The power of identity-based politics

Black women for Harris, Black men for Harris, white women, white dudes...

….and also Latinas, lawyers, doctors, cat ladies, and — for cryin’ out loud — Mormons (they set a target of 10k to join the call). I even found this, Evangelicals for Harris. I mean…

Look at all these people gathering in their own groups, working toward one goal.

Funny enough, I have always been warned away from this, which I suppose could be called identity politics, but in this case? It’s working. From Koritha Mitchell in Time:

If we were a more honest nation—to take a seemingly harmless example—our bookstores wouldn’t stop at labeling sections of works by “African American Authors” and “Asian American Authors.” They would also label “White Authors” because neither a white writer nor the work they produce is racially neutral.

So people gathering with their own groups isn’t necessarily something to be feared. It can be an effective way to move a mountain, one rock at a time.

I’m a latecomer to this. When Black women met for Harris, that just seemed smart. And then when Moms Demand Action’s Shannon Watt suggested white women do the same, I didn’t immediately leap. After a disastrous four years in office, Trump was still able to attract white women to his awful politics. I cannot get my head around that.

But I joined the Zoom call, anyway, and listened to women talking about acknowledging and leveraging their privilege, and earning the trust of Black women who have been rallying all along. The call raised millions and broke Zoom. I only sat in on one of these Zoom calls and I didn’t hear a single solitary smidgen of anything but respect for the other groups — especially people who can teach the rest of us things. I feared I’d hear otherwise, but nope.

That is not to pat ourselves on the back, or to say that white women perched high on the socio-economic ladder can do this without enlisting the rest of our sisters. Quite the contrary. All women are critical to this election.

From what I’ve read, each Zoom call has had its own particular flavor. Including Jeff Bridges in the White Dudes for Harris call? Priceless.

I’ve also read some arch reporting aout these calls — especially the call for white women — that seemed to entirely miss the point. These calls, to me, do not signal that we’ve given up on walking across the racial gaps. These calls do, however, acknowledge that for now, in this time and in this place, this is necessary.

We turn to Mitchell for the last word:

Coalition requires acknowledging that there are very real differences, but that those differences matter less than working together to make gains that benefit people far beyond one’s family and friends. Groups that operate in solidarity with groups that are undeniably different are taking steps that run counter to what American culture encourages and are operating in ways that will ultimately make the United States less hostile for more people.