Book Readers Heaven: Zerlina Maxwell Presents The End of White Politics: How to Heal Our Liberal Divide - The Author's Note

So, you may ask...Yes, I'm reading two books at once... Actually, three... I was pretty sure what this book would be talking about... I thank God that I was watching the right news program to hear about the book... This one I'm enjoying reading... All good info...

Whitehouse's book is also great information...But I get too upset with his investigation/reporting on The Supreme Court... So I read a little of this one and then spend more time with Maxwell...

For fun, I'm reading a novel about the first female president!

Back to Maxwell's Hypothetical/Future look for Us. It was written in 2020 and it's a little dated on presidential election information. But we all know that it has only gotten worse in 2024... And we are even more concerned about what the republican party intends to do... So, I thought I'd announce the book, provide the Author's Note from the front of the Book, and let you all know that it is, in my opinion, a must-read book? Why? There may be other women out there writing about these issues, but this is the first one that I've learned of... I've read beyond what I'm sharing today and have to say, I've been shocked about what she's saying about parts of the Democratic leader's followers... Needless to say that it's about a certain group of white men? It doesn't matter what party they decide to choose... More on that later...

Author’s Note

When I first sat down to write this book, it was clear that our country desperately needed a revamp when it came to political representation—and that the end of white politics was on the horizon. And then, 2020 happened and knocked our fragile democracy right off its axis. After all, I wrote this entire book before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. I wrote it before Joe Biden became the president and Kamala Harris became the vice president. I wrote it before the violent white mob stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. I wrote it before President Donald Trump was impeached for a second time. It’s like I had a crystal ball.

Americans have long been hindered by both our dark history and the inability of our leadership to confront a racist framework that has consistently prioritized white comfort over Black and Brown life. And yet, if 2020 showed us anything, it’s that the end of white politics is knocking right on our front door. Case in point: the groundbreaking election of Kamala Harris as the first female, first Black, and first South Asian vice president of the United States, which represents both the changing demographics in the United States and the shifting spectrum through which power and politics here are played.

The electorate of this country, so heavily comprised of women and people of color, yearn to be represented by people who look like them and who share their lived experiences. Harris doesn’t just represent what the end of white politics might look like; she’s ushering the end of white politics right into our living room. And yet, it’s not going to be easy. The tumultuous turmoil and civic unrest of the past year also showed us that seventy-four or so million Americans aren’t quite ready to let go of the power of their whiteness, and what’s more, they are willing to throw out the entire American democratic experiment to hold on to the promise of an America that no longer exists.

As our demographic shifts away from whiteness, our political landscape changes, and these electoral wins for our multiracial democracy provoke pushback and even violence from the fading white majority. Though our country was built on the foundations of freedom and democracy, it’s becoming quite clear that the biggest prize of all for many Americans is, in fact, power.

After the November election results came in, this lingering legacy of white supremacy affirmed that these seventy-four million people are willing to destroy the entire American democratic establishment in order to prevent a coalition of people of color from becoming a politically powerful majority. Some of those seventy-four million were so afraid that they were willing to band together and launch an insurrection on the Capitol building in January 2021. Every step from the outside of the barricade into the Capitol building—into the House chamber, the Senate chamber, and up to the Senate floor podium—was made possible by white privilege.

Every step they took without the fear of being shot or killed was undeniably white privilege. And yet, the very idea of the end of white politics is precisely what motivated the attack in the first place. When power slips from its grasp, the dying lion will always lash out. The insurrection of the Capitol was a death rattle to the America we’ve seen for the past four years—the death of America’s former king of the jungle, and the white supremacy that installed him there.

And yet, despite all of the challenges that have risen up to meet it, positive change marches forward. Since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, we have dramatically expanded the American electorate; as a result, the promised demographic shifts are becoming a reality, illustrated by big electoral wins in the 2020 election. By registering and motivating the electorate to turn out to vote and make their voices heard, Stacey Abrams and other organizers facilitated the Democratic win of the Senate majority and turned Georgia blue for the first time since the Clinton years. This is no small feat.

We’ve long considered the South full of so-called red states, but now, we’re taking our first steps toward a more diverse and inclusive future, one where all voices are considered and where the votes of communities of color aren’t suppressed. And Georgia won’t be the last red state, county, or district to turn blue. Stacey Abrams and her fellow organizers on the ground created a model for others across the rest of the nation to follow.

These powerful movements begin by conversing with the people in these communities who are so often ignored by the mainstream and helping them to raise their political voice. Every voice, every vote, counts. What’s more, leaders like Abrams are approachable, accessible, and relatable to average Americans—those who are working for a living, fearing eviction, and suffocating in student loan debt, all experiences that the millionaires in the Senate have no familiarity with and thus can never effectively legislate for.

Leaders who truly represent the American electorate feel a sense of urgency to alleviate the pressure so many Americans feel—especially in the darkest depths of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic—because they, too, feel these pressures in their own lives and lived experiences. And by electing these leaders to positions of power where they can make a real impact, we inch closer to our Founding Fathers’ goal of “freedom and justice for all.”

A week before Kamala Harris became our MVP, or Madam Vice President, my brilliant Sirius XM cohost Jess McIntosh said: “We have elected younger, more diverse, more progressive representatives since Donald Trump was elected...[including the addition of] Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock to the Senate in Georgia. This is us building a democracy.” And she’s right. We don’t get here by accident; we get here by action. To maintain this representative electorate, as well as the momentum of recent Democratic wins in states like Georgia, we have to focus on what worked and who made it work.

Ultimately, the on-the-ground organizers and leaders in these communities are the ones who truly understand the electorate they are serving and are the most fit to lead them. And by electing them, empowering them, and holding them accountable—that’s how we preserve the integrity of the more representative electorate in future generations. That’s how we promote real progress and change. And as we support the newly-created infrastructure that has elevated these leaders to positions of power, they can then, in turn, break through the barriers and open the door for even more members of a diverse electorate to join them in the chambers where policies are being made. If we want to keep moving forward, we can’t stop until our legislative is truly representative of the increasingly diverse population they serve.

When we talk about the future of American politics—that is, the end of white politics—we’re talking about building a democracy for ourselves in which the will of the people, all of the people, will reign supreme. A future where the American populace looks a lot more like Kamala Harris and less like Mitch McConnell. A future where our legislative power structure is representative and inclusive, where the lived experiences of women and people of color are not only considered but valued in the formation and passing of legislation. A future where Americans can represent themselves and see themselves represented. At the end of the day, if we want to make this idealized America a reality, we need to facilitate the end of white politics so that a new era of truly representative politics can begin. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

~~~