Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own

by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

Much is made today of the necessity to reach out to the disaffected Trump voter. This is the latest description of the “silent majority,” the “Reagan Democrat,” or the “forgotten American.” For the most part, we are told, these are the high-school-educated white people—working-class white people—who feel left out of an increasingly diverse America. These are the voters left behind by a Democratic Party catering to so-called identity politics—as if talking about a living wage and healthcare as a right, or affordable education, or equal pay for women, or equal rights for the LGBTQ community, or a fair criminal justice system, somehow excludes working-class white people. We are often told they are the heartbeat of the country, and we ignore them at our peril. But to direct our attention to these voters, to give our energy over to convincing them to believe otherwise, often takes us away from the difficult task of building a better world. In some ways, they hold the country hostage, and we compromise to appease them.