Democratic Decisions
Last week Detroit hosted two major national gatherings that point the way to a much better future. The first was the Black 2 Just Transition Assembly & Training organized by the Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council. Over 100 activists who have helped forge a new consciousness about our responsibilities to one another and the earth gathered to create a progressive agenda rooted in care for one another and our earth. The second, Facing Race, brought together nearly 3000 activists, artists, intellectuals, and organizers to think together about how to create a world that welcomes, supports, and protects all people. These gatherings reminded me of how important it is to look beyond the manipulations of the White House to understand the deep possibilities of people to fashion a new way forward.
Certainly, much of this mid-term election affirmed what many people already know. Our nation is shaped by an enduring, vicious, white racist nationalism that is intent on protecting the power and privilege of an increasingly small number of white men. Paul Krugman explained the power of the rural-dominated Senate saying, "What Donald Trump and his party are selling increasingly boils down to white nationalism — hatred and fear of darker people, with a hefty dose of anti-intellectualism plus anti-Semitism, which is always part of that cocktail.”
Glen Ford, writing in the Black Agenda Report concluded of the election: “Whites are firmly committed to an openly white nationalist political program under the leadership of a billionaire huckster who speaks their vile language. Although the GOP remains a minority party -- Democrats outpolled them in House races by 7 to 9 percent – white supremacists remain the largest bloc in the U.S. political spectrum.”
The capacity of a ruthless minority to impose its will on the majority is an old story. They have centuries of experience to draw upon. And they are proving to be especially inventive in creating new methods of exerting control.
But the democratic impulse also runs deeply in this land. At both of these gatherings, people are developing concrete programs and plans to protect the basic rights of people and to protect the planet. They are consciously establishing connections among individuals and organizations to advance our collective thinking, share strategies, and enlarge our visions of what is possible. They are placing the leadership of people of color in the center of creating our future.
Many of the folks who gathered had been involved in the election campaigns, especially those that brought the largest number of women of color to Congress in our history. But more importantly, many more are involved in fashioning democratic practices that undermine minority control. Across the country, people initiated direct, democratic decision-making in the form of ballot initiatives. In 37 states, there were 157 ballot measures. The vast majority of these initiatives expressed our concern for one another. They gave voice to our desire to expand the functioning of democracy and our willingness to collectively pay for health care, living wages, better schools, and public responsibilities. For example, Florida passed an historic proposal that will allow 1.4 million ex-felons to regain the right to vote. Several states, including Michigan, passed efforts to make voting easier and to place control of redistricting in the hands of people, not partisan politicians. Cities across the country addressed the need for affordable housing, protecting renters, and making land more affordable. The rights and protections of transgender people were affirmed.
We should not underestimate the ruthless advance of racialized finance capital which is out to destroy any vestige of democratic control. But the desire of people to live with dignity, with compassion for one another, and care for our earth is our enduring legacy, to be protected and nurtured. This is a path to liberate our futures.