A Horse of a Different Color: the SD50 DFL and thier Progressive racism problem

I’ll often hear other activists  discuss how they have been put down or attacked  by racist neoconservative Republicans, usually over something criminal justice related, and the assumption that anyone with a darker complexion has a lengthy criminal record or is anti cop and soft on crime.

Amateurs. Wait until you’ve had to put up with all that noise while also getting bullied around on by racist liberal white democrats because you've challenged them on their nonsense. White Liberal Progressives or as I prefer to call them "Progressive Racist" are the worst kind of progressive. They attempt to put people of color in boxes and order them to think a certain way and when they don't they proceed to question their legitimacy.

It happens to me all the time. In fact, sometimes it's hard for me to figure out who hates me more — the GOP who think that I am " way too liberal" or white progressives liberals who have an issue with the fact that I think for myself and don't fall victim to their "sirens song" of ideological purity.

I recently was involved in a campaign in Senate District 50 and to this day I believe that the SD50 DFL owes an apology to a variety of different players in the campaign and a lot of different community leaders because quite frankly they were patently offensive. I had one fired up fired up progressive cite that she "really stuck her neck out when she door knocked on Lake Street." I also had derogatory comments made about my hair because I let it grow naturally.

Another member sat right in front of myself and another individual with a disability and talked about how his mother had recently passed away. He inherited her house but unfortunately he also "inherited his disabled brother" and proceeded to go into a 10-15 dialogue about what a burden his brother was to him and society and what's even worse is the other members of the party sat there nodded their heads and agreed with it.

Perhaps you view the above comments as trivial or maybe your saying "Oh Noah we didn't mean it that way, you misconstrued it". Fine. Then I would encourage you to consider the  white liberal in Richfield who after I said I wasn't a huge Hillary Clinton fan told me that I should just suck it up and vote for her out of gratitude to the Democratic because they fought for affirmative action initiatives that have provided me with all opportunities I have here in Minnesota or this just absolute delight of a woman in Edina who told me I should go back to Africa and take Donald Trump with me after I expressed that I didn't think Medicaid for all was the Panacea (Neither does Dean Philips but let's not get the issue confused with facts or anything)... but anyways apparently, dog whistles and the utilization of racial tropes aren't just for the GOP anymore. Are people of color are criminal and pre- destined for the Hennepin County Workhouse? Are people with disabilities degenerates, who have little substantive value other than to burden  society ? or is the SD50's DFL basic understanding of diversity just a few French fries short of a happy meal?

I’ve been around the block a few times. I grew up in Carver County, the most ultra conservative county in the state, I started off my political career in the Southern Indiana back when Mike Pence was Governor and I encountered more than my share of close minded people but I can honestly can say that I have never been more personally offended than in having to deal with the Limousine Liberals in the Bloomington area. There is something about them that is just royally obnoxious.

There really shouldn't be any reason that a candidate can run for Bloomington School board on the sole basis that they're Anti -LGBTQA and win and yet a candidate managed to win on this exact issue in Bloomington School District and they sit there and ponder how this person won and  I can tell them why, It's because in many ways they're merely a "horse of a different color"  except you know the GOP doesn't care about marginalized communities, while these "progressive racists" feign concern, say and do these types of things  in a more nuanced fashion and they say it from a top down from a position of moral superiority, as if they have some sort of right to sit around and tell communities of color what to do. In short, they talk the talk, rarely do they walk the walk.

These types of progressives really only have one frequency when it comes to diversity and racial inequity in Minnesota. They talk incessantly about racism on the right because they have a need for moral superiority and the occasional "black friend" and the Republicans never fail to play right into that narrative by saying or doing whatever outlandish thing it is they're going to say or do today. It's not like it's a secret that the modern GOP has gone off the deep end and they try  to portray marginalized communities as dumb, dangerous, diseased and determined to change their perceived social order of the nation. That rhetoric of this attack used to be really offensive and it still is but it's expected of them and it's really just kind of boring and unimaginative at this point.

Still, as a person of color and a person with a disability who advocates, votes and writes , the progressive racists all  made sure I knew about a recent interview that Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa did  and I hear all about Donald Trump's tweets but at the end of the day it really all just comes down to the same nativist math and the simple fact that whether or not they're a Republican or a Democrat, Racists are like cars, to see what you’re dealing with, you have to look under the hood.

Being Disabled and PROUD

This past month we recognized the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots. Since then, we have recognized the month of June as Pride Month in which we remember how far the gay rights movement has come and recognize the resilience of the LGBTQ Community.

Unfortunately, at a time when diversity and inclusion are front and center in the discussion, people with disabilities continue to be absent from the dialogue. Just last year, the historic Stonewall Inn bar denied entrance to a blind queer person because they didn’t provide paperwork for their service dog, in violation of Title III of the American with Disabilities Act.

That is only one of many examples of how Pride remains mostly inaccessible to individuals with disabilities. Accessibility issues are a rampant problem and they are present in gay bars, parties, big parades, as well as protests and rallies. I haven’t looked but I am willing to bet if I had gone and looked at the website for Twin Cities Pride, it probably flunks digital accessibility standards across the board.

While each individual experiences a disability differently, the obstacles experienced speak to a common theme that people with disabilities are asexual or incapable of being in a relationship.  At the core of the concept of Pride is the invitation for people to be Proud of their body, their sexuality, etc . However the same invitation is all too often denied to persons with disabilities, despite the fact that they want the same thing that everyone wants in life: understanding and not to be “othered”

Including people with disabilities at the table should never be an afterthought but rather a priority because as Elizabeth Warren once said If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu. Both the LGBTQ and Disability communities have spent an ample amount of time on the menu and recognizing opportunities for such inter-sectional solidarity can only serve to benefit both of us.