I don’t think these issues are being ignored but a two seat majority in the Senate, comprised of red state democrats, does limit the ability to do anything here. If you look at the state level there is a lot happening to address a variety of issues by blue states. Red states are moving backward
Ignored might be a strong word, but, especially on the national stage, there hasn’t been the impetus to make strong strides on minority rights for a while. Part of that is the fault of a certain proportion of Democratic voters, and part of that is the fault of Democratic politicians (and all of the blame, of course, lays twice as heavy on the GOP), but it is definitely a continuing problem.
You don’t think there have been huge strides for LGBT rights by democrats over the last 15 years? I have a lot of critiques of the party, but saying they haven’t done anything for any marginalized groups is kind of absurd.
On the national level the last great push for LGBT rights was for gay marriage, and even that was resolved by a court case rather than legislative action or pressure from the Democratic Party.
In any case, my point is more towards the Trump and post-Trump era, when Democrats have largely avoided the issue of improving minority rights due to the fear of backlash from the racism of suburban ‘swing’ voters brought out into the open by Trump’s rhetoric. I mean, ffs we had Pelosi saying “All Lives Matter”. Addressing minority issues has not been on the agenda, even in theory. Obviously, in practice there’s no current hope for priorities to be put into action considering the razor-thin margins we’ve held in the Senate.
Since when did we only gauge progress or what a party is doing based on what they do at the national level? That’s ridiculous. Do you also think all of the states enshrining a woman’s right to choose into law are also doing nothing for women’s rights?
Gay marriage happened at the state level first. Then it was decided in the courts. It was a steady march of state after state legalizing it. How could you possibly discount that effort? And now we have governors/Democratic legislatures protecting trans rights at the state level as it comes under attack around the country. Is that not worth something either?
Because, man, I can’t address 50 different state parties in one post even if I had the requisite knowledge to address all of them. When most people speak of the Dems, they speak of the national party.
No, they don’t. That is ridiculous. When people speak of their party, they talk about what they have done for them. And state laws absolutely matter. As somebody who lives in Louisiana, I can assure you I am looking at state politics a lot more than national. State politics are why there isn’t a single state we are neighbors with that allows a woman to get an abortion. State politics are why we have such a criminally low unemployment insurance program. State politics are why we are the incarceration capital of the world.
Don’t get all petty with me and act like I demanded you rattle off every single individual state. You know the argument I am making and you’re just trying to win an online argument now. The fact of the matter is there has been a ton done at both the state and national level over the last 15 years to advance rights for marginalized groups. I do not think it is nearly enough, and different groups have gotten more attention than others, but to act like nothing has happened is just ignorant.
Here in Utah, it’s: Legislators: We’ve rescinded all rights to register as a democrat and enacted gerrymandering across the board to ensure we never lose our power. Also, we’re putting our state up for sale to the highest bidding oil and gas companies, who needs public lands."
Democratic Politicians: “We’re going to ignore you.”
Minority voters: “… that’s bad.”
Republican Politicians: “We’re going to pay attention to you! And blame you for everything wrong with the world!”
Minority voters: “That’s worse.”
Gotta love the state of affairs the US is in.
I don’t think these issues are being ignored but a two seat majority in the Senate, comprised of red state democrats, does limit the ability to do anything here. If you look at the state level there is a lot happening to address a variety of issues by blue states. Red states are moving backward
Ignored might be a strong word, but, especially on the national stage, there hasn’t been the impetus to make strong strides on minority rights for a while. Part of that is the fault of a certain proportion of Democratic voters, and part of that is the fault of Democratic politicians (and all of the blame, of course, lays twice as heavy on the GOP), but it is definitely a continuing problem.
You don’t think there have been huge strides for LGBT rights by democrats over the last 15 years? I have a lot of critiques of the party, but saying they haven’t done anything for any marginalized groups is kind of absurd.
On the national level the last great push for LGBT rights was for gay marriage, and even that was resolved by a court case rather than legislative action or pressure from the Democratic Party.
In any case, my point is more towards the Trump and post-Trump era, when Democrats have largely avoided the issue of improving minority rights due to the fear of backlash from the racism of suburban ‘swing’ voters brought out into the open by Trump’s rhetoric. I mean, ffs we had Pelosi saying “All Lives Matter”. Addressing minority issues has not been on the agenda, even in theory. Obviously, in practice there’s no current hope for priorities to be put into action considering the razor-thin margins we’ve held in the Senate.
Since when did we only gauge progress or what a party is doing based on what they do at the national level? That’s ridiculous. Do you also think all of the states enshrining a woman’s right to choose into law are also doing nothing for women’s rights?
Gay marriage happened at the state level first. Then it was decided in the courts. It was a steady march of state after state legalizing it. How could you possibly discount that effort? And now we have governors/Democratic legislatures protecting trans rights at the state level as it comes under attack around the country. Is that not worth something either?
Because, man, I can’t address 50 different state parties in one post even if I had the requisite knowledge to address all of them. When most people speak of the Dems, they speak of the national party.
No, they don’t. That is ridiculous. When people speak of their party, they talk about what they have done for them. And state laws absolutely matter. As somebody who lives in Louisiana, I can assure you I am looking at state politics a lot more than national. State politics are why there isn’t a single state we are neighbors with that allows a woman to get an abortion. State politics are why we have such a criminally low unemployment insurance program. State politics are why we are the incarceration capital of the world.
Don’t get all petty with me and act like I demanded you rattle off every single individual state. You know the argument I am making and you’re just trying to win an online argument now. The fact of the matter is there has been a ton done at both the state and national level over the last 15 years to advance rights for marginalized groups. I do not think it is nearly enough, and different groups have gotten more attention than others, but to act like nothing has happened is just ignorant.
Man, I’m not trying to win an argument with you, just laying out what I was expressing when I made the comment.
Here in Utah, it’s: Legislators: We’ve rescinded all rights to register as a democrat and enacted gerrymandering across the board to ensure we never lose our power. Also, we’re putting our state up for sale to the highest bidding oil and gas companies, who needs public lands."