"White Working Class Voters"

1,940,000.

That's the number of search results I got a few minutes ago when I googled "white working class voters." 1,940,000.

This is a phrase that has been bugging me more and more over the last few months, as I have heard and read it at least three or four times a day as what Jon Stewart refers to as the "Long, slow, seemingly endless Bataan death march to the White House" grinds on and on.

But you know, that phrase has always kinda bugged me. Pundits generally preface their use of the phrase by explaining that they are talking about white folks without college degrees - but more and more that feels misleading to me - because even with this definition of terms, everybody knows the "code-speak" that is about to be invoked.

We do not live in a society where it is generally acceptable to openly discuss or express our racist attitudes. We are all supposed to have "transcended" race by now, and people, especially in exit polling, are extraorinarily reluctant to appear racist.

But we all know it's there - we all know that race IS a big issue in our culture and in this campaign. But we can't/won't talk about it directly. So we do what we always have - we resort to the tried and true method of coded speech.

Early in the Democratic primary, when Obama was racking up victories in places like my home state of Wisconsin or Iowa - which both have TONS of white folks without college degrees - there was no mention whatsoever of "white working class voters." It wasn't until the campaign moved into the South and into Appalachia, that this particular phrase became ubiquitous.

"White working class voters" has become a code phrase to describe white folks who are afraid of, uncomfortable with, or just plain opposed to - a black President. It has become a useful way of talking about the very real race-based (racist) challenge a black candidate faces - without actually having to call it by it's name (racism) or having to single any white folks out as still holding onto viewpoints which we pretend we have left in the past.

Sometimes, however, the veneer wears thin and the actual racism behind the code-phrase becomes more apparent. A good example of this is when Hillary Clinton described Barak Obama as being unable to win over her supporters, "working, hard-working Americans, white Americans." This statement reveals a good deal about all the coded meaning that is packed into that phrase - that to be a "hard working" American means to be a "white" American. This plays into well established opinon polling which has shown over and over again that as many as "one half to three quarters of white Americans possess at least one negative and racist sterotype about black people" - like, for example, "black people don't have a strong work ethic."

But are all white people (or even most)without college degress racists? Of course not! To create and uncritically feed a phrase like "white working class voters", which is clearly a coded way of talking about people with racist attitudes is unbelieveably offensive to me - just as any other racist sterotype is. It's no different than saying that black people are lazy or all Asian kids are academic superstars with no social skills. Or that white guys can't jump. It's just stupid.

I am from as white and working class a town as anyone can find in America - Grafton, Wisconsin. Are a lot of those folks white and working class? Yes, definately. Are there racists there? Yes, definately. But to extend those traits to all people living in Grafton, Wisconsin is absurd and demeaning. Reducing any group of people to nothing more than a monolithic blob not only denies the essential humanity of that group - but it also removes them from the equation altogether, creating an empty canvas (Nascar dads, Starbucks democrats etc.)that other people can project anything they want onto - in this case "white working class voters" (white people without college degrees)have been used by pundits and politicians alike to project the widespread and mostly unspoken racial and racist fears our society has yet to deal with.

Oregon has a higher percentage of whites without college education than Pennsylvania, for example, as well as a lower median househole income - and yet Obama won a clear majority of those groups, including union households. Are these not "white working class voters?" Of course they are - but they are not the kind of "white working class voters" pundits are talking about when they use that phrase.

I believe we need to stop all this code-talking, and the news media needs to step up to the plate and begin to police themselves more critically and more aggressively. It is interesting to me that Obama is often lauded for "transcending" race - which also seems to be code for a couple things: a)Obama doesn't talk about race very much, and rarely addresses the endemic oppression still faced by people of color in this country and b)he's almost like one of "us" but with different skin tone.

Nominating a black man is a great thing, but it does not mean we have "transcended" our racist heritage or the massive discrimination in health care, employment, the justice system and housing, among others.

Has any white candidate ever been asked or expected to "transcend" whiteness?

It is interesting to me that even as the dominant media has been engaging in a constant and blatantly race-based dialogue under cover of code-speech like "white working class voters" - African Americans like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright are roundly excoriated for NOT speaking in code! I do not believe that the controvercial things Wright sometimes says are any more offensive than some of the carefully coded inferences I hear on CNN every day (and have you listened to the truly frightening stuff the Rev. John Hagee, a white supporter of John McCain has said?!). So is it what Wright SAYS that makes people so upset - or is it that he refuses to speak in code, like the rest of "polite" society?

I understand the political and social context of this election. And I understand that, from a pragmatic point of view - Barak Obama (and any other black candidate)has to play along to some extent if there is to be any hope at all of being elected. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

As Tim Wise writes in Lip Magazine", "We have taken racism to an entirely new and disturbing level, one that bypasses all the old and all-encompassing hostilities of the past, and replaces them with a new, seemingly ecumenical acceptance in the present. But make no mistake, it is an ecumenism that depends upon our being made to feel good, and on our ability to glom onto folks of color who won't challenge our denial let alone our priveleges, even if they might like to."

Let me be very clear - I am not endorsing a candidate. But I am arguing that any talk about "transcending" race without actually dealing with race - is a dead end and an illusion. Code-speech is one of the age-old vehicles of racism, and until we can speak openly and honestly (even when we won't like what we hear)we will remain shackled.

Unfortunately I expect we will hear a lot more code-speech now that the general election is starting - and I hope that this time more of us (especially in the media) will step up to expose and denounce such language every time it opens its mouth.

Sometimes Things Just Work Out

You know how sometimes it feels like we work and work and work at things but never feel like we’re getting anywhere?

I know I feel like that sometimes (or even more often, depending how things are going…) – but today is not one of those days!

In just the last couple days I have had wonderful news from two of the groups of workers I have been helping out this year. I work with an inter-faith clergy group organized by my good friend and colleague the Rev. Daniel Klawitter, a Methodist Minister who works for F.R.E.S.C. (don’t you love acronyms?) – the Front Range Economic Strategy Center.

FRESC, and the diverse clergy group I work with are committed to the following principles:

• Coloradans who work hard should be able to provide for their families and have the opportunity to achieve a good quality of life.
• The public should have a meaningful voice in the government decisions and investments that impact their communities and their lives.
• Economic development should build environmentally safe and sustainable communities where ordinary people can afford to live and work.



FRESC utilizes policy development and advocacy, academic-level actionable research, community organizing and non-partisan civic engagement to promote the creation of jobs that pay family-sustaining wages with benefits, housing and health care which are affordable to all families, and neighborhoods that are environmentally safe and sustainable.

Our clergy group, which is made up of clergy from Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist and a variety Protestant Christian denominations, works side by side to help bring these principles to life right here in our own back yards.

But as I said before – lots of the time progress is hard to see and victories can feel few and far between.

But not today.

Just this week I have received two wonderful emails, with victories attached. In both cases, members from our clergy group first met with workers and then reached out separately to management, offering our support and encouraging a fair and peaceful resolution of their differences on behalf of our congregations and faith traditions as well as ourselves.



The first was from a group of workers who work as therapists, teachers, counselors and assistants at a school for children with severe disabilities, behavioral issues and mental health concerns. Workers there have been fighting for well over a year now to improve workplace health and safety (which are big issues there), to improve staff/client ratios and to provide a higher quality of care.

After enduring months of aggressive and illegal intimidation and retaliation, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that the school had indeed been violating their employee’s rights in many ways, some of them very serious. The primary author of these violations has been forced to resign and the workers are now more hopeful than ever that they can finally turn the page on all the unnecessary conflict and get back to what really matters – helping to transform the lives of the children they serve.

The second email was from a group of hotel cleaning staff at the Hyatt Regency downtown. You can read my original blog posting here: http://acrossthethresholduu.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html



I always had a good feeling about this one. Not only were the workers simply wonderful people – so full of commitment and integrity and a palpable spirit of solidarity – but the management team seemed genuinely committed to making things better as well. In an unusual gesture of goodwill, for example, the management negotiating team was perfectly open to having our clergy delegation join both sides at the bargaining table to speak our peace as ministers and community members and to stay for the rest of the session as observers. This is very unusual, and I was heartened by their open and relatively healthy approach to the problems at hand.

But that was WAAAY back in September!

Still, I was thrilled to get a thank-you note from the workers today. They were writing to let us know that they have finally come to a fair and just agreement with the hotel, and agreement which should drastically decrease workplace injuries while also lowering the costs of health care, increasing wages and giving them an active and constructive voice in their working lives.

So if you ever need a good hotel in Denver, I am more than happy to recommend the Hyatt Regency, where you can sleep well knowing that your pleasant and comfortable stay (and especially your immaculately clean room!) comes compliments of safe, secure and healthy employees - and a company which is fulfilling its commitment to be a good corporate citizen.

Boy do I love sharing good news!