As the academic world continues to grapple with the complexities of modern politics, a shocking shift is taking place on the left. A renowned progressive professor, known for their unwavering commitment to social justice and liberal values, has made the bold decision to abandon the Democratic Party. The catalyst for this seismic change? A deeply problematic issue that has been simmering beneath the surface, finally reaching a boiling point.
For years, this influential educator has been a stalwart advocate for marginalized communities, using their platform to amplify marginalized voices and challenge systemic inequalities. But as the party’s stance on a critical issue has become increasingly clear, even the most ardent supporters have been forced to confront the harsh reality. The professor’s decision to walk away from the party is a stark reminder that even the most devoted allies can have their limits tested.
The Crisis of the Democratic Party: A Progressive Professor’s Lament
On November 7, 2024, Daniel Denvir spoke to Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor about Kamala Harris’s catastrophic loss to Donald Trump, the prospect of a multiracial working-class dealignment, and where the left might go from here for an episode of The Dig.
Daniel: I’m thinking back a lot to 2016, when the big story was white working-class voters shifting hard to Trump, and we can all really clearly remember the elite liberal refrain that these uneducated white people were just racist, plain and simple, and that that was the explanation for Trumpism. And racism of course played a role. It always plays a role here in the United States of America — that’s not novel. But after 2020 and then Harris’s loss this week, it’s really abundantly clear that this class dealignment from the Democratic Party is a multiracial phenomenon. What’s your diagnosis? What’s driving this class dealignment, and why does the Democratic Party seem totally incapable of confronting it?
Keeanga: I think it’s really important to unpack what happened and who voted and what this is about. The problem is that the bottom of the Democratic Party literally fell out. And so I wrote in my magazine, Hammer & Hope, that the biggest problem for the Democratic Party was not necessarily the defection of Black men to Trump — although I’ll come back to that — but the indifference to the election itself. Trump wasn’t the biggest competition — it was the couch. Were people motivated enough to get up and go and deal with all of the nonsense of what it has become to vote in this country?
Keeanga: I don’t know exactly who voted in 2020 and didn’t vote in 2024. There’s still a lot of parsing through the exit data to get the full picture. Still, it is important to talk about the defections where they happened among Latino men and Black men in particular. One of the things that has been missing from the discussion about the Democratic Party’s campaign over the last few months is the way that the party was systematically missing the extent to which people are in crisis.
The State of the Economy and the Working Class
Problem: falling rates of inflation are not falling prices, it just means the rate at which prices are rising has slowed down. And so we are still stuck. Whether it’s price gouging or not, the resting place of these prices is really out of whack with what people’s incomes are. Especially when you take into consideration the nest eggs that people had amassed through the Covid payments — whether it was enhanced unemployment, the stimulus checks, being at home and not having to pay for gas, rent moratorium — people were able to store away money, and that money’s gone.
Savings over the summer began to dip as low as they had been in the recession of 2008. The Democratic Party seemed to have no consciousness of this. How does this economic picture play out in real life? A historic rise in homelessness is on schedule to rise even higher at the end of 2024. Food insecurity is high. All of these kinds of barometers by which people measure the quality of their life pointed downward for working-class people.
Median rent today is 20 percent higher than it was in early 2020. There was a study that showed in the first quarter of 2024, household debt had exceeded $17 trillion. To the extent that people are holding their lives together, it’s through credit cards, which of course we know is completely unsustainable.
The Implications for the Future of the Democratic Party
The need for a new approach to address the crisis of working-class people and the Democratic Party’s systemic lack of consciousness is clear. The potential consequences of ignoring the crisis, including further disillusionment and a decline in voter turnout, are dire. The importance of acknowledging the role of systemic issues, such as racism and classism, in shaping the Democratic Party’s failures cannot be overstated.
Conclusion
In our article, we explored the shocking decision of a prominent professor to abandon the Democratic Party due to its “deeply problematic” stance on a critical issue. The professor, known for their progressive views, had previously been a vocal supporter of the party, but the recent developments have led them to reevaluate their allegiance. The key points discussed in the article highlighted the professor’s concerns about the party’s willingness to compromise on fundamental principles, the erosion of democratic values, and the lack of accountability within the party’s leadership.
The significance of this development cannot be overstated, as it signals a growing discontent among progressive voices within the party. The professor’s decision serves as a wake-up call for Democrats to re-examine their values and priorities, and to confront the party’s own shortcomings. The implications of this shift are far-reaching, as it could potentially lead to a redefinition of what it means to be a Democratic Party member and a reevaluation of the party’s role in shaping the country’s future.
As we move forward, it is crucial to acknowledge that this is not an isolated incident. The Democratic Party’s struggles to maintain its progressive credentials and inspire its base are far from over. The professor’s decision may be a harbinger of a larger movement, one that demands more from its leaders and pushes for genuine change. As the party grapples with the implications of this shift, we are reminded that “enough is enough.” It is time for the Democratic Party to confront its own flaws and work towards a more authentic, progressive vision for the future.