As Democrats try to rebound from what feels like a major loss with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, now is the time to hunker down, refocus efforts, and strategize like never before. November is coming and although there are some races where Democrats have a good chance of winning, nothing is guaranteed. That’s especially true if suburban women, young voters, and voters of color fail to show up at the polls. While all evidence points to women being angry and fired up to vote blue, it’s also true that Republicans are energized by their Kavanaugh victory. And Republicans are nothing if not reliable when it’s time to vote. To that end, for Democrats to get closer to the Blue Wave that we are all so desperate for, its time to do something radical that the party hasn’t quite done before: follow the leadership of black women.
Over the past month, Democrats fought tooth and nail to reject Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Sadly, it didn’t work. And since the weekend, there have been many think pieces written about Sen. Susan Collins’ role in the confirmation process and how often white women side with patriarchy and white supremacy instead of choosing to do the right thing. This is absolutely true. This fact alone should make us think long and hard about how white women, both liberal and conservative, have much work to do when it comes to addressing the toxicity of their racial privilege. Susan Collins may represent the 53 percent of white women who voted for Trump, but our problem is bigger than that. Our problem is that so many white people (of all gender identities) don’t seem to have a vision for something bigger—a collective vision for freedom and liberation or a sense of hope that extends beyond themselves. And that’s why time and time again, they continue to vote for a party that doesn’t care about them.
It was interesting to see this lack of vision play out during the Kavanaugh hearings. As Anne Branigin from The Root so aptly identified, it wasn’t the country that was actually divided over Kavanaugh—it was white people who were. Despite reports and polls from news outlets around the country stating that most voters believed Ford over Kavanaugh, with the majority of them being women, the data actually revealed deep racial divides across various viewpoints.
Those results would reveal that 83 percent of black and 66 percent of Latinx voters believe Blasey Ford, compared to a mere 40 percent of white voters. And that 80 percent of black and 69 percent of Latinx voters considered her honest compared to just 54 percent of white voters. [...]
According to the Quinnipiac poll, nearly half (47 percent) of white women considered Kavanaugh to be honest. The numbers for black and Latinx voters? Just 7 percent and 34 percent, respectively. A plurality of white women did believe Blasey Ford (46 percent)—but it was nowhere near the majority, as was the case with black and Latinx voters.
Looking at this divide by political party, it comes as no surprise that Republicans galvanized around the idea of protecting wealthy white malehood. That’s just what they do. But even Democrats were divided, with many saying that Kavanaugh’s confirmation was a foregone conclusion and that we should focus our energy solely on the midterms. Midterms are, of course, critically important for Democrats. But this either/or approach ignored the critical mass of energy and collective movement-building that took place during the Kavanaugh fight. Anti-violence and social justice organizations across issues (gender-based violence, racial justice, sexual violence, labor organizers) all came together to stand against this nominee and this administration. This represents a major turning point for progressive activism during the Trump administration. Finally, we have a coalition of varied organizations and people who see their fights as intertwined. This is necessary and important for our future organizing and for defeating Trumpism in the coming years.
It is women of color, and most especially black women, who are leading the way in this effort. This is because it is black women and women of color who have a vision for freedom that includes everyone. That’s why we spend so much time serving in our communities, churches, schools, workplaces, and philanthropic organizations. It is why when we go to the polls, we bring everyone with us. It is why we spent so much time in Virginia and Alabama going door-to-door in neighborhoods, talking to other black people, asking them what’s important in their lives, and then talking about how they can and should be active participants in the democratic process. Black women have never just been about ourselves and what would make our lives better as individuals. We’ve always been looking out for everybody. It’s hard to imagine what the world would look like if we stopped.
As we think about next steps, it’s a hard truth that we’ve been playing catch-up since 2016. There have been some surprising Democratic wins—especially in the special elections in Virginia and Alabama, which were largely won due to the organizing and turnout of black women. But midterms are going to represent a test of both how the country feels about Donald Trump and how they feel about Democrats. It’s not going to be enough to be the party that is anti-Trump. We have to have a compelling vision for what we represent. There are certain races where there is the potential for historic change (like the gubernatorial races in Georgia and Florida). Those seem to be the ones garnering the most enthusiasm and energy. But, as we know, every race is important. And sadly, that message seems not to be getting out to the people who need to hear it the most.
On Tuesday, MSNBC showed a segment where reporter Jacob Soboroff went to the University of California Irvine to ask students about their plans to vote in the midterms. The responses were jarring and do not bode well for Democrats.
There is a lot of disagreement in terms of what went wrong in 2016. Pointing the finger at young people and voters of color is a simplistic yet popular theory. It is reductive because it doesn’t address the nuances of voter suppression nor the poor job that Democrats did in engaging these voters beyond the election cycle. It also ignores that black women did come out and have consistently been coming out for every election in the last three cycles. But, most importantly, it also ignores something we know well by now, which is that white people across almost every demographic voted overwhelmingly for Trump. That’s where we should be pointing the finger, asking questions, and thinking about new ways of leading in order to engage the electorate. We cannot afford to do the same thing and expect a different result.
The current leadership in the Democratic Party remains overwhelmingly white—though there has been a much more concerted effort to recognize the leadership of black women and other people of color. Still, for us to win in November, we’ll need to harness the resilience, energy, commitment, and organizing strategies of black women. We’ll need to center black women. There are currently black women-led organizations as well as individuals who are working at grassroots levels to bring home Democratic wins in the South. This is a monumental effort, and it’s working. As you look at the polls in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and even Mississippi, these states are close to electing or have already elected black men and women at the local and state level. Black women’s organizing, leadership, and vision is changing the South. We need to let it change America as well.
In order to do that, Democrats must employ black women as strategists, coordinators, directors, etc., at the national level—not just on campaigns but in the party’s national leadership. While everyone else is brooding over the Kavanaugh confirmation, black women remain steadfast in our planning, strategizing, and organizing. We have a model that can turn out everyone—not just black voters. It’s time to follow our lead. We’ve been here before and we know how to do this work. It is black women who have the collective vision for freedom and liberation that America so desperately needs. And since this vision is so desperately lacking among so many of our white counterparts, following the leadership of black women may be the only hope this country has.