Whose “implicit assumption” is Emily talking about?
Well, damned near everyone in this thread who seems to think that Harris is absolutely key to getting black votes, because she is black.
Seems - to you? To me it appears that the fact that black liberal voters like to vote for black candidates, is as much common knowledge as the fact that white conservative voters like to vote for white candidates.
It's all wrapped up in all of the assumptions that are being made - including by you - that race and sex are the single most important things that black and female voters care about.
Why “the most”? Maybe it’s just low-hanging fruit, borne of conservatives’ refusal to consider minorities. That has resulted in an untapped reservoir of minority talent.
On the other hand... white dems and male dems are assumed to care about policy issues and to NOT care about race or sex.
Assumed by whom? White and male Dems who care more about policy issues than about sex or race? Yeah, so?
You might see it differently, but I see it as insulting. The idea that I, as a female, only care about whether or not a candidate is the same sex as I am and that I don't care about other policy issues as my priority is offensive.
Yeah, that would be stupid. So don’t do it, ok? But you really might want to consider the viability of your chosen candidate before you choose them.
And that's the implicit assumption being made by the entire approach.
Approach? The assumption is all yours; “
this outcome can only be explained by an inherently racist, biased ‘approach’”
And it’s bullshit. People assume things, approaches don’t assume things. In this case the person is Emily.
My dad is similarly irritated by the assumption that because Harris has brown skin, he will be more inclined to vote for her, simply because she shares a similar melanin content.
If Harris needs your dad, it’s a bad assumption, held by individuals (not approaches) that you can’t identify. If she doesn’t need your dad, why should she care? Only if assuaging his irrational fear of a false “assumption” is worth more than the time it takes to do so.
The underlying premise throughout is that 1) white males who lean right will vote for white people because they're all racist and only care about skin color; 2) black and brown males will vote for black or brown candidates because they only care about skin color; 3) females will vote for female candidates because they only care about sex; 4) white males who lean left care about policies and principles and will vote on that basis regardless of the color or sex of candidates.
This repeated use of the word “only” helps you create a very false but comforting vision of the choices at hand for others.
Find me one individual who “only cares” about one of the things you decry them for “only caring” about, and I’ll show you someone who is unlikely to vote because they are probably in a mental institution.
All in all, it ends up painting white male left-leaning people as being multi-dimensional, well-rounded people with complex views not materially impacted by superficial tribalism... but that everyone else is a shallow, one-dimensional caricature who only cares about a single shallow aspect of their elected officials.
“It” does that, does it? “It” is bad. We must exterminate “it”. Damn “IT”!
Maybe painting just isn’t your forte. Consider how you’re painting whole swathes of the population. If doing that leaves you crying, this is probably not the place to seek consolation.
