The cult of personality is disintegrating faster than anyone thought possible.

by Justin Rosario

It has been equally astonishing to watch the Trump campaign self-destruct at as it has been to watch the juggernaut Harris campaign appear almost from thin air. It is the equivalent of watching one jet plane being disassembled at 30,000 feet while watching another being built at the same height. Having one of these things happen is unusual. Both at the same time is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

But that is, in fact, what is happening. Donald Trump is undisciplined at the best of times and this is very far from the best of times. He’s cracking under the stress and my guess is he won’t last much longer. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has all of the momentum one could possibly hope for despite the media’s incessant whining that she’s not playing by the(ir) rules.

How bad/good are things going for Trump/Harris? If I were a betting man and I had wagered all of little Timmy’s college money on Trump a month ago, let’s just say little Timmy is going to have to make some hard choices when he graduates high school.

The Trump Train is coming to the end of the line (and it’s a cliff)

We’ve all watched Trump become completely unhinged since Joe Biden stepped aside. The increasingly deranged tweets. The desperate fanfiction begging Biden to come back like a jilted lover. The Republican threats to sue to force Biden back into the race. One would think Trump is afraid of Kamala Harris. He certainly seems to be afraid to debate her…

Then again, he has every reason to be. Trump’s polling is…not great…

This is an excerpt from today’s Member Only piece. To continue reading, get 50% off a Banter Membership and go here:

Trump's Campaign Is In Even More Trouble Than You Thought