If the concerns of black communities were to get any traction, it would have to be by way of a form of what Harris calls “wink and nod” politics. Black voters would elect black politicians with the understanding that the politicians are constrained by white racism in terms of what they can address explicitly. But black voters are to trust them implicitly—because they are black, we assume that they will act on behalf of the interests of black people. The danger of this trust is obvious. Black voters can easily find themselves saddled with politicians who symbolically represent them, but who
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