John Halpin won't win any popularity contests in the Democratic party with this analysis of place vs. race as focus for Democrats. But he's just right about this.
"America’s infamous political tribalism precludes common action on multiple policy fronts. Democrats think one way, Republicans another—and the twain shall never meet. Caught in the middle are millions of struggling workers and their families who desperately need a hand up but end up as political waste in a never-ending war over competing ideological frameworks and arcane terminology that blocks collective action to assist those most in need.
It doesn’t help matters when political parties present their ideas in ways scripted to generate confusion and sectarian divisions. One major example of this is the often well-intended but politically flawed race-based policy approach favored by the contemporary left and Democrats as a catch-all explanation and solution to America’s economic problems.
The flaws in this approach are obvious: (1) race-based policies are almost always unconstitutional—the government can’t set out to help one group or hurt another based on their race, sex, religion, or national origin; and (2) race-based policies are disastrous politically driving wedges between different groups of working-class people that inhibit majority action on important economic changes and fuel backlash politics that leave everyone worse off.
Yet, much of the policy and political work conducted in the progressive movement today refuses to confront or even acknowledge these limitations. It’s too bad because many smart and committed people within this same network of analysts, activists, and political leaders pursued an excellent alternative approach just a few short years ago: place-based policy analysis."
Read the rest at The Liberal Patriot!
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