I am so happy to be here and i only and honored to discuss your book the end of white politics it challenges we have excepted as the status quo for the Democratic Party in right now reading the tea leaves of 2020 it could not have come at a better time. We also understand that america right now it is imperative us to take your book too hard to look at it as an opportunity to change the game the selection also recognizing the wonderful work you have done as an activist and political operative yourself. So to provide inside baseball inside politics welcome. Thank you so much. I am so happy to see you. And then to see that they are safe so its good to be here. It is so relevant because working as part of the Hillary Clinton campaign and i think we both got to know each other with analysis on msnbc but in the campaign and Mainstream Media we forget the narratives what we are seeing in the street translating to the voting booth. Talk about what that means. You talk about identity politics other than white or mail. And that so many people has what identity politics really are. After 2016 in particular identity politics got a bad rap. And to articulate and to build coalitions with political power. So Hillary Clinton played identity politics. And then to talk about different ideas nine identities and had a rift about the identities and how they intersect. What we didnt realize and 2016 that donald trump was talking about white identity we censor whiteness and white identity. White voters and every aspect in the message. So my book lays out the fact we cannot criticize the enemy politics because of black people to assert their rights for political power. That doesnt make it a bad thing that donald trump utilized it to his benefit and now we will be the majority soon. Talk about identity politics it is that economic inequities. So if i apply for a job that because of the color of my skin that is the economic injustice. So when trump talks about grievance he does it at the end of the day everybody feels they have less economic opportunity. And to see that unfold and any sense of security that we had a piece of but now we know that was an allusion. But in this moment with donald trump to play into the real anxiety people are feeling coming out of the greatest recession. And that was impacting workingclass people in the majority of minimum wage people are of color and with their ability to take care of themselves and their families. Donald trump laid into a wheel grievance of the feeling of insecurity that pitted white voters against everyone else. Those black people are the reason why in your household just like you feel you have less economic security. He pitted people against each other thats why people describe the 2016 campaign as divisive. It worked because america does have to deal with this thats why there is a racial reckoning on this moment with race and racism. It is rooted in the institution of political operatives on both sides of the aisle. Being the only woman of color and to change a democratic machine only brings in those consultants from the midwest. But i do think the Hillary Campaign of what is very diverse comparing it to other campaigns. But what ends up happening is that you run a campaign against donald trump explicitly racist and divisive and on that issue specifically is very important for those that are being attacked directly and to understand White Supremacy in my privilege in particular and how it manifested our world and confused in policy and messaging and how that all works together and sometimes screaming into the void a little bit. One of the challenges and it is difficult because 40 percent of america are people of color. That those who are 18 and six represent the first majority minority community. So 40 percent of us are the ones that when it comes to electing a democrat to use color disproportionately that being in that president ial power. So that is not reflected. Thats what i highlight in the book and the majority of the white vote for the president ial election. And with that constituency but on the democratic side you need a coalition of Diverse Communities are black, brown, young people single unmarried women and for the most part to vote for republicans. Look at the data look at the history of who has voted for wh who. White males have not voted in the majority since lbj. So we keep talking about how we bring these trump voters back why focus while we have a whole open market and register disproportionately young people of color that would welcome your politics because thats what you are protesting. So to see these people and the protesters being led it is so inspiring but what the Democratic Party has an opportunity to engage those people directly because ultimately there are shared goals. Medicare for all policy but Health Insurance for more people is something everybody agrees upon quality and justice under the law is what people are protesting now. So what is missing those represented in the campaign is there is no campaign for the little black kids but there are examples of Campaign Organization to train people to run for office but i really think the pipeline of young staffers of color and you dont have your internship for your High School Student to go back to school get involved with the campaign virtually that allows people so sometimes they think they are protesting as an activism to be engaged but also you can be the only one to go to campaigns and work there. We both know it gets to a certain point and often times its not the person who is wellversed but the person that you know. One of the chris on critiques historically is to not gone doors to do all the work. But they dont see them in leadership roles but in the role that isnt necessarily the most passionate but the best case. Thats a good point. And then even the optics of that is wrong. And then to assert the fact to be at the seat of power into be at the table so part of that is hiring black and brown staff to put them in all different aspects of the campaign so with the 16 Campaign Even though i have certain critiques in the presence of black women in the department who was on the website and just to understand you need both people reflected in all aspects because then you have that diverse set of eyes and the blind spot that always comes up with messaging. And you will have people in their. So what is your recommendation to the Joe Biden Campaign what is your recommendation right now as the nominee . To do a mass hiring of young women of color summer break, home from high school, may be sorority. They could get connected that way, there needs to be a very concerted effort to engage young diverse voters not to talk about identity politics to be the flipside. That i see color but she says i see you. I see the wholesomeness of your experience and who you are. I see you are woman. I see you are black. That matters. So joe biden needs to make that constituency he would like to engage to turn out to make them feel seen and heard. And then engage directly with the campaign they need to be meeting on a regular basis. I hope they are but i see it enough from the outside. That is the critique i think a lot of people had in 16. They said that they are and then said we didnt see it. And the most traditional campaigns are used to doing Television Advertising and now recognize the young voters are not watching tv. Exactly. I barely watch it. [laughter] so what is the power were to organize . So just show what happened during the trump raleigh where they mobilize the young people worldwide for tickets to his rally in his Campaign Manager counted 1 Million People were coming because of the demand but it was less than 6000 showed up but then they were trolled but i speak to that because what you talk about is the kids. Maybe biden is not connecting we know hes not we did a survey 46 young latinos expected to participate and then were shocked that is code red because unlike africanamerican if the young latinos dont force their parents to vote so talk about the kids and how you communicate to them. It is a chapter about generation z and millennial activism from black lives matter to the parkland march for our lives. And kids who are using social media to organize. They understand how to use it as a tool. Is not the be all and all but it is activism because looking at twitter and is a space to organize and as a Creative Space to have a dialogue. To have a backandforth thats difficult to talk about in person weve seen this with black lives matter. Why it is important is to understand the kids get intersection reality they understand identity matters and respect peoples identity and people with different backgrounds should be treated may be in a different way of our parents are generation. They have grown up within time inequality with the wars in iraq and afghanistan and systemic issues and their faces. Then they can go and learn on teeten. The tik tok moment was important to highlight because its one of my favorite things that joe biden already has an army. So all he needs to do is in list them or engage them where they are. I read a couple of things recently they were debating if they should have a presence because it seems odd he is so much older he can engage those influencers to speak in the message they are speaking to their own people and its the validation that joe biden is the best choice right now. Thats important but you have to highlight this generation seems to have a different savvy echoed and what you said agai again, understanding a more pragmatic look of the candidate candidates. I dont need to be in love but i dont think that has been communicated enough. So everybody expects that barack obama moment we start the war in iraq and have the worst recession and often times Food Insecurity they are of a different savvy and less caudal generation. People dont give them that credit but the hardships they have faced with black and brown communities whether black lives matter or family separation, and the daca they dont know if they can stay here, they have a different level of maturity and they expect authenticity. They dont want to hear platitudes they know that does not lead to action. Dont tell me what i want to hear but do the things that help me and my family to have her safety on more safety because the crisis we are facing it was all before a covariate i didnt know there would be a pandemic. I wish you would have told me. [laughter] you are the only one. [laughter] but i was preparing for disaste disaster. Fundamentally as soon as trump was elected and that campaign that it might be the end of the world. Let me do my part and also believing that hillary could do a good job as president but i was afraid of donald trump so i was preparing for the end of the world literally that was way before the thought of covid. That you are flagging what people of color and what analysts were saying about donald trump. And the general folks that make decisions that the anxiety was illfounded but as soon as he came down the elevator he told us who he was so i am people surprised at how terrible he was. He told us. The sensibility of the young black and brown activists to your point are looking for authenticity and to meet their needs so how does that change in a pandemic where we see people marching for george floyd and expecting change while the rest of the world is upturned . Counter to most belief beliefs, 75 percent of latinos are in lockstep with black lives matter and Younger Voters is even bigger. What significance do you see . The opportunity is that is a Winning Coalition of voters. Not because they can potentially win elections but reach legislatures in congress and reshape the entire country. Because when you have voting power and the numbers to build a coalition to elect the people to help communities, fundamentally that is why Voter Suppression they tried to suppress the vote of black and brown people they understand the power of the vote. I think of that all the time i have family that marched in selma they risk their lives for my ability to go vote think how powerful it must be that people would threaten their lives are potentially murder others on the Edmund Pettis bridge just to participate in democracy. Be something worth fighting for. This is a powerful quotation in your book. We are accustomed to privilege equality feels like oppression. What do you think is the root cause of the rhetoric . How does the president use that and how do we combat that . I talk about this every day with my cohost and we are both feminist and we have great conversations how we are raised differently. If you have white skin then you are raised differently and people treat you differently and you dont realize it. It is how it is. They dont walk in and people checking your purses are and youre not sure if you can afford something. Exactly. It adds up. I feel by the end of the day. [laughter] because that person whoever follows you in the store but you are still fuming even though they forgot about it. I relate. I understand. So the black woman in the white woman white children are raised implicitly or explicitly because of their culture, t culture, tv, magazines, individs of power, white people are better. Thats what they are taught. They dont see many ceos be anything other than white man in very few cases. When you are accustomed to see yourself reflected back in the best possible way of authority and privilege and success then you can see your always negative or stereotype that has an effect that everybody realizes it but they all have implicit fight on bias and assuming all that pop culture and messaging and we treat people differently in school i was the only black child until ninth grade so that has an impact on my ability to recognize i was treated differently. I was the only one that was different. It was eyeopening in third grade. When im excited and i know the answer and i get aggressive, i get reprimanded and i am told wait your turn. That the white boys would get praise and i noticed that disparity. Noted on multiply that experience in perpetuity and now that had an effect entry people around you and the debate currently of people not Wearing Masks is this privilege with other people because black and brown communities are disproportionately impacted thats not me. Thats not my community. I am an essential worker. Now to go to the lake and to the beach if i wish. But it is interesting participating in the 21st century the task force with president obama because that seem to be the most systemic change at that time. One of the things that were is highlighted is how people of color are portrayed because the majority of Police Officers were coming from rural small towns and then in the middle of urban centers. Having conversations recognizing to see the interaction of a black person or latino of the images of law and order help to cement they were drug addicts or violent and in latinos undocumented and Domestic Workers breaking the law. So you can imagine someone from a small area meeting a person of color in a place with a try to escalate but they are already conditioned to believe that person will help on hurt them no matter what. So imagine their reactions. And you can see that in the videos. You can see the moment. Y social media profiles are bombarded by supporters. Can you expand on why you thought that was important to highlight, this particular behavior coming from the left . Guest we are better than this. We are the party that cares about equality and justice and treating People Fairly and i dont know how you can exceed the efficacy of health care for all. You are for medicare for all and the people that dont support Bernie Sanders like you just want people to die. I literally do not. Host do they reall did theyy that to you . Guest yes. And in addition, i think when you are not in lockstep with what they want tha then it is a silencing tactic id either they were bombarding my social media profile, calling me names, i knew that a lot of it because after a while it just i cant let it get inside. Its also very toxic. It exists and its a thing that is happening and we need to deal with it. One of the ways the canvas to deal with it because it is happening and because there was a certain overlap between some of the impulses and misogyny and the racism that women of color were publicly attacked or trolled if you will. I dont think that word because it dehumanizes the person doing the harm, [inaudible] i dont like trolls because it sounds like it isnt a person. It is a person sending a hateful hurtful comments to another person. On the other hand i wanted Bernie Sanders himself to speak to how it was incredibly inappropriate on the Progressive Side of the political spectrum to tolerate misogyny and racism among his supporters and some of his staff likely. So the reckoning around the factback,theres still work to i do think that its not all the supporters, its never all of anything. Its only a small group of what is a large and Diverse Group of his coalition so one of the other points i make in the book there are young latinas and black people that support Bernie Sanders. Their voices are being obscured because these other voices are loud and angry so they are harming the Larger Movement by not fully confronting those in their own movement perpetuating some of the behavior that we see from the Trump Supporters. Host how does that translate to the coalition you and i discussed often times it is needed it leads into what we are constantly trying to combat and having elevated discussion so we can provide solutions. What does that look like for that coalition that is needed to win in november . Guest its a small group of people on the Progressive Left that i feel like either they can be like okay i was kind of a jerk about it. Medicare for all would be ideal but someone has to negotiate with the republicans. So you may not get everything you want but that doesnt mean the person wanting to negotiate is a sellout or its more negative for us than the republicans. Then we have to be relative about it and fair, and i think the coalition we are trying to build includes progressives but fundamentally, the core of it is people of color and so do the folks that are like well, the Trump Supporters were not racist. Bernie sanders said something to that effect in any klobuchar said something to that effect. Im tired of hearing that. He called mexicans racist and asked the first black president for his birth certificate. Those are three examples i would like to cite to say i dont have to wonder if hes racist. Host your point is its not just the rhetoric that his policy. Its his policy. As he is harming those communities that hes talking badly about, to your point. Host you mentioned it again you need a coalition in order to win and often in the buck you highlight these words. Talk a little bit about that because what folks dont realize is together because there is so much alignment and the issues whether we are talking about black wives matter or healthca healthcare, what is that potential, talk about texas and california. Guest they are the two states in the country where they are already the majority of the electorate and so you see just that as the minority and i dont like to say minority. Host i dont either. Guest in the book i think i say just say white voters or the minority. It isnt going to hurt. People try to avoid saying what its going to hurt. Its okay. I understand you call groups of other people minorities. Lets internalize that a little bit because it doesnt mean you are going to be treated how white people have treated minorities. It just means that the ability to access power is different. The coalition we can build between black and brown communities can be around issues like Racial Justice and health care, income inequality and also the idea that there are specific needs communities need, so the communities need Big Investments in education and investment from the Police Department to the services and actual communities. These are practical things guest i also often times when we talk about this idea in Climate Change we get left out. Our communities are disproportionately impacted by climate injustice. I think your book tries to raise the flag the future is here and how do we prepare america for the diversity that is our richness if we dont know how to provide the resources to . Guest part of what we have to snap out of this the fact we are so used to focusing on whiteness in everything. Its everything i remember as a little girl. I would look at the magazines and it would be all white faces and then oprah and thats it. I feel that representation is a piece of this also. People want to see themselves. The fac fact theres no flat and Television Shows on tv shows right now, right now zero. A lot of shows get tagged as a black child or lattin show because of the majority makeup of the cast. I mean i just did that, too mac, but to make the point we are lacking in representation. Not that a show that has lattin actors host but i think your point is valid that we could actually say donald trump came to power because the country has demographically changed so quickly, and all of a sudden neighbors look up and say i dont recognize my neighbor. Instead of having a media talking about our story and bringing the country along to the reality that for the first time there will be 12 million more young voters, two thirds young people of color. Its like all of a sudden we woke up in 2020 like oh my gosh, im brown. [laughter] thats the case and the whole point of the book. [inaudible] in your book you mentioned the hypocrisy how black women running for office are treated differently specifically you mentioned how pete was able to mount a successful campaign. What kind of steps can democrats take so they have the same opportunities . One of the things we need to do as a party and im so glad to be with james and jessica byrd and supporting campaigns, but there needs to be more infrastructure in place that not only trained candidates but also operatives because if you dont have diversity in terms of operatives and the Training Ground for people that could run for office, you will never have the representation that you need to sort of reflect the makeup of the electorate. So i think fundamentally for me what is missing on our slightest infrastructure to build that political power through staffing campaigns and legislative office and also having people run for office. Some of the organizations are new and just started. We are just in the beginning of this. But that is where a lot of the investment needs to happen. When you are already running, what we need to do as a Progressive Movement is the honest about the ways in which black women are attacked and women in general, women candidates. More heavily than the men. Host her exhusband leaked photos of her and she thought her career ended but that wasnt the case even when Anthony Wiener did the same thing. Guest there were a few members of congress. They ran a lot longer than you would have thought because they were men. First of all it is so rare for a woman politician to have a scandal that has any of the characteristics in terms of what she dealt with in terms of the misogyny and revenge nature of that particular. We were not honest about the double standard. For example, pete buttigieg, we are around the same age and this is why i had such a spot because i know as a woman of color i couldnt show up at a town hall running for president and tell everyone i will get to the details of my policy later. You wouldnt be talking about me because i wouldnt be a serious candidate for president. Host guest i wouldnt get any money is what im saying and she had to end her campaign and that is too often what happens with candidates of color and women who for some reason people dont trust them with their money without proving that they can do the thing. Host and even then there is a question. I am always struck by individuals that say and then they go to someone who doesnt wake up every morning to find a way to bring us to that because to me it is mind blowing like kind of like in politics the campaigns do not reflect the people. Its the same thing with those that invest. Guest they dont give money to people that are not being invested in so that makes the cycle goes around and around and people are put in positions of power where they are hired to put elected officials into office and it keeps coming. The chief of staf chief of stafa candidate and they keep doing it again. A lot of people say identity politics you just want to identify the week to elect somebody that is black, nope it is helpful to have someone in possession of power because they will bring that perspective to the policy so thats why its so important its not because i want to see a picture. Thats nice but its about the prospective. Host when people say my vote doesnt matte matter it ise fact that generation x. Y. And z. Voted in the most diverse government that we have ever seen now theres 400 pieces of legislation raising the tide on everyone and that wouldnt have been the case had we not had this diverse body of shirt in by a Diverse Group of americans. As we come to a close ive want to ask young women looking to this conversation might be saying i thought this career was for me but maybe i dont belong in a space because its so hard or there are so many barriers b, what advice do you give them because i am of the mind that we need to have this zone of young leadership because to your point earlier, they dont need of a Culture Shift and having black wives matter should be a riot and the climate is on fire. Theyve grown up in a world we dont have to convince them thats true but they might have trepidation of jumping in. Whats your advice clicks i understand it isnt something thats there all the time but the right to vote is powerful. If it were not, they wouldnt be trying so hard to take it away. You have to have this process to get to the change you want. So dont fall back on the citizens its too hard it wont matter. If we all collectively go and participate or learn ourselves. Guest toc broke the mold and people say how did she do this. Young people happened to gauge into her demographic and we see people teaching in all the time now because its the largest generation so they dont have to run for congress with other positions can they apply for. Guest run for school board, city council, your community board. In new york city they have Community Boards all around new york city. You can run for congress and in most states you can work your regular job too. I met state legislators in new york that are my age of 28 when they are elected. The other thing i would remind people if you are looking at running for office of any kind and youre worried you dont have the qualifications, i want you to remember that Louie Gohmert is in Congress Post go look them up if you dont know who they are. Guest but there are some in congress who never questioned whether they were right for the job. Its importance to say if you think that there are problems in your community that needs solving figure out what role it is and whether you can run for it to go solve it. They are more willing to compromise once in office. If you are a young woman out there you dont have to be toc on the first try. Just try to include the problems around you and then you can volunteer or work on the campaign. I would recommend doing that. President ial campaigns are the best experience for every job, youve earned the experience of jobs. Host i believe that to be true. In your book you talk about white politics and the importance of focusing on people of color and changing the pathetic agenda. What is your advice and how can they ensure that this cultural change . Guest part of the problem is the lack of acknowledgment of White Privilege exists, first, but also they benefit from it because i think often times when you talk about White Privilege, its im not privileged, im not rich, i dont have that. And then heres a different example. Did you ever think about what youre wearing or using for the job because they might get shot in that outfit, like somebody would have mistaken you for a burglar and killed you and the second part i have to add, and no one would get in trouble for it . Like literallflex like literallt killed and then the system says it doesnt matter, no one is even being held accountable because theres always two parts to the injustice. If youve never had that thought, that is privilege. Its easy to acknowledge that is the privilege youve enjoyed it doesnt make you a bad person. You also have to dismantle the systems that are making it possible for black people to repeatedly be killed and then also secondarily nobody gets in trouble for it. I think undervaluing black wives is both recognizing the ways in which you do not have to deal with the same harm potentially because you have the benefit of white skin but also raising kids that have that antiracist mindset to quote a number one bestseller, and who do treat people not i think theres something to be said for the generation mike i dont see color. Dont raise your kids like that. Raise your kids to see and validate into college and learn to embrace it because i think that is what makes america so cool honestly and fundamentally and i think the younger generations, their creativity around their ability its like dance videos and tutorials. Host they care about deeply. When you see diversity in america is cool, the only other person i know that really understands that his brescia. But as a whole different conversation. The reason they try to create this animus among the tribes is because they believe it is our greatest strength and so its this diversity we do have to be vocal and speak this conversation. And that does that. It sheds a light on these fundamental pieces that we take for granted because it is a system that is versus what should it be especially when we recognize that if they want to change the white house and congress and state legislators there are a vast number of people they are no we are not to because we dont have the right people helping them usher into making the right decisions. And with that, i know we are facing tremendous chaos. I could say we have a pandemic. We are on the eve of an economic depression and we also have the riots in the streets. All of it together my mother said god doesnt give you it cannot withstand. So clearly you can withstand this. But what do you look at the end of the day, because theres so much what is the purpose and what gives you hope . The fact is big time now that we are on is almost the universe forcing us to reflect upon everything, namely voting donald trump into the white house and despite racism, misogyny, all that. For me i wasnt afraid of the racism, i was afraid of deportation. I remember that was a Big Conversation among the staffers and understanding that communities are directly impacted. They were in this state of fear. At this moment it allows us time to reflect. I think a lot of us are thinking about the ways in which we care about other people around us. We are having a debate. Host as we conclude the conversation i want to give you the last word of what you think is the biggest opportunity . Guest understanding your part in the framework. We are at the time america is going to be minority white 2045. Thats never happened. If you are in this moment like we are living through a little history i also think everybody has a part to play in this. One of the stories i tell from the Obama Campaign in 2007 before i joined in 2008 if i was registering voters in new jersey before he moved to virginia to work for the campaign and the girl in charge of 17 and wouldnt even be 18 by the election. I was like why are you here and she said i have to live in the country. [laughter] then she says im one vote that if i register other people they can vote. Im here because of math. [laughter] i feel like fundamentally understanding if everybody participates, that is the cool thing about the country, we can all participate. Paint about what youre fighting, the election, the issues we care about. Sing a song. Sing a song. If you write poetry, do that. Everybody can participate. Host and i think thats right. Sometimes people ask me what can you do with your talent because we need everyones talent and i want to thank you for your time. Thank you for writing the end of white politics. It couldnt have come at a better time. Pick it up and i think that we will see ourselves in a story and a solution. Thank you everyone for joining us today. Im maria. Register, vote, participate. Stay safe, wear a mask, be healthy. Last week the Justice Department filed a claim for the royalties associated with former Trump AdministrationNational Security advisor john bolton spoke about his time in the white house. The motion which would include the 2 milliondollar advance argues that the book was released before the completion of the government publications review. Book editor James Silverman died last week at the age of 93. Mr. Silverman edited such authors as james baldwin, hunter s. Thompson. In other news, the guardian reports Ernest Hemingways published works contained hundreds of errors that have ever been corrected. American literature scholar who studied the manuscripts at the john f. Kennedy president ial library reported that grammatical mistakes were made by editors or typesetters when publishing new additions and it didnt reflect hemingways original intent. Also in the news, bookscan reports print book sales were up 20 for the week ending july 25. Adult nonfiction sales rose 23 and were led by mary trumps book that is critical of the president s title too much and never enough