We are watching the Democratic Party implode right before our eyes. The party of diversity, political correctness and multiculturalism is disintegrating around a set of unresolved issues of race and gender.
In the past, its leaders have spoken and acted as if they held a certain moral superiority over the race-baiting Republicans. No more. Whatever credibility the Democrats have had on race seems to be fading fast in this year’s presidential politics. The real losers are the voters who are forced to endure the endless bickering of the candidates and their most loyal supporters.
What will it take to end the racial and political divide in America? I believe that it will take a concerted effort by our national leaders to steer the population away from identity politics toward a full embrace of an American national identity based on our shared interests.
None of the remaining candidates seems to have a vision for addressing what ails us. What is missing is an honest dialogue about who we are as a nation, where we want to go, and how we expect to get there.
No-holds-barred talk needed
Such a conversation cannot take place as long as every criticism of a minority is met with accusations of racism or of sexism. Although plenty of both still exist in America, much of what has been labeled as examples in the current presidential contest strikes me as a bit of a stretch. Unfortunately, it is far too easy for candidates and their supporters to shut down debate over legitimate questions and issues by characterizing them as being off-limits.
We need no-holds-barred discussions of substantive issues. We face real challenges that go beyond the war in Iraq and the threat of international terrorism. Some of these I identified several years ago in my book, The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration.
These include:
1. High rates of legal and illegal immigration that are rapidly changing the face of America.
2. Structural changes in the global economy that are causing declining wages and the loss of high-wage production jobs.
3. Continued resentment over racial and ethnic preferences.
4. Fear caused by high black-on-white violent crime rates.
5. Growing racial and ethnic identity politics.
6. Lastly, the current economic downturn, which is causing much uncertainty about the future.
Few of our national leaders show any evidence of being able to recognize the signs of our times. Instead, it is politics as usual.
What we need is a truly competitive political system that will generate better candidate choices for all voters. I would like to see a system where voters demand responsiveness and accountability from their elected officials.
The bickering over race and gender must yield to the national interest.
Carol M. Swain is a professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University.
This op-ed ran in The Tennessean on March 29, 2008.
Media contact: Ann Marie Owens (615) 322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu