This is a terrible oversimplification:
"In fact, the whole of American history can be described as a struggle between those who truly embraced the revolutionary idea of freedom, equality and justice for all and those who resisted."
You presume that American history begins with the Revolution. It does not. It began centuries earlier, and at its core was the belief in manifest destiny, endorsed and carried forward by the founders and resulting in the deliberate rape and genocide of native peoples and the acquisition of an entire continent for exploitation and profit.
Those "who truly embraced the revolutionary idea" were entirely complicit.
16
This person might actually begin reading NYT opinion columns again. Good job!
The most difficult part of weaving a progressive agenda into politics is the money. The #1 priority over all else has to be getting the money out of politics. The compromises the party makes to satisfy the donors are unacceptable. No more compromises to satisfy the monied interests! No more!
It is better to lose an election than to give in to the money.
The biggest problem with the nuclear codes is not who's hands they're in, rather the problem is their existence. They need to be eliminated. Obama was right.
Now to a personal note. Holding these values close is difficult. It tends to cause problems in mainstream corporate America. I don't want to cause problems for anyone. I want to solve problems. I'm not a trouble maker, rather I'm a trouble solver. Nobody ever told me that life would be this hard. It shouldn't be. We're making it harder than it should be.
Humans have triumphed over nature to become the true shepards of the earth, but we have a few lasting traits that are bogging us down -- its our greed, our self-centeredness, our prioritization of the self that hinders our growth in this era.
We all have to rebel, we all have to conform. We all have to live and let live. God will reign in this era, not us. We are all Romans now. History rhymes in the most mysterious ways.
Every CEO should listen to the message I heard today: Take yourself off of the throne.
5
Brava!!
A clear strong voice of hope and determination to see our country successfully become a true “light unto the nations”!!
7
Excellent and well delivered. Keep 'em coming!
4
Heartfelt welcome, Michelle, a clear both window and mirror in which to view, FEEL past and current both national and worldwide conditions, and with this an invitation to find the word or words to substitute for “black” as in “black freedom struggle,” “black” sounding like a stamp, as is, of course, “white” though it is very rare to see this used introducing others, no one being either. With this consider changing expressions such as “battling climate change” as if we were at war with climate change (and cancer, obesity, etc., etc.), these demons to resist and so overcome rather than current conditions we CAN change and yes, let us create the Beloved Community, because we can!
2
E Pluribus Unum. But are we?
Trump isn’t resisting what America is, he’s acknowledging it with all of his mysogynistic, racist, ignorant fury. E Pluribus Unum is an as yet unrealized dream. A dream of a nation, people and culture of immigrants welcoming and helping any nation, people or individual who shares the value of freedom, opportunity, fairness and understanding. What Trump and the Trumpistas are resisting is the dream and the ideals he is supposed to be nurturing. He is the very embodiment of every ugly impulse, narrow minded, uninformed, exclusionary, self-serving instinct of humanity.
This is what we must resist, the worst in ourselves. We must rise to embrace our nation’s ideals, as we have before, and resist selfish partisanship, acknowledge and somehow overcome our shortcomings and resist narrow minded goals (we’re looking at you, evangelicals) at the expense of the greater good.
6
The movement toward justice may be a river but powerful money interests, like Sheldon Adelsen have managed to erect some might big dams along that river.
3
I think before this author and the readers fly off to utopia they should read were all this revolutionary zeal leads to in Yale Professor Timothy Snyder's seminal book "Bloodlands Europe between Hitler and Stalin" It is a sobering look at where all this revolutionary zeal demonstrated by the progressive left leads to. If only attitudes in the US would be allowed to occur organically in time the United States will abandon its founding principles and become the collectivist utopia the progressive left yearns for. God help you all you have no idea what will be unleashed and to done to destroy as Lincoln. said "the last best hope on earth."
5
A whole column dedicated to semantics. What a waste of time.
Just like the "Occupy" movement. People are vying for the leadership positions, telling everyone else the "correct" way to oppose the administration. It's more about their personal power than solving the problem.
9
Just what the NYT needs; another left wing columnist. Don't you want centrists or right wingers to read your newspaper? It seems not.
8
It is The Conservative middle American that is leading a resistance to the Fascism of the liberal Progressives.
4
Amen....and thank you.
1
OMG! Could Rod Rosenstein possibly be the "senior official" who used an anonymous Op-Ed article in this newspaper?
1
Nice work, Michelle. You'll fit right in at the Times.
3
The Times claims to value "diversity but clearly avoids political diversity in its Opinion columnists which are virtually all "progressive" liberals like Ms. Alexander and the recently added Ms. Goldberg.
Liberal thought formerly cherished the exchange of differing opinions but now fears and suppresses them.
The Times Opinion columns should be thought provoking but the repetition of the same "progressive" talking points has become mind numbing like propaganda.
9
What is a Liberal? Is it a Democrat? Democrats are merely conservatives who are not as rabidly right-wing like the fascists in the Republican party.
Liberals gave us weekends off. And overtime pay. And social security and medicare. Not Democrats. Democrats are like Obama and Clinton. There to keep the rich richer.
Trump is a liar and his voting base loves liars, idiots and bullies. Their very lack of understanding, is indicative of a party that was ready to have a fascist like Trump take over.
The question I have is: Will women vote their hearts or what their husbands and fathers say?
6
Michelle, you're right in saying that there was a perfect storm brewing in America before Trump came in.
What Trump did was gaslighting the trees of America that were already burning.
Yes, the gathering storm that was forming on our country's horizon was turned into a hurricane by Trump's virulent attack on the innocent American citizens and foreigners knocking on our doors to the border walls.
Actually for Trump to talk and behave in such racist way came very naturaly. After all what can a child of three or four think of the Black and minority Americans when he sees his father ranting and using epithets against the people of color?
No wonder according to Omarosa Newman, the fired and dragged down the stairs of the White House employee of color,Trump did use the word,"nigger" inside the Oval Room.
So to oppose a filthy,degrading,foul mouthed 72 year old man/child or a beast is not a tough call to share.
A diversifying America that saw a Black president after 232 years of the indipedence was turned into a river of hatred with the arrival of a monolithic sychophant. He even praised the White Supremacists even after they turned a peaceful Virginia town into a river of blood by slashing,shooting and finally dragging an innocent 23 year old woman to her death under their car while injureing 50 other Americans.
I hope all the Americans remember what Trump said afterwards : "They were good people."
Yeah right ! Say that again and see how you're sent to your Russia next year.
1
This Ameerican President was lawfully and Constitutionally elected in the exact same manner that Barack Obama was.
While the American voters did not even insist that the progressive coastal press set up shrines in their editorial soaces to Trunp as they seem to have had for Mr. Obama, the war of a coup d'etat is ruining your party papers' reputations.
The stark contrast between your sides' treatment of Judge Kavanaugh and Keith Eliison - who has a POLICE REPORT regarding his attack on a woman - tells the GOP voters all they need to know.
To get right down to it so you know where we're coming from, Barack Hussein O. was the ''resistance'' to the history and success of the United States, the world champion at legal immigration for two centuries.
He played the perfct autocrat, making new lawswith his pen, ignoring other passed and enacted laws, and those fifty changes to the PPACA will stand through history as his epitah.
This iswhy black and Latino America are walking away from the Dems. But Congrats to the Times' politicians for finding yet another Michelle. That is a nice name to keep hearing/reading.
2
No, you are not the Resistance. You are the establishment "swamp", the status quo, that hates America and wants to turn this great country into a cesspool of socialism.
Thank God for President Trump.
4
Now between Michelle Alexander, Michelle Goldberg and all other opinion writers, NY Times can publish at least two anti -Trump op-eds every day. Over the next six years that would be about 6 x 2 x 365 = 4380 anti-Trump op-eds.
Sadly NY Times can’t beat Washington Post in this endeavour. The Post is publishing so many anti-Trump op-eds that if placed in a straight line it will soon reach the moon.
When Trump leaves office in 2024, New York Tines should publish a book compiling all the anti-Trump op-eds.
4
Resistance—NB SMOKING GUN
Ford isn’t a blank slate & “presumption of innocence” isn’t “suspension of disbelief.”
Ford’s dictates, which turn American jurisprudence on its head, expose her as an anti-democratic anti-constitutionalist.
Designed to castrate or be rejected, her dictates expose her as dishonest & manipulative.
Dershowitz calls her dictates absurd & un-American.
She must: confront accused/testify under oath 1st/be cross-examined by accused's lawyer.
Accused must be given everything probative, including full Feinstein letter & Ford's 3 scrubbed yearbooks, SCRIBE 82-84.
The scrub was anticipated & probative pages were captured. SCRIBE 82-84 are a roadmap to the railroading; their scrubbing are evidence of consciousness of guilt. They document a social scene of faculty/parent approved racism, recklessness—e.g., a besotted "Christine" crashing into her garage & claiming the garage was moving—wild parties, promiscuity, binge drinking & the joy of not being able to remember any of it.
If Ford wants an investigation, why not go to MD police? Answer: The yearbooks.
Ford's fantasy: The FBI will selectively, à la Clinton probe, fill in her gaping memory holes to concoct a case against Kavanaugh.
Whether her memory problem is bc of binge drinking 36 yrs ago or bc she marinated for 36 yrs in a murky, kafkaesque world where dreams are reality & reality is mutable & subjective, Ford's fear, it seems, is that she won't be able to keep her circuitous story straight.
3
Great article, and perspective - thank you for reminding us that the language we use matters! The revolution may never be over, but we might aptly call this stage "The Persistence." It will require a lot of focus and determination, especially today, to prevent the clock from being turned back!
5
I'd like to see Michelle Alexander's discussion of immigration policy in terms of the resistance v. the revolutionary river. The current debate emphasizes resistance and addresses various degrees of blocking immigration when a better long-term strategy (at least for Central American nations) would be to help improve conditions so that people could stay in their own countries rather than needing to escape to the U.S. The U.S. could take a variety of positive actions to support economic and educational opportunities in those countries, rather than building walls.
2
Ms. Alexander, I have heard you speak and have read "The New Jim Crow". Your voice will fill a void in the opinion section of the NYT - a clear-eyed view of the dynamics of racism, poverty, and privilege together with a scholarly understanding of the torturously slow progress from the end of the Civil War to where we are in the 21st century.
As Theodore Parker wrote and MLK paraphrased, the arc of the moral universe is long. The movement toward freedom, from the founding of abolition societies in the 1760's to now, has indeed been like Vincent Harding's river - it has been continuous and has gained force as tributaries have enhanced it.
Though situational changes are perpetual, the moral rightness of the river remains unchanged. And you are correct - at its essence, it is a positive, not an oppositional, force.
5
Excellent analysis. May we hear more from this articulate woman.
4
The US already had our revolution. We also had a civil war. Bernie Sanders spoke of a revolution and even the Democrats rejected him in the primary, with much help from the DNC establishment. If the Democrats alone rejected his revolution, definitely the country as a whole will.
What you are describing will lead to a cross between:
1. another Lebanon or Yugoslavia – very divided -
2. a Venezuela, Cuba or China (credit commenter Mike Smith) – very dysfunctional and undemocratic.
I would profoundly hope that most Americans do not want either. Most American want a nation, and not the globe.
2
Wait a minute-the destination described in this article was “ a multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, egalitarian democracy”. How does this lead to the outcomes which you list?
4
Well said and well reasoned. Congrats.
Bruce Hartford
Webspinner: Civil Rights Movement Veterans website.
2
Ms. Alexander has managed to capture the heart of the American experiment/movement, a heart, many in the progressive movement have, in their radical zeal, fail to grasp, namely "We are the country," We Are the People. She beautifully writes of the life blood of our democratic experiment and re-energives what many of us with "resist" bumper stickers have overlooked. This is our country. We have been attempting to make it in the mold of the common folk ever since we revolted against the English monaracy. What many in the power structure have been attempting to silence is that commoner "American" heart of men and women like James Baldwin, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, John Muir, Louis Gibbs, and now, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, all representative of men and women across, racial, religious, and gender lines. These and tens of millions of other democractically hearted individuals are moved to call forth.. the quintessential heart of our "Beloved Community," a very diverse community indeed. Ms. Alexander intuits the center of the heart of the American experiement, an experiement not devoted to "We Some People," but "We The People!" All the People. Write on Ms. Alexander!
3
OK, I read her book - NEEDS EDITING!! I am sorry, Michelle, you seem like a coddled academic, akin to my professions coddled academic, Anne Whiston Spirn..
Your book is really wordy, and really scattered. I can only hope that the reason I find your ideas so prosaic is perhaps you introduced them to our society? I don't know..But the crack sentences v the cocaine sentences - old news.. Session has been instrumental in trying to turn around some of Obamas civil right legislation, and believe me, if it got that far for Obama to get laws passed, , it is old and established news.. I am happy for you on your protected and vaunted status, but am really unimpressed with your ideas. Even in your last few paragraphs, when you say 'the solutions are few, and then really fail to p rovide a follow up - we know what the problem is..Many solutions have been tried, none have worked..But you, as a protected academic, can get a good life on that, and that seems to be really where our salvation will lie - in the redistribution of income, on a basic level. I hope your daughter attains CEO status.
Mass incarceration: This is excessive sentencing for the guilty. This not the case of innocents being sent to jail.
Mass deportation: This is the deportation of many illegal aliens. This is not the deportation of legal resident aliens. All of the illegals need to be deported, not just a “mass” of them.
BLM: This movement was founded on a big lie; “Hands up, don’t shoot”. Officer Wilson was completely exonerated by Obama and Holder as well as state level investigations.
Battling climate change: I suppose she means AGW. AGW is proportional to population and economic gain. If you want to slow AGW you will have to prosecute genocide killing about 2 billion Third Worlders.
3
Welcome!
Good points all. We SHALL overcome!
3
I wasn't even a fan of Kavanaugh until this circus started, now I can't wait until he is confirmed. Thank you, NYT!
6
...Welcome...& of course the entrance of Russia into US politics as a major & significant ongoing player (remember the Helsinki comments by the president) apparently embraced by todays GOP, is the backdrop to the resistance. We need to get the vote out.
2
What a terrific characterization of the times from 30,000 feet! I feel I have just read the first-draft outline of the era for the “The Oxford History of the United States”. Bravo, and thank you!
2
Demography is destiny. Never forget that, and may it be so. We need new visions. The meritocracy, run by the white upper class, needs a little reality check.
It's coming. If we remain strong we will get there.
Trump, the man and his mission are one in the same; the mission of the Republican party to further the assets of the white wealthy privileged by subjugating any others. The unwritten, unspoken yearning to be free to dictate to all...
whether it be in the bedroom, the bathroom, or the borders.
What you refer to as resistance and activism, the vast majority of us refer to as the rebirth of facism. Trump is leading the charge against it. True believers in this country and Constitution, using peaceful means, need to destroy those, like you, professionally, personally, and financially by EVERY legal means necessary.
2
What is it that you see on the political "left" that you equate with fascism? I am left baffled.
2
One word: vote
4
RIght On!
2
Beautifully written, so articulate! But dangerously wrong. Another columnist who resists the outcome of a democratically election.
1
She, like millions of Americans, are resisting the outcome of a ruling by an archaic fossil, the Electoral College, which has already in this century twice handed the Presidency to the the party with a *sizable minority* of those who voted. In the more recent election, the Presidency was turned over to the candidate who had *lost* the straight-up vote by virtually 3 *million* votes.
2
An essay about the word "Resistance," Really? Largely a word salad going everywhere and nowhere? The word itself like the word socialist means many things to many different people. Though for now the country knows the intentions of "The Resistance" and pointing out the interpretational possibilities or variables seems a rather pointless exercise.
While it is true we need an entirely new language paradigm that the press is not only not on board with as it labors to discuss today using cold war definitions and basically is not up to the task of updating its use of twentieth century word usage. Including refusing to granting this and that actual names and titles but playing loose and fast and lazy with the actual names and titles. Obamacare anyone?
That so many readers are celebrating this column confuses me, who are you? Centrist Clinton supporters who seek a return to Democratic Party nowhereville? Where we are not resisting? If so, are you not out of your ever loving minds?
I suppose I will be pleased by the addition of Michelle Alexander to the ranks of columnist I mostly ignore as they have become so doubly tiresome in their redundancy. The Times should take a survey on its line up of columnist. Or maybe challenge readers to write columns in place of the Times weekly lineup. Bet many could do better. Is Alexander a contributors we have heard on cable news, she seem familiar. Whatever the case the Times has to resuscitate its op-ed page.
1
Great!
What I saw at the Cruze Beto debate was Lying Ted Cruze and Beto checking off every popular left wing talking point. I don't know maybe people are so fed up with Lying Ted (Trump wrong about him?) They are willing to vote for a far left candidate who back tracked out of everything he believed in. We got em in Texas too.
But you're new here? Are you part of the resistance? When you receive your assignment on why aren't there more women CEO's are you going to stand up and say there aren't any black CEO's on those company boards. When they tell you to write a story on Trump is ineffective keeping jobs in the country. Are you going to stand up and say black, white and Mexican lost their jobs? Will you How working class and poor boys dropping out of grade school when they say how hard it is to get into Harvard? Will they listen?
Maybe you should be part of the resistance here in occupied America
Well said!
Trump is not the resistance. Trump is the reaction, as in reactionary.
3
I have criticized Trump for about 10 years as the worst thing to happen to the Rs and unsuitable for the presidency. Didn't vote for him. But, the resistance, the violent, self-righteous, racist, disruptive resistance - no thanks. It's not Trump supporters interrupting congressional hearings or attacking speakers at college campuses.
We came so far since the Jim Crow, political assassinations, rioting, oppression of my childhood. And, yes, there still is prejudice and unfairness, but even Barack Obama has said that it was the best time ever to be a minority and that it is not the 1960s. But, the resistance pretends it is the 1960s, even the 1860s, and has reacted with such hysteria to Trump, who no doubt is obnoxious, that for the first time in decades, I have lost my usual optimism for the country.
If angry and vindictive Ds like I see on the Judiciary committee (Blumenthal, Whitehouse, Hirono come right to mind) are the future, we are in trouble. If those who call for no borders or abolishing ICE are the future, more so. If even moderate Ds like Cuomo, feels he must show his contempt for America, what hope is there?
I was once a liberal, never a conservative, and generally avoided voting for either for years, but this year, I might vote R, as sick as it makes me feel. B/c the resistance is worse than Trump, not that I expect much agreement here. Decent Rs seem well aware of the crazies to their right, but decent Ds seem blind to those on their left.
4
Welcome. You're off to a great start. Thanks for your thoughtful and thought-provoking column.
1
The forces which effect government decision-making are obvious and simple. Those citizens who vote in both primaries and elections have the greatest impact. Next, those who not only vote in elections but those who also regularly contribute money to individual campaigns and PACs to be spent to motivate the voters who align with the candidate and PAC’s issues to turn out to vote (advertising doesn’t change minds, but rather consolidates minds). In turn, the politicians (and judges) who arrange districts in such a way as to maximize the impact of aligned votes cast.
As a student of history, and a trial lawyer, I do not subscribe to the view “we” are marching ever forward in some sort of progressive evolution. Who represents that evolution? Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Gov. Jerry Brown, or Hillary Clinton? Sen. Chuck Schumer or Rep. Nancy Pelosi? It certainly wasn’t President Obama. If those politicians represented the pace of real evolution we humans wouldn’t be bipeds yet.
Progress—whatever that means at any particular point—is, over the arch of time, slow and incremental, with huge steps backward and little steps forward. It is this way because people prefer stability over pretty much everything else, especially after they procreate. Nothing makes a revolutionary progressive slow from running to a slow walk like having a baby and buying a house.
Michelle Alexander,
Thank you.
2
Thank you. I have been troubled over the past months by the increasingly vapid Times editorial writers (except for Collins, Bruni, Krugman). I have also been getting discouraged by the nonstop mean spirited malevolence coming from the White House and the GOP leadership. Your article is just what I needed—a change of perspective that recenters the story of America and the world. This will pass—with our hard work. The sooner the better.
3
Trump won because the Democratic Party stop representing white working people.
4
I agree completely with this re-framing of the current situation. I have always disliked the use of the term “#resist” because it is neither positive nor pro-active. The actions taken under that umbrella are necessary and I am involved myself. Trump is a backlash to progress, certainly. We generally have the momentum, definitely.
Of course, we can’t forget that he and now the GOP generally is a serious threat and that the backlash could end in an authoritarian state. He has global (illegally obtained) money behind him (as do others in GOP) and the Good Ole Boy network of entitled white men who protect each other from accountability for their actions while installing them in positions of power and judgment over the rest of us. He has authoritarian instincts and is using the Putin and Hitler playbooks to gain the support of some in the electorate, and the GOP is rife with collaborators.
1
Very happy to see Ms. Alexander on your roster of opinion writers.
1
Let's see. There were these high school students having a party with no adult supervision. There was alcohol being drank by underage persons. Now days it is common knowledge that a party is primarily meant to final someone with which to "make out". Both parties knew all of this when then went to the party. Thus, both parties are equally the blame. She should have either have never gone or have left immediately upon finding out that there was alcohol being served at that party. So this event happened while there was illegal activity being performed. Case should be dismissed because both parties came out of the same toilet bowl.
Congratulations on your debut column in The New York Times: It is excellent, and makes me want to read more of your work. I only wish that the last sentence of your article wasn't your last, because of you were just gearing up for the conclusion of your argument: Your last sentence read that another world is possible, but not through resistance alone: Then, through what? You left this reader on tenterhooks.
1) Welcome Ms. Alexander to the NYT’s op-ed page. I so loved your book ‘The New Jim Crow’ and your first piece her did not disappoint me either. Much food for thought.
2) As a white, 57 year old male, living in the middle of the at times repressive Bible Belt of Texas, I so covet your thoughts depicted in this sentence: “A new nation is struggling to be born, a multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, egalitarian democracy in which every life and every voice truly matters.”
We are resisting now but your column reminds us that the work will never really be complete. This election this coming November is but one checkpoint, a way station, in the ever onward quest for that ideal born for all, that we all are truly equal, regardless of where we are born.
Thank you for your poignant reminder.
1
Dear Ms. Alexander,
Thank you for writing this. You speak for me.
2
That pathetic wannabe immigrant Guatemalan mother has billions of counterparts. We can't go into a childishly un-nuanced Trump-says-bad-we-say-good reaction either. Immigration means that groups already in our midst, like black people, to whom Uncle Sugar has administered entitlement programs costing over a trillion dollars since their inception under LBJ's Great Society, will get less. Already impoverished blacks are compelled to compete with newcomers who may or may not speak English. Trump's goal is to ignite a second American civil war, one having a racial base. We would all be better served if we prepared for that ugly eventuality instead of overreaching toward every cause that has Trump as an opponent.
1
What can you expect from Donald Trump? Social progress, a unified society and a breakdown of the distant marks of income?
Nay, you can expect nothing! Trump is so uneducated and so self-centered that such ideas would not come even close to his brain.
It is funny to see how an idiot is ruining a mass society of over 330 Million people. Just unbelievable!
Would Ms. Alexander refer to the Nazis as "resisters" of the fighters in France and elsewhere who were trying to free themselves and their countries from tyranny?
Perhaps #Resist is a rallying cry, a way to unite all the disparate elements that Alexander mentions as being "evolutionary." Perhaps those who use #Resist as a rallying cry are tired of waiting, tired of banging our heads against the wall of implacable, privileged white men. Yes, these guys resist change. But let's not co-opt or demean its meaning to those of us who've suffered the effects of misogyny, racism, or religious bigotry our entire lives.
If a columnist is going to set up a straw man in order to tear it down again, I don't think I'll be wasting my time seeking her out in the future.
2
I love Michelle Alexander. So I chuckled at the editors' odd need to tell us beforehand that "this is Michelle Alexander's debut column" -- like a Times column is a momentous event in the professional life of this expert. But my smile faded afterwards to see the editors list her professional chops by first writing that "Michelle Alexander became a New York Times columnist in 2018". Wow, Times, you should know that you *benefit* from who this expert already is. You don't *make* her who she is.
2
So sorry, but I'm not sure what you are all on about with Ms. Alexander's column. I agree with her emphasis on climate change and that Donald Trump is essentially a jerk. But her column is just another progressive liberal rant in total rejection of classic liberalism, speaking out for "social justice" which is hardly justice at all.
I thought that the NY Times was seeking diversity in its selection of columnists, but every new columnist that's being added on is invariably progressive. I still maintain some optimism however: Ms. Alexander's columns, if they are to appear every Sunday may reduce the number of blatantly hate-filled columns submitted by intersectional writers claiming that all white people are racist in thought if not in deed.
3
Michelle Alexander one of the most important minds in America today. She has become a hero to millennials through her writing, activism, and importantly, her voice during the last presidential election. While the New York Times is a bit late to the party in elevating her forward thinking views, I am glad to see that they are finally becoming swept into the #revolutionaryriver.
4
When I first started reading this piece, a roiling rage swelled up inside me, but as I read further, the semantic turn of the phrase “Resistance” flipped the script to remind us of one of the essential goals of American Democracy: A more perfect Union.
Yes, Trump may be the last stand of white privilege, George Custer surrounded on the prairie in a life or death struggle we all know he can’t win. But he may also be Ahab, in pursuit of the White Whale, only to be ensnared in the rope of the spear thrown by his wealthy patrons, because they know Trump will be dragged to the bottom of the ocean, while they swim to shore to write the great American novel.
Either way, this piece, more than any recent read in the Times, illustrates the importance of language, how much it actually matters, and as we all hope, may save the Republic from itself.
Well done indeed.
3
Excellent article...however, I'm surprised that Ms Alexander didn't just come right out and write that while resistance is often necessary and laudable...it doesn't build anything.
Yes, you do have to resist the dark forces that would take the nation backwards...Trump and the republicans. And yes, there are always going to be reactionary forces against any progress made. But progress has to be built. It's all fine and good to march and vote, but building is hard work. Tearing down and destroying is much, much easier. Resistance is easier. Figuring out what to build and how to build it...not so easy.
Ms. Alexander calls it a revolutionary river, but it's really more of a canal. It has to be dug. And often, the digging is hard. The general direction may be clear, but the best path in the immediate future, not so apparent. The problem then becomes one of keeping the faith that we will get there...and we will get there sooner if only everyone would keep building. But when the people don't see immediate results, they start to lean on their shovels and progress is lost as the "dirt" fills back in.
After the poor turnout in the last two elections, the progress we had under Obama and the Democrats is being backfilled with dirt by Trump and his republican sycophants. If you want to get that revolutionary river of freedom, justice, and equality flowing again, better pick up your "shovel" and
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
5
Here's a radical idea. Establish a set of minimal qualifications people must have before running for public office. Require background checks, financial disclosure, education and make the results public. Once elected, committee assignments are offered to those with appropriate qualifications. IOW, college education in finance and accounting are required before a newbee congressperson is assigned to a finance committee. Likewise for all other departments.
No position in government is lifetime including the supreme court. Every position has clearly defined minimal standards of conduct and capability.
Every state is allowed a standardized referendum & initiative process.
All legislation must consider science and honest accounting. IE, military base closures are decided based upon national security, not pork for elected officials.
An accurate cost/benefit analysis is performed on the existing mess we call health care and compared to expanded medicare.
Eliminate the electoral college & presidential pardons.
Standardize redistricting and voting procedures. Allow vote by phone or internet.
Violation of the rules carries jail time.
Bottom line? If the USA is going to compete with China, we have to run gov like a business which would have automatically excluded Donald Trump & Roy Moore from consideration.
1
Alexander could advocate for the principles which Americans have fought over making real, those aspirations for liberty and democratic institutions that include all and assure enough equality to make all free to participate as they choose. But it’s a system which has always operated with less liberty and justice for all that we’d like and less than it should.
Now our liberal democracy elected Trump and is about to make a majority of Supreme Court justices who represent reactionary conservative preferences that think our country is too tolerant of objectionable non-conformity from traditional values. It’s pretty bleak for anyone who strives for liberty and equal rights for all according and freedom of conscience for all individuals.
What might be a radical transformation of our democracy? Illiberal democracy that requires consensus, conformity to right thinking and behaviors? That surely does seem what Alexander seeks. How else to eliminate discontent, disagreement, and inequality?
Trump was elected because the Democrats abandoned the winning strategies of "bread and butter" jobs issues that had successfully put FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ in office leaving Sanders and Trump to focus on these issues.
The coastal elites of the DNC deliberately side-lined Sanders (DNC head Debra Wasserman-Schwartz was compelled to resign) leaving only Trump to be the ideological descendant of FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ.
The Democrats had claimed worry about healthcare, particularly for the underserved, many of whom are racial minorities. Obama's CDC Director (NYC Mayor Bloomberg's first health commissioner) Dr. Tom Frieden is a very strong advocate for anti-tobacco and anti-obesity measures such as taxing tobacco and taxing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB)s such as Coke.
Yet, under Obama, Dr.Frieden's successful efforts in NYC of taxing tobacco were not adopted under the ACA, which was passed only by Democrats. Other countries such as Canada, UK, and France which offer universal access to health care have tobacco taxes in the $5 to $6 or more per pack. Our Federal tax is a paltry approx $1.
In California, in an attempt to reduce obesity, Berkeley passed a SSB tax, only to have it overturned by a Democratic controlled state government that accepted beverage company money to pass a law prohibiting local SSB taxes.
1
This was brilliant. I never thought of trump and the rest of us in these terms. Trump's MAGA attempts to be transformative not resistant although it has a basic dishonesty to it as it is really MAWA, Make America White Again. We progressives must continue what Obama started, the next wave of transformation in our society of true equality, equal economic opportunity and the caring for the most vulnerable. We shall overcome, the current in our river is too strong to allow anything but the truth to prevail.
3
Welcome Michelle Alexander and kudos to your well expressed article. The only thing I would add is at the end of your last paragraph, "resistance alone" should be complemented by active and persistent participation in the democratic progress, through voting, encouraging others to vote, marching, writing and calling representatives, opine to local newspapers, and becoming a political activist as much as your particular needs allow.
3
Wonderful column. Excellent addition to the NYT. Congratulations.
3
Right on! We will be measured by action; words are cheap. Beautifully written.
3
Read "1984" by George Orwell, and you'll know what Trump voters are resisting. This article is a standard "Two Minutes' Hate". The dogma of the radical left based on institutionalizing the regimentation of society into classes based on race, sex and various other demographic traits, and then meting out punishments and rewards by group, is antidemocratic and totalitarian. It is the poisonous combination of Marxist doctrine and racism. It is evil.
The words "progressive" and "liberal" must be distinguished from each other, because their meanings are very different. The "progressive" left is increasingly illiberal, and increasingly forthright and vocal about it. So much so that genuine liberals are being driven away from the left.
The radical left which this article speaks for is upset because they believed they had a champion in Obama, and became brazen and emboldened because of it. They thought they had achieved the dominance necessary to carry out their radical, revolutionary, totalitarian agenda. To declare "year zero" and create a "new country" by imposing their evil, radical, dogmatic agenda as law.
Their discovery that they were wrong has triggered a psychotic break, which clearly will not rule out violence if they are not soundly rejected and condemned by rationsl liberals and the Democratic Party. It's up to whatever moderates remain to decide whether to surrender society to the flames by continuing to enable the radical left.
1
"The dogma of the radical left based on institutionalizing the regimentation of society into classes based on race, sex and various other demographic traits, and then meting out punishments and rewards by group, is antidemocratic and totalitarian. It is the poisonous combination of Marxist doctrine and racism. It is evil."
It seems you & I must have read 2 different articles. Your response here, tho', is useful in revealing what the Right fears so desperately that it will polarize in outlandish ways.
Open borders and socialism camoflauged as progressive policies. No, thank you. I’ll be voting for Trump again.
3
People have an innate sense of fairness - if the left doesn’t appeal to that they need to start. The leadership on the left needs to navigate that reality. Obama did a pretty good job of it and got himself elected president twice. The rest of the Democratic’s didn’t and were booted to irrelevance.
1
Your's is a welcome voice. Thank you.
4
Just boring.
I read about as far as I could, but the complaining and whining about Progressives not getting their way in a country full of their “lessers” was too depressing.
3
I loved the writing and ideas in this article.
The shrill bleating of the left disguises the fact that the Democrats have no real ideas when it comes to governing. Their slogans can essentially be reduced to "someone else should pay your bills."
Their fixation on identity politics ignores the fact that in the end, nobody cares who you are except your friends and loved ones.
3
Welcome to the NYT forum, Ms. Alexander, and thank you for your very accurate and pertinent observations. They they resonate with the truths found in ancient Biblical wisdom;
> "Resist not evil"
>" Resist the devil"
To elaborate:
That wisdom is often disregarded because it is misunderstood to be contradictory and counter intuitive. But in their original context, "evil" refers to the evils without (in the world at large) whereas "the devil" is the evils within - the toxic desires and temptations that poison my spirit.
"Resist not evil" does not mean to support or cooperate with it. The preferred response is to offset it with goodness, thereby fulfilling the Golden Rule and exposing evil to condemnation by comparison. Trying to battle evil on it's hostile terms only blurs it's distinction from goodness. Example: When the KKK murdered 4 little girls by blowing up their church on that Birmingham Sunday, this nation's conscience awakened in guilt and mourning and rose up to pass the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.
" Resist the devil" simply begins with the admonition to "Know thyself". That means get real, take stock (perhaps with help from a friend) and then decide what to keep and what to cast out. That can be a very hard but very liberating labor. Then I can look in the mirror and laugh - the devil can't stand it so it retreats.
A beauty of the USA is that we are always undergoing revolution. Every election is a revolution. This author mentioned “dignity” but, by it, what does she mean? One presumes that she is a liberal who is pro-abortion but the sad reality of the pro-abortion direction is that it denies the dignity of the unborn. She mentions gay marriage. She does not mention that the boorish behaviors of which Kavanaugh seems likely to admit, in fact, lead to inability of folks to respond appropriately when a sexual encounter is desired by one person but not the target. A poignant story of a woman in Arlington, TX, who was raped by 2 high school boys gets to the troubling features of parties where people behave badly and, then, really bad things like regretted sex happen. And, from that comes recurring torment.
The sexual revolution that began in the 1960s has many, many unintended and horrific consequences but let’s be clear that bad behavior is not at all new. Barbaric events have always been a part of humanoid cultures. Westernism as it derived from Puritanism (see David Gelernter) had strong mores. Is our “revolution” losing old mores and trying to grow new ones, albeit mores of when to be restrained and when “free sex” is ok? Is there not a realization that “free sex,” itself, carries long term social consequences, out of wedlock pregnancies, secondary poverty, failures to achieve hoped-for career goals, and socioeconomic dependency that is extremely difficult to shed?
Thank you for writing this. As a resident in DC I've watch my politically correct town turn into a community. My neighbors, people at the dog park, turn into my heroes as they share their #metoo stories, as they divulge their saddness, rage, frustration and all take to activism - registering people to vote, standing in 100+ degree heat. I left DC for school just outside of town, and its funny how clearly I see how wonderful this movement is, not just about DC but America. And its the most amazing thing to see Americans of all shades, religions, and reasons fighting for the best of what it is to be an American. Thank you for this piece for acknowledging and recognizing the work people are doing. Just ordinary people being extraordinary.
Welcome and I hope you are correct about Americans being better than the one they elected President but I’m not so sure.
In my view, social connectivity and technology in general has contributed to and revealed this to be a country filled to overflowing with racists, narcissists and poorly educated registered voters who embrace and perpetuate the Trump ideology.
I believe America has been invaded by its own hubris we have become a grotesque monster.
That is why Trump is our President.
3
"As the saying goes, “What you resist persists.” Another world is possible, but we can’t achieve it through resistance alone."
Well put. It is not Donald Trump, but the world of hatred, inequality and plutocracy that he represents that are the problem. An end to gerrymanders, racial justice, health insurance for all paid from from federal taxes, demilitarization of the police, and a breakup of the plutocracy and its corporate institutions would be a good start.
1
I agree! Help us find a name. Words matter.
Wow. What a great debut column. Framing matters. Progressivism is a positive force of change. Thank you, I will be watching for your name on the oped page.
4
Because a person doesn't want to throw open the doors wide for that Guatemalan mother who supposedly is fleeing violence or for anyone else in her caravan, that person is part of a white backlash?
Keep writing.
2
"Unlike the Tea Party, which was born after President Barack Obama’s inauguration and which spawned a proliferation of well-funded, loosely affiliated right-wing groups determined to hijack the Republican Party and push it further to the right, the only common denominator for “the resistance” today is a commitment to resisting Donald Trump — the man, not necessarily his mission."
Actually, its both: resistance to the man, who is himself a repugnant individual, morally, psychologically and intellectually unfit to be president; and his mission, i.e., his policies which undermine respect for this country's democratic and law-enforcement institutions and for the environment, which undermine this country's status and stature on the world stage, and which favor the wealthy over the vulnerable.
3
In some terrifying way, it seems it might have taken this deplorable episode in US history to drive us to stand up for the soul & definition of this country.
"In fact, the whole of American history can be described as a struggle between those who truly embraced the revolutionary idea of freedom, equality and justice for all and those who resisted."
Excellent point and excellent article. Welcome to the New York Times! (I was going to cancel my subscription in the wake of the ghastly piece on Rod Rosenstein, but now I need to reconsider.)
4
With Michelle Alexander’s debut column the NYT’s may have undermined the need for many left-publications like The Nation.
That's because no writer on the left more elegantly and consistently helps the rest of us talk and write about who we are, where we need to go and how to get there.
For over forty years I worked on the front lines of anti-poverty and social justice efforts as a writer, organizer and lawyer and most recently as a producer of the documentary ACORN AND THE FIRESTORM, which was inspired by my 201 book Seeds of Change the Story of ACORN. America’s Most Controversial Anti-Poverty Group.
This piece is must reading.
1
Disappointing first column from a talented writer. It's all sentimental pablum and no thought or analysis. If I just wanted ra-ra-ism for an ideology, I could get it from twitter or blogs.
3
Racial discrimination and racial politics are not unique to America. We see the same thing in every country -- like a virulent plague. Germany has been there and could be on the verge of regressing. Israel is moving there. Is it all about race? Or basic tribalism? South Africa isn't a lot more progressive now than it was under apartheid. Neither are we.
1
In some cases - Germany jumps to mind - the formal government takes a stand against such sentiments, renouncing & denouncing them. Must the US generate - & manage to survive - its own authoritarian Holocaust in order to learn from history? I shudder....
2
Brilliant!!!!!
Claiming the power of creating history, not just resisting the forces that are so toxic.
1
You're like my new personal hero in life.
4
I don't know who was responsible for hiring Ms. Alexander to be a regular opinion columnist for the Times.
But, if this column is any indication of the quality of writing and the clear, nuanced and creative perspective/analysis of the great issues of our times that we can expect in her future columns, whoever hired her is deserving of a standing ovation.
Quite simply, this was as superb a piece of short-form writing/analysis as I have read in a long, long time.
2
Everyone is either an atheist, agnostic, or a believer in a God. Christians know that "all men are sinners and fall short of the Glory of God." Romans 3:23.
There are times when it does not matter whether a majority or a minority of people have the commanding ruling voice. If the ruling voice is indecent and immoral, selfish and sadistic....then the ruling few or the many......are totally wrong.
What's the difference between a Christian and an atheist.....and the difference between separation of church and state?
Blessed be those that believe in His name: who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Two of the greatest peacemaker in modern history, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, owned no more than the shirts on their backs. Yet they stood on their religious beliefs and did not falter. They defended justice and freedom for millions and in the end sacrificed their very own lives. It is right to work hard and provide for our families. However, If we only understand success in terms of money, then we will never know the true worth of any one person.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Constitutional separation of church and state allows American Christians to hold on to their faith, however also allows atheists and agnostics to turn their immoral and indecent beliefs into constitutional laws and destroy the American Christian Church.
"...Atheists and agnostics...turn their immoral and indecent beliefs into constitutional laws and destroy the American Christian Church." What a twisted understanding of atheism & atheists...beginning with Thomas Jefferson himself.
Atheism insists that morality & moral behavior can exist - & has existed - without the embracing of a deity. Indeed, Buddhism, for example, is a non-theistic religion & yet embraces the most moral position of any religion I have studied. It says that knowledge of our interconnectedness leads to the birth of compassion & kindness as the foundation of all our actions. By the same token, atheism believes/knows - & atheists demonstrate every day - that "goodness" & generosity can manifest from a foundation utterly devoid of belief in a deity. Unfortunately, belief in a deity & "His" teachings is frequently found at the heart of many of humanity's worst abasements, both individual & collective.
"A new nation is struggling to be born, a multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, egalitarian democracy in which every life and every voice truly matters."
(I just wanted to see those words again.)
1
Too funny.....delusional might be a better description. You ARE the resistance. Press releases with “fill in supreme court nominees name here” are what you guys do.
Can’t seem to embrace low unemployment, strong economy and foreign policy advancements?
Make no mistake NOBODY like his tweets but it’s hard to disagree with the results.
But that’s why it’s fun to try to read the NYT, to see what the next bit of nonsense it publishes.
2
Today, we desperately need the complimentary forces of revolution and resistance. Moreover, the NY Times has desperately needed a voice to counter its extreme bias toward the democratic elites/Clinton branch of the party.
Welcome Professor Alexander!
3
No mention of the Founders, no mention of the Constitution. The Administrative State is the future, where "individual rights" (the ultimate color-blind theme) are secondary to race and gender political consciousness.
This is sad. It shouldn't be celebrated. What Ms. Alexander is celebrating is the fruits of an effort to make grievance groups the center of the "revolutionary river." It's an appeal to the government to step in more and more and "make things right."
What has "allowed" social progress over the last two centuries? Answer: The Founders' realization of a polity bound together to ensure the rights of each individual in the face of majority/minority (in whatever context) tension.
Thank you, Founders, for making individual freedom the underpinning of our Democracy.
No Thank You to those who would leave it behind.
2
Beautifully written, thoughtful, and intelligent. A voice I am delighted to hear. Thank you. I look forward to your work.
2
Excellent and beautifully written piece. As a historian of slavery and colonialism, to me, everything you write resonates and provides a vibrant account of the dominant theme of our county's history. The Donald Trumps of the world push their toxic views on a nation that surges and pulsates with hope by citizens who envision social justice for all. Let us hope that the tumultuous period that we are now experiencing will somehow bring us to a better place, and that we remain vigilant to the forces that would like to silence anyone who seeks a kinder and more inclusive world for all.
1
The resistance can mean, simply, a commitment to equal rights and inclusion for all of the citizens of the United States of America, people of all colors, genders, sexual preferences. religions and, yes, including the people Hillary Clinton dismissed as deplorable.
The current President divides. We need leaders who unite.
1
A journalist once asked Carl Sandburg, "What is the ugliest word in the English language?" After a few minutes Sandburg replied, "Exclusive." Yes, Trump’s election is a resistance to the sisterhood and brotherhood of all humanity. Like his golf courses, only some are welcome – whites only, well-to-do only is an exclusivity we could and can never affirm. As you so well articulate: “A new nation is struggling to be born, a multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, egalitarian democracy in which every life and every voice truly matters.”
3
WE THE PEOPLE are who Trump represents and WE are resisting the takeover of our country from globalists like yourself. We love our country and all of our freedoms. No other country in the world is as free as the United States of America. We intend to keep it that way. If we have no border and rule of law, we have no country. WE THE PEOPLE will have our way.
2
Yes, yes, YES! Trump and his ilk are true resistance! They resist fairness, they resist decency, they resist facts themselves. Love your column. Thank you
2
Welcome to the NY Times Opinion Page. Your debut column was well thought, reasoned and written. I look forward to reading more.
1
Excellent. I am coming to like the term "resistance,"
but see now it is limited and reactionary--yet another instance where the language of the left risks raising unnecessary hackles .
Sooo...Perhaps our insistence that all men and women are "created equal endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights" and that '"whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it" makes us fundamentalists. And the resisters the real orginalists.
I wish semantics were not so important. But the right has determined our discourse partly by its subversion of our language, beginning with the word "conservative." These Republicans are radicals...The press has got to help the public call things by their proper names.
1
Robert E.Lee, infamous slaver, said it first: Progress is one step back for every two steps forward. That is all this writer has to say.
American Democracy? That’s an oxymoron. America has NEVER been a democracy since the days of the Founding Fathers, when only white landowners were allowed to vote. Democracy requires “one person, one vote.” Until we eliminate the Electoral College, the gerrymander, the voter suppression of minorities, the abomination of Citizens United, the flagrantly partisan mess the Supreme Court has become, the “government by lobby,” we will remain a banana republic.
4
The author is correct in one sense, for sure - the election of DJT represents a resistance to and an attempted reversal of essentially everything that the establishment overlords who were able to put Obama in place stand for. Millions of people just like me - smart, well-educated, politically astute - finally stood up and said "ENOUGH!" We didn't, and don't, care about whether you identify with an "R" or a "D" - with few exceptions, ALL of our so-called leaders are just pigs eating from the same trough. They don't care about you or what's in your best interest. Yes, we are taking our country back, and that has NOTHING to do with race, gender or any of the other nonsense with which the left is so preoccupied. We are headed in the right direction. Period.
3
The problem of talking about what you think is that you let people know what you think. Ms. Alexander says, "Those of us who are committed to the radical evolution of American democracy..." Radical evolution means revolution. They are not calling for revolution from the values of the 1920's but from 2010. The values Obama ran on were too conservative for this new resist movement. When protestors in Charlottesville chanted, "You shall not replace us", they were responding to a movement which is revolutionary and dedicated to marginalizing what were mainstream Americans. I wonder how Ms. Alexander and these new progressives feel about Sitting Bull and the Sioux fighting back against illegal White immigrants settling on their land in the Black Hills. When the Sioux chanted, You shall not replace us, were they being racists? Ms. Alexander is correct, the new left is revolutionary. The American Indians were racist xenophobes. Supporters of Trump are simply resisting a revolution against the values which put Obama in the White House.
1
Mothers of sons should be scared. It is terrifying that at any time any girl can make up any story about any boy that can neither be proved or disproved, and completely ruin any boys life.
1
Uh huh...
So by correlation, does this mean fathers everywhere are celebrating that their daughters have a new superpower kinda like an oppressive dictator?
“You get an accusation and you get an accusation and you get an accusation!!”
Hmm, I don’t know...we’ve only been allowed to vote - well for less time than you fellas - I’m sure we don’t get the “grab them by the p***y” power for at least another 100 years.
Those moms you worry about need not worry but I doubt they were anyway - not about that. Mostly it’s just how to raise moral people, boys or girls. I think that’s the goal, because no, whether verbal or a physical struggle, always means NO.
Maybe someone needs to revive those Schoolhouse (high school, college!) Rock videos, but on YouTube and with reallllly edgy but essential new topics that do NOT isolate or blame women (or gay, transgender or poc) ever.
Put yourself on the other side and think what it might feel like, really think. Ask questions, open your mind. If that happens...wow, get ready - you’ll have different things to say to those young sons.
Thought provoking; intelligent; coherent. Unlikely to reach those who need it most.
1
This piece says what I wish I could say, what I wish I could have said, what, in my own words, I will try to say from now on. But the sea of words in which I swim too often overwhelms me and I can barely keep my head above water. Ms. Alexander is not just a good swimmer, she’s an Olympic swimmer—and a coach—she shows us how. Whew!
Now....don’t go gettin’ the big head....
Good point, forcefully rendered.
1
Beautiful writing! I look forward to your future op-eds.
1
Couldn't agree more. Persist, don't just resist.
What an outstanding debut column! Not only was it thought provoking but has strengthened this 72 year old woman to keep resisting this abmormal presidency!!
2
And this argument lost Hillary Clinton the election. Before Buchanan, the abolitionists were right, very right, about the untenable wrong of slavery. But it was Lincoln, that did not run on an abolitionist platform, the one that managed to turn the page ... through one of the most horrendous civil wars in history. This is not easy.
Multiculturalism is a half baked argument at best, a fad with nuggets of truth at worst. Egalitarianism? Let us go there in full force. Multiculturalism? Of cultures that are incompatible? There are some things that do not go well together, and a melting pot cannot do magic. Let us not be shallow. This nation should be about strength of principles - let the river flow.
1
Forgive me but "The Resistance" was fermented by Jefferson Davis following the Southern debacle of the Civil War in his "Lost Cause" Movement. The terms and conditions have been perpetuated for over 150 years with clear, precise goals and expectations. Anyone educated in the South learned history from the Lost Cause perspective and people like Mitch McConnell is the evil embodiment of Jefferson Davis.
Thank you. Inspiring of thought and (further) action, just what I want a stellar newspaper to do.
1
Welcome!!! Nice article; I love the dress!
1
I'm delighted that the NYT has added Michelle Alexander as a columnist. This debut piece illustrates her fine analytical and writing skills. She offers us hope in her carefully delineated argument as we stumble along in our (perhaps-great) historical experiment with democracy.
3
Excellent, thank you.
You speak of justice: economic, racial, religious and legal justice.
In your next piece you must look at the institutions that prevent us from reaching those goals. And those are a perverted form of capitalism which gives us the horrendous disparity in wealth, rotten campaign financing that gives us the corruption in government, unequal financing of K-12 schools that wastes the minds of children, and a main stream media that -- in the words of Noam Chomsky -- gives us nonsense myths and manufactures consent for the establishment.
You have a lot of work to do.
1
More "opinion." It's always interesting to me how these opinion writers have all the answers in politics, social engineering and always knows what everybody needs but never run for office. I guess you can't run on opinions.
1
Great op-ed.
In the civil rights movement, they also sang, “We Shall Not Be Moved.”
“Like a tree that’s standing by the water, we shall not be moved.”
1
If you are not a white, Christian, heterosexual male who is angry and uncomfortable in a multiracial, multicultural, diverse America, then you should be a part of the resistance. Holding back the forward progress of others will not Make America Great Again. It simply lowers us all.
I disagree with and find naive "Viewed from the broad sweep of history, Donald Trump is the resistance. We are not."
The broad sweep of American and world history is ever increasing income inequality and the power of the rich donor.
The political power of the mega rich is histories current sweep. even if Democrats may have a blue wave this year. The Powerful mega rich will still be waiting in darkness to attack all Americans basic freedom and rights from their corporate perches. They will continue to pollute more, cause rampant global warming, produce increasingly sickening foods, and even drugs of questionable value.
I feel you do not understand the power of the forces you want to face.
3
Welcome Michelle Alexander! Your voice is a very welcome one. You are spot-on. You are informative, inspiring and positive! We need positive, fresh voices so badly right now.
You are right. Life is like a river. It flows with good and bad. New and old. It flows up. It flows down. But the river's forces never subside. They show us the impermanence of life. Of late, many of us have opened our hearts to let the river flow through us. We swim with it instead of against it. That's the difference between overcoming and resisting. That's how we make America the best it can be.
The Trump, Pence, Kavanaugh, McConnell, Ryan, Grassly, Hatch, Jeffords, Nunes, Meadows and evangelical white "tribe" are resisting the change sweeping America. They cling to the idea of an all-empowered white majority - a white, christian, male, straight majority. Their power is threatened by racial, religious and sexual diversity. They resist by packing courts with male conservatives, by lowering taxes on the very rich, by harassing and assaulting women; by taking away a woman's right to reproductive sovereignty and by suppressing the minority vote.
The RIVER: We will overcome the RESISTANCE. We will go out with bold, new IDEAS. We will demonstrate our shared VALUES. We will be positive and overcome with ENTHUSIASM. We will build RELATIONSHIPS in our communities and in Washington so we can build trust and usher in a new era.
America will be a better place.
2
Great column, Ms. Alexander. Thank you!
1
If this is the counter-resistance, then please count me in.
1
Thanks for coming to the show. Inspiring. Tears came to my eyes. Refreshing. Tired of female columnists having to be "cute" or "snarky" to be allowed space in the papers.
2
Alexandra concludes that ending mass deportation, poverty and mass incarceration cannot end with slogans affirming that someone is part of a “resistance,” often a passive (even smug) attitude to follow rather than actively participate in political reforms.
For example what does Alexandra make of the Asian American Student Civil Rights suit against Harvard University over its diversity admissions standards favoring black, Hispanic, poor whites and legacy students?
What about arguments for open borders from former Mexican President Vicente Fox that the United States ought to favor Mexican immigrant workers over African Americans?
What does she think of institutional (university and union) investors in the private prison industry that resists any reduction of prisons of drug offenders for clinical treatment centers?
I fear that Alexandra’s prescription reflects the very same smugly vague attitude she criticizes in the @resist politics. It’s an invitation to the splintering of any political movement for change. When there is no disciplined force unifying diverse coalitions you get what kind of “big tent”? The one we have of some individual deciders each month under legal investigation or scandal in the Trump admoinistration!!
Trump is the antidote to Deep State totalitarian socialism. Unlike GOP socialist-enablers, the President is fighting for the restoration of Freedom, the Right To Life, the rights of european-american men, and so many other bedrock principles. Whatever it takes to destroy socialism!
2
The dinosaurs, after all, were the last to know they were doomed. Thank you for reminding us.
1
I am thrilled that the New York Times has brought on as its new columnist Michelle Alexander, one of the most important voices of our times. With this piece she once again brings the historical insight, moral clarity and vision that we are so desperately in need of right now. I look forward to her column continuing to be a beacon of light in these dark days.
2
Thanks so much for the much needed message about how we as a people should think about our country now. Your message is more than just hope for a change but on how important it is to really move forward to bring about change. We don't have to accept the status quo of inferior health care coverage, lack of subsidized day care, age discrimination, and a toxic environment. And lets leave all the naysayers behind.
We can start by electing progressive leaders who will actually provide true representation and work for the people who elect them. This is the powerful message that we need to send to anyone running for office in the next election.
1
The Republican Party is a minority party.. Trump was squeezed into the Oval Office by 24% of potential electorate . The Republican strategy to corrode the electoral system based on computerized gerrymandering, and voter suppression is financed by corporate dark money coming from the Tea Party Kochs, Adelsons, Mercers and their ultra-right wing billionaire pals.
The most important action - not resistance, needed to restore a semblance of decency to our government is to get out the vote. The Republican election-stealing schemes depend on voter apathy and fail when there is a massive turnout. Get people to register and go to the polls!
5
"A new nation is struggling to be born, a multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, egalitarian democracy in which every life and every voice truly matters.”
In other words, the Enlightenment values of reason, science, individual rights, and progress will continue to reinforce the aspirations laid out by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Mr. Harding's river flows on.
6
Welcome to the Times, and thank you for your column.
While I agree with the goal — a nation in which all people can live with dignity, in safety and peace — I have to ask, what you plan to do about those members of the resistance you don't like?
You say that, yes, there's power in numbers, but THOSE people don't belong. In normal times, George Will, for example, would be my political enemy — now I'm happy to join forces with him. You say that's wrong.
Plenty of conservatives despise Trump. Some even resist racism and sexism, believe in science, and hope to preserve and protect the environment. If a progressive tide sweeps the nation, are those rational conservatives partners in the new world, or the enemy?
What does the Blessed Community plan to do with moderates? Which of our many and varied peoples deserves to be part of the Blessed Community, and which will be tossed in the dustbin of history?
You present a beautiful picture, but unless that picture arrives by consensus, you will be the oppressor, an oppressor with superior aims, maybe, but an oppressor nevertheless.
Ends have never justified all means. Mao declares that to make an omelet, you break eggs — but people aren't eggs. Each is sacred (though he or she may harbor bad ideas).
Yes, bring on Paradise. Oust the snake. Then show (with morality, patience, and courage) that the best way forward is that which includes all Americans — because that's fair and right. Fair and right is what every person wants.
4
I resonate with your belief in consensus...the consensus of those who see these as defining concepts of the US.
However, I do not any longer, after the last few years, see the need to include the views of racists, misogynists, ageist, "religionists," homophobics, fascists, white supremacists...groups against which we have sent thousands - millions - to die... as if they nonetheless possess the right to a seat at the table, or the right to the bullhorn, as if they have any place in formulating the future of a country holding as central the views we as a nation claim as ours.
This is a great piece. Resistance is stationary. We should not be stationary. Trump and his ilk are the resistors, fearful of change, angry and unwilling to share the pie, unwilling to open their hearts and minds, to be more dynamic. Thank you for changing the language. It matters.
3
Words matter indeed. The use of the term "resistance" does seem more oriented toward stopping than it does toward improving.
However, the Resistance should be seen as the political equivalent of a hospital emergency department. The country is bleeding and not breathing under Trump and the GOP. The Resistance is attempting triage. Surgery options and other repairs must wait until the patient is breathing and not bleeding.
Doing so politically means awakening the dormant appreciation of democracy that lies in the hearts of well more than the 40% or so who compose the Trump base and getting them to vote and Trump and his GOP cabal.
Nothing matters more than winning the elections. The Resistance can help cause the next two elections to put Democrats back in power, then repairs to all the damage Trump has done can be started. At that point, the Resistance will have done most of its job. It may have some identity crisis as it redefines itself from resisting to improving. It's the least of our present concerns.
Ms. Alexander's image of the revolutionary river is excellent. Conservatives forever try to dam the river because change hurts their established, vested interests. However, the river never runs a straight course and will circumvent all obstacles as it moves forward inexorably. The river is evolution.
2
Ms. Alexander, thanks for the inspiration and hope.
3
Thank you for a thoughtful article. I always want journalists to ask the obstructionists to the 'revolutionary river' what kind of world they envision. How do they want the world to look in 30 years? What's their ideal society? Are we just locking up and barring people? Is it just a world of walls? Who's in power then, and why? Can they paint a full picture so we all can know to what end they're working?
And on that note, here's the crucial question: Do you believe it's a zero-sum society, or does the world offer resources for us all? You would think that evangelicals would refer back to the loaves and fishes parable in the Bible, but they seem to believe that somehow God will not provide, so it's their job to discriminate against the 'unworthy.' The most faithless among us seem to be in the Republican Party. It's weird.
3
Our Revolution is working most successfully in Nordic countries which have evolved Democracy into tax supported free and equal education, health care and retirement benefits for all citizens. Racism used by the fewer Rich to divide the numerous Poor slows our progress here.
4
Wow, excellent editorial! Very glad Michelle Alexander has been added to The NY Times staff. I never thought about how limiting the term "resistance" is. It made me think.
In a way "resistance" is too polarizing a term. It is too dismissive of the majority, at least in electoral college terms, who voted for Trump. We need to build bridges not walls. It's like what the Parkland kids discovered when they went to pro-gun areas: once they went beyond NRA slogans, the pro-gun people actually agreed with most of the reforms the kids were asking for.
Polarization is the real enemy of our times. For this reason Trump is a disaster for America. In a way, further polarization with the term "resistance" is ironically supporting Trump.
Focusing on what we want takes us much further than dwelling on what we don't want. Inter-dependence, justice, freedom of choice and all of the values and behavior that come with the revolution river.
You can resist a figurehead, but you can't resist all the voters, easily 1/3 of the electorate, who see the figurehead as an idol.
Better justice and a brighter future are admirable. I'm on your side. But you seem to forget there are real lives who fear the future you're proclaiming.
I agree. We won't move forward through push and shove. But if your side is the better enlightened, more visionary, more just, then you ought to be able to package and sell your future to the less enlightened, benighted, prejudiced voters in ways they can understand and accept. Because right now, they can't and don't.
I disagree with your conclusion. We are not creating a "new" nation. We are simply fully enacting the philosophy that all are created equal intended with the birth of the United States of America. That the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness apply to all people regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. We are demanding that interpreting those rights viewed through a lens of racism and sexism is not what was intended. The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution knowing that battles to implement it would be fought down the road. We are just doing the fine tuning and addressing the inequities they did not. No one said it would be easy. But we will not return to 1776 to start the process all over. I believe Trump's election threw on the Emergency Brake of progress. The majority of the nation doesn't want to go back to a more racist time. Or a time when misogyny was ignored. Or a time when you could come here IF you looked like the white folks who ripped this country away from the native population. It is not a reach to figure out what will come next if Trump and his followers remain unchecked. As they like to point out elections have consequences. So when you are voted out, move aside and let us continue on the road to fully implement what the Founding Fathers intended.
1
Freedom from what holds back or holds down, perhaps. Freedom from neglect, want, fear, and lack of security. Freedom perhaps not to want for anything. Freedom never to need anything.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator to certain unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. W
Come the revolution all have the right to happiness, no pursuing required. Liberty that becomes offensive will have to be ended. Strife must end. Harmony and kindness must be the rules. That vision of a just and universal view of human rights was from long ago before it was known how to make life perfect. It never was fulfilled for all, so probably was never worth much, anyway.
Democracy where consensus overcomes the disharmonies of decision making by majorities and having to restrict even majorities from complete control in order to allow minorities be allowed to be contrary to the popular will can be how this brave new world is run. No bill of rights because everyone is free of fear and belongs and knows it. The long dreamt ideal human existence, sometimes called utopia.
Getting back to Earth, all men were created equal and are both good guys and bad guys, whatever seems to work for them. Humans organize themselves to benefit from cooperating but we lack the simple sameness of identical genes that make colonies of insects exist in selfless harmony. We need liberal institutions and laws to live together.
Wonderful piece. Exciting to have you in this forum. I was a print subscriber all my life -- daily....and then I lapsed. Now I am returning to subscription as I want to hold your words. WONDERFUL. important . needed.
2
What a pleasure to welcome Michelle Alexander to the NYT Opinion pages!! She is clearly one of the leading political thinkers and leaders of our time.
As a son of the South who lived his adult life in NY and has returned to the South in retirement, her voice brings an especially relevant perspective.
1
Put simply, persistance, not resistance. Fortitude and patience is always rewarded.
Yes, welcome. Nicely penned opener, and well conceived. I was waiting for you to create a moniker for this constitutional persistence. Maybe one will occur.
You mention climate change. We know pollution must be reduced, and we have been fighting it formally since 1972. Only recently has the “less government “ right began to forcefully resist anti-pollution regulation. Withdrawal from Paris, abandonment of better emissions goals, and cancellations of pollution regulations are all attempts to derail our inevitable trajectory toward a cleaner sustainable economy and world. The pure Capitalists of the Right have now abandoned their human constituents in favor of their corporate “people” entities. But this is not aligned with the American Revolution. You are correct: it is a resistance to the direction of our new country. Thank you for pointing that out.
3
Thank you Ms. Alexander for this clear, thought-provoking column. More like this please. I have in the past been entranced by your appearances on TV. I just watched your terrific, and frightening, TED talk. Now I have the pleasure of your written word. Your presence in the NYT increases the stature of this newspaper even further.
“The man, not necessarily his mission”
Are you serious ? Personal though our repugnance is to trump as a human being, his “mission” to isolate America, to heighten the gap between rich and middle class, to shrink governmental responsibilities to protect consumers and enhance their rights.
Come on, Michelle, this is not just about a person but about a multi front assault on liberalism for the sake of the few.
1
Thank you, Michelle for your beautiful thoughts and encouraging words.
1
I think it's a fallacy to conflate mass incarceration, where you can argue that black and brown people have been treated unjustly for centuries in this country, to the left-wing desire to let everyone who wants to come into this country.
There are numerous problems with the argument. The notion that because our ancestors were immigrants, we must treat everyone the same way is flawed. First, the original immigrants, the native Americans fared quite badly. So since we are now here, do we have the right to try to fare better than they did? The world is also much more populated. We cannot simply absorb everyone who has a problem elsewhere in the world. Finally, as a practical matter even if you disagree with me, if you take this position YOU WILL LOSE. There are many democratic proposals, like saving social security, restoring taxes at least to where they were before Trump's tax, that are popular. This one is a loser. If you lose the next elections you will get nothing you want. Why on earth does the New York Times keep pushing this ludicrously impractical agenda? We can come up with a way to grandfather the current set of undocumented immigrants, but if you insist on your agenda of allowing anyone into the country, the Trump's of this country will WIN.
2
It's always a pleasure to read Mrs. Alexander.
1
Historically the white man has not been kind to others. After reading this article, I immediately thought of the historical mistreatment of our Native Americans and how treaties were broken and lies promulgated to serve the self-interest of gaining land and other precious resources. Repression of others and retracting policies that are beneficial to future generations is tragic. I do not see Trump as the resistance but as the voice of those individuals who are nothing more than self-serving in their interests and vote. Our country must do better.
1
As a civil right lawyer, Michelle Alexander knows that both men and women have a right to reproduce. The Kavanaugh nomination at least provides an opportunity to consider if a father’s right to his child is greater than an abortionist’s right to sell their services.
We can separate the president’s personality from his policies. His use of Twitter has led to open government on countless issues. Even if one disagrees with the content or tone of a particular tweet, all must be grateful for bringing light to the president’s spin on subjects generally kept in the dark. Getting something from the horse’s mouth, even when we disagree, is better than putting up with the other end of the horse that most politicians dish out.
President Trump (and his son in law) want to tackle criminal justice reform in ways that most Democrats have failed to do. He has even used the presidential power to pardon in ways that make his predecessors look like political cowards. Trump offers hope while the Democrats hold back entirely for political reasons – (fear of giving Trump a victory that the Democratic base believes might cost some votes).
It is also odd that the tax cut is questioned when the economy has done so well for those at the bottom as well as those at the top. If the left wants to go after Mr. Trump why not encourage him to enact the wealth tax, he proposed in his book, “The America We Deserve”. Perhaps a wealth tax would get even more of the progressive base to support Mr. Trump.
1
I like the slightly provocative piece, but it hardly holds up - mostly because it falls for something most Democratic candidates (any but NY or Calif., basically) have SUCCESSFULLY avoided -
it's NOT about Trump, per se!
The 40-45% of the voters who chose him in '16 - and the 35-40% who haven't come to their senses (yet) - tell a very different story than the one Ms. Alexander is only partially successful in "selling."
Take the far-from-headline story today that the current administration may try to change laws about green cards to EXCLUDE people on food stamps and other forms of public assistance.
On the face of it, this is yet more evidence that Ms. Alexander is onto something, but I would argue that this is the kind of thing that - probably sadly - would have a bright red wall around it - i.e., VERY few who have ever or would ever vote GOP would have a problem with it ... and - candidly - it would peel off plenty of hard-working Democratic voters.
An "emerging majority" that can't "take care of itself" is NOT one that can/will effectively govern. OF COURSE, there are dozens of causes for the Dems coming to represent as many "outsiders" as they do.... And maybe we're on the cusp of a very different America ... as Ms. Alexander would have you believe.
I just don't believe we're seeing the dying gasp of "the former majority." Too many European countries are going through the same process. It's LOGICAL that demagogues win support as immigrants elbow out "natives."
1
The United States was established with no particular social culture but rather with our unique political culture so well recognized by deToqueville. It could occur only here and under our unique circumstances. It has never been replicated and never will be. We stood for gov't whose power was given to it by the people and the states, people who knew that rights came to us from God as part of our being; this is opposed to the gov't telling us what our rights are as if gov'ts were gods. Our political culture survives because people come here with various social cultures but "melt" politically into each to keep the cosset and unique gov't structure thriving. Indeed, you are "resistant" when you speak therefore of "multiculturalism" as opposed to a "melting" pot. "Multicuktarism" breeds enclaves and Balkanizes us...just as we are becoming now. It doesn't unite us behind common principles. Rather it seeks redress for every perceived violation of its enclave's rights. Does Trump play into this? Of course, this is not a defense of him. Rather I am pointing out that your movement is of the same mold, just a different sound.
2
I don't want to 'rain on your parade', but Americans voted overwhelmingly for Barak Obama twice.
Hillary Clinton received 3 million votes more than you know who.
She would have won at the election if she had received 295 thousand votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.
You wrote urging people not to vote for Hillary Clinton...
IF Bernie Sanders had shown strong support for Clinton earlier on, things would have been different...
The great tragedy of all this... may still be ahead.
The 'Left'/ Democrats need to work towards consensus...
Politics is Prose: argue to convince, not convert.
Build a coalition ....
Voting against Hillary Clinton may have seemed the
'ethical' and 'moral highroad', but we are now struggling with the consequences of that moralizing.
And if Trump wins again it will shatter the 'Left'
for a decade...
Somber reflection is in order...
3
Given that there is an ebb and flow the the long march of progress, at times resistance is necessary within the larger context of that progress. With the rise of Trump and emergence of his retrograde reprobates (not all of his supporters, but far too many), ‘Resist’ is an appropriate call to alert people to the need to fight to avoid losing the progress made.
1
Great article. We need to be for something, not against. More people can get on board for a program that is going somewhere rather than one whose raison d’être is only about saying “no” to everything. Anger is great as a fuel, but it’s not an agenda.
1
In my hometown in NY our GOP elected officials Assembly Member Kevin Bryne and Senator Terrence Murphy are both Trumpsters supporters. Both are anti-immigration for some bizaar reason when both their families come from Irish families who immigrated. Both need to look at their families past history and talk to their immigrant neighbors, but both are white men with no diversity in their district offices. Both refuse to host forums to discuss immigration, healthcare and ignore all constituent issues from residents who are not part of the GOP party. They look at party rolls of the constituent letters sent to their offices and respond to only GOP constituents. These two need to be publicly shamed and part of the RESISTANCE. We don't need elected officials in office who don't represent their constituents. NY Times should profile these two lying individuals who have fabricated bios on their websites and who only tweet and use social media to reach out to constituents.
2
Trump is reactionary in more ways than one.
He has never had any vision beyond self-aggrandizement, and will never have a single, original idea.
Really liked the picture of one of the protester's signs "jobs for all" in your column, given that unemployment is at historical lows.
Language matters. This is why Nixon and since then Reagan and all Republicans have so deliberately identified themselves and their movement as the Establishment, the Real America -- the "Moral Majority."
It has worked. All Republicans have come to see themselves as the true patriots and inheritors of all that "America" stands for.
Democrats have not only succumbed to this, but have begun to see themselves as the rebellious and loyal opposition.
This needs to change, because we are going down, fast. The Democratic Party has thus far co-opted and folded in the face of the post-Nixon Rightist onslaught.
Unless the Democratic Party steps up, a new party will soon need to be born in America. We cannot move forward without a real movement behind us.
This is the first thing I've read since the T dictatorship began than gave me a full breath of hope. What an inspired perspective! T's cruel treatment of immigrants and his callous actions against the wellbeing of the planet have been so pervasive that I had been out of ideas. I welcome yours.
3
Democrats and Progressives have always been the 'Resistence', in good times and especially during the bad ones.
Republicans have resented and opposed every progressive initiative Democrats, Liberals, Progerssives, however you want to label these fighters for the common man, since Roosevelt's New
Ms. Alexander is missing the fact of Trump's election: diminished participation by voters who are not "white"but sympathize with the Republican desire to conform our legal structure to the christian religion and to prevent emigration from Latin and South America. Those voters who are not white, gave the election to Obama, denied it to Clinton and Democrats and do, and will, give it to Trump.
Following Michelle Alexander words, Republicans will have to find new ways to stop Americans to become a really democratic society.
Yes, we learn the hard way; mere resistance is not enough, yet seems critical. Our world is broken, and the healing it needs will not be ultimately achieved by resistance alone because resistance alone is the way of putting up the fight for the fight to go on. Which it does ... on and on and on. Trump is a symptom of our disease, elected by a significant number of us. Of us! e pluribus unum. Given that Trump’s just a disastrous disgrace and yet still supported by so many, is striking. This is like suicide through insistent resistance. What is going on with these “so many” who dig-in more in response to the destructiveness of this individual? But until these “so many” are listened to and substantively ministered to in ways that do not offend justice, we all of us are not going anywhere ... except maybe toward more dysfunctional living. It’s time a for truce. The question is, Who is the leader for that? As Portia said, mercy has to season justice for the sake of plain living. There must a place at the table for all of us who seek through goodwill both the honor of themselves and the other.
2
Sorry. But for the sake of optimism and my own sanity I must believe that we are not a "new nation that's struggling to be born" -- but rather one that is already up, and well on its way to fighting back. Simply because the alternative is much too terrible to risk.
Most of us here in New York City already knew what having Donald Trump in the White House would do to the credibility and moral of this country. And we watched in horror and in awe how Americans fell increasingly under the spell of his promises and lies.
We knew he wouldn't make America great again, because even with all of its flaws it was already great.
We knew that there was no place in the Oval Office for a business charlatan who would only enrich himself at the cost of the people he was supposed to serve and protect.
And we also knew that we would be the ones on the frontline of any resistance movement against everything he said, did, or represented.
That's why he hates to come back here.
Because he knows we'll be out in the streets to meet him.
Just like he now knows we'll also be there to meet his Supreme Court candidate.
But thank you for sounding the clarion call for all those who didn't hear it until now.
The time has come. The revolution has begun. And it will be televised.
1
In an intellectual manner what they 're suggesting is that law enforcement is wrong,because of the fact that it's prejudiced. That our borders should be totally open to anybody ,even tens of millions from deadbeat countries of which the US taxpayers will fully foot the bills. Any Nation shall freely take our jobs at the expense of Americans ,and again ,the taxpayers will sustain everyone and all their relatives no Matter where they're from. That remaking this Nation in an image that does not exist anywhere on earth ,from a Nation where everybody on earth would die to be living here is completely unrealistic and an ideal which nobody would really want to exist in.Then the press fully recognizes the ongoing corruption in the GOP yet covers up all that of Democrats.
2
Trump is the legally elected President, and all the claims of "resistance" are basically a rejection of the democratic process. All talks of "battle" are just hype as in democracy competition to get elected and implement an agenda is a normal process, as long as it follows the law. All the hysterical claims of "attack on basic human rights" and "attack on freedom of the press" are no more than empty slogans. If anyone wants to see them actually happening, Turkey, China, Cuba, Venezuela and others can provide real examples, and comparing this to the US amounts to whitewashing despotism and its crimes. All this kind of hysteria does is create a hostile atmosphere which degrades democracy.
2
I liked this column until she referred to James Comey as part of the resistance. Is this the same Comey that is responsible for Trump’s election by reopening the Hilary email investigation a week before the election. He is not part of the resistance, he is part of the self aggrandizement movement and always has been.
In her 2016 column in The Nation, Ms. Alexander laid out the basis for urging her fellow Black Americans to not vote for HRC vs. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary.
https://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black...
Essentially, Black Americans fulfilled her wishes by staying home in all too high numbers in the general election that fall, something that Trump acknowledged ( and thanked them for).
In her 2016 column, Ms. Alexander ended with :
"....After decades of getting played, the sleeping giant just might wake up, stretch its limbs, and tell both parties: Game over. Move aside. It’s time to reshuffle this deck."
Well, Ms. Alexander, an entirely different sleeping giant woke up and reshuffled the deck by coming out and actually voting.
Where is your victory now?
America is more like Yugoslavia 25 years ago; there are a number of nations struggling to be born. Trump just represents the conservative Anglo one.
1
And now we need candidates with the smarts and the guts to not just represent, but commit to enacting the tenets of this piece.
1
You're right, Michelle, we are not the resistance; Trump and a bunch of old white men in Congress are. They resist change, the new demographics, climate science, alternative energy, global trade and young ideas. But they will fail because the past is gone and the future is here.
1
Thank you.
Yes, Trump is both the symptom and the flashpoint -- not the rising protests against him. He wishes to turn this country back to the 1950's; but only for the reasons that gave him as a white male: privilege. (He does not wish a return to restricted divorce, a pre-60's sexual morality, or restrictions on the money flushing thru the political system today.)
We are the mainstream protesting 2 out of the last 5 presidential elections taken away from the majority vote, increasing restrictions on voting rights itself, the idea (and practice) of the US being a country...not of immigrants...but a frozen-in-time 1950 construct, and the continued implicit restrictions on being a woman, a skin color, a disability, a difference. We protest our country turning insular, ignoring world problems that affect us while refusing to participate in solutions. We are ashamed of immoral actions such as separating children from parents placing them in internment camps. And, most of all as citizens who vote and supposedly determine our government, we protest the increasing actions of our elected officials who have begun to think they are an entitled class of citizen...entitled to their offices...entitled to the vast monies flowing thru elections...entitled to represent their donors, not us.
It is not we who are the anomaly; it is Congress, the president, the cabinet who are betraying the principles and norms (and even the laws) of our nation.
I enjoyed the insight in this editorial. Keep it up!
Brava, Ms. Alexander! Looking forward to more.
This is just a quick note to commend Ms. Alexander and the Times on a column that will keep me thinking for quite a while. Seeing pro-social movement as figure against the ground of reactionary resistance is a welcome alternative to the dominant narrative.
For many years I taught American history and the narrative I presented to my students was exactly as you express, with the help of others: " the long, continuous yearning and reaching toward freedom flows throughout history “like a river, sometimes powerful, tumultuous, and roiling with life; at other times meandering and turgid, covered with the ice and snow of seemingly endless winters, all too often streaked and running with blood.”
I have great faith that the river will continue to flow. It is in the veins of The People.
Now that I am retired, I teach refugees seeking to become American citizens. They, too, have the river in their veins. I felt the power of its current on Saturday as we discussed "all men are created equal" from the Declaration of Independence. The news that green cards will be denied to immigrants who take government aid will prove to be another futile attempt to dam what cannot be stopped. I and my students are not the resistance.
Thank you for giving words to Truth.
Your re-casting of the 'resistance' paradigm is brilliant and gives me strength. This is the first time I've taken a deep breath in a very long time.
Welcome to the Times! Your voice is a great addition to the mix. I look forward to your columns and very much enjoyed this one.
Thank you for this insightful opinion piece. It is easy to resist. Much more difficult, yet rewarding, is to develop new ways to solve old and new issues in a way that brings our nation to an inclusiveness that taps the talents of the many, not just the few.
I'm reminded of the old Bell Labs saying "If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem"
Thank you, Michelle. I was getting very frustrated at the relentless attack on so-called "tribalism" from both the right and the left. You put into words my own thoughts on a lot of topics and eloquently describe how many of us continue to evolve politically by fighting for our most cherished values - our "tribes" - while never losing sight of our shared Americaness. Keep 'em coming please. We'll need your thoughts and words in the days ahead.
1
I am still waiting to see the Democratic Party produce a plan for what they will do to restore America should they regain control of one or both houses of Congress in November.
It's all "anti-Trump" rhetoric but hardly a whisper of what they will do if elected to Congress. Michele Alexander is right: it is definitely not enough.
Will they work to repeal the trillion dollar tax cut that turned over to the wealthiest individuals in the nation money desperately needed to fix our crumbling infrastructure? Money to restore the fraying safety nets to insure that the 24% of American children living in poverty will not go hungry at night and can see a doctor if they are injured or ill?
Will they work to make public education free, as it was in the 1960s when all the University of California charged me to attend was $118 in fees per semester? We had the money then.
Will the Democrats wage a campaign for Medicare for All, guaranteeing what every other industrialized nation has managed for its citizens.
And what do they plan to do about military spending -- $717 billion this year? The 2015 military budget of 598 billion accounted for 54 percent of all federal discretionary spending.
Discretionary spending is the money from our tax dollars that can be used for the needs of the country and its citizens.
Where is the Democratic Party's program for change to inspire voters to turn out in November?
"Anyone-but-Trump" is not enough! Voters are looking for more!
4
The voice and perspective I've been waiting for! I agree with every word. Thank you Ms. Alexander and thank you NYT. I can't wait to read your next column. Your debut column is a shining light in the gathering darkness.
3
Welcome, Ms Alexander. We look forward to more of your writing. I read "The New Jim Crow" not long after it was published and then passed it on to one of our local circuit judges, asking him to pass it on to his fellow judges. I don't know that it had much effect on them, but hope it did.
3
Welcome, Ms. Alexander! I want to hear more of your incisive, focused voice!
3
Inspiring, intelligent, crafted...beautiful. Looking forward to hearing more from this new columnist. Thank you!
4
I welcome you as an author but this piece strikes me as heavily cerebral, with little real impact in the world, I'm afraid. It's not that your points aren't valid. It's that the movement -- whatever that may be -- has spread too far and wide to have a public discourse on how it is defined. And you don't really offer an alternative phrase or term. Until someone does, and it has a chance of sticking and spreading like wildfire, The Resistance will have to do.
1
What an insightful voice! Just as in the 60's movement against the Vietnam War there were many of us who did not want the American flag denigrated (nor one returning soldier) - we knew we were standing for America not against her. Holding to a vision for our country's progress toward a more perfect union requires awareness just as this thoughtful "opinion" reflects. The way we portray that vision is so important and must reflect light!
2
I’m so glad your voice will be reaching a wide audience through The NY Times.
It gives me a little hope that maybe this movement towards ending mass incarceration is beginning to go mainstream. There’s so much work to be done, and I appreciate the clarity of your voice.
2
There is no new nation. Time is a continuum not a series of discreet unconnected points. Many try to see it that way but that is not the way reality works.
The electorate continues to change, as it always has, and that is what this represents. Good, bad or indifferent.
But the direction that it is going in does not bode well for our immediate future. Much of this started with the Democrats and the Civil Rights movement. There were many large groups in this Republic that were marginalized. The efforts to add them to the greater part of the nation, however, has not produced the anticipated results. Rather than creating a larger group of united Americans over the decades it has spawned a level of tribalism, and the resulting poisoned atmosphere that has also grown, that makes us look more like Iraq's post Saddam Hussein.
1
Welcome to the Times Ms. Alexander.
Like the yearly Nile flood, change or revolution is more visible in some years than others. The nurturing silt left behind representing new standards and mores in society.
Resisters like Trump and his "followers" are horrified by the new layer of earth and try to block it or even dig it up to get at the old, dry layers underneath.
At times, their efforts look to be succeeding but are finally futile.
1
I disagree with your thesis that Donald Trump is pushing back against a new nation that's struggling to be born. He is working, and working quite triumphantly, to restore America back to the nation for which the Patriots fought and died. They fought and died for a nation founded on the principle of equality and justice for all Americans not just a favored few. Americans for Trump because a large portion of their fellow citizens had been cast aside because their work endangered the environment, because they believed in God, and because they clung to their guns, which is constitutionally guaranteed by the 2nd amendment. In his inaugural address, President Trump stated that the hard working people of America, who had been marginalized by the previous administration and who would have been eliminated had he not won, would never be forgotten again, and he is holding true to that promise, despite efforts by the Left to defeat him. At his rally in Springfield, MO, recently, the line of people stretched for more than 2 miles to see him, to hear his words of resilience, inspiration, and faith. No, he is not the resistance, but rather the renaissance. Thank you.
2
@Southern Boy
If Trump is the "renaissance", then it's one of very limited appeal and not very new at all; which is also why he'll only hold rallies in places like Springfield, MO. and claim success among poor and working-class whites who thrive on feeling forgotten and "marginalized by the previous administration".
That said, it's no wonder why Trump was endorsed by white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan. No thank you.
1
What discussion would we are having if HRC was now president? Would we believe that the battles were won and the was was over? As a nation we are at a perilous juncture but it was one we were destined to confront sooner or later. I believe that the resistance Ms. Alexander describes would be a far more dangerous centrifuge of hate and anger if it had been allowed to metastasize on the edges of our society and not allowed to come out and be shown for what it is. Better that we address the issues now. We are a divided country but at our core the majority of us believe in justice and fairness for all. Now is the time to fight the resistance to our core beliefs.
2
Bravo, Michelle!
Your opinion piece shines a refreshing light on the struggle for human rights and dignity. I look forward to reading future articles.
2
Ms. Alexander's column will become the bane of the conservative reader, albeit however few actually read this paper.
Ms. Alexander's argument presupposes that progress is a movement towards equality and justice for all and there will always be those who resist. This divides us into two camps - the compassionate liberal and the hard-hearted self-interested conservative. This is not helpful in our current political climate and I say this as a dyed-in-the-wool liberal.
It comes down to this:
1. Progressives believe in a strong central government that will protect the weak against the powerful. Madison proclaimed, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Wilson believed the poor would be destined to infinite victimization by the wealthy. Welcome to the Gilded Age of 21st century America. Progressives see liberty as the freedom from the predatory domination of the strong over the weak and they see government as central to securing equality.
2. The Conservative movement, grown by leaps and bounds since the 1960s, prioritizes the decentralization of government and the defense of family, local houses of worship, local community resources and the individual as means of securing equality and liberty. It is a Darwinian equation - survival of the fittest. Those who get left behind deserve to get left behind.
The prevailing winds favor the Conservatives and that is why they are in complete control. We are sailing against the tide no matter what we call ourselves.
I have been inspired by you since reading your transformational book, "The New Jim Crow," and was thrilled to learn you'd become a Times columnist. What a fabulous start! I look forward to swimming with you in the Revolutionary River. Welcome!
3
I am thrilled to read your debut column Michelle Alexander. Your voice, perspective, legal mind, and sweeping view of history give readers much needed food for thought. I look forward to reading your columns!
4
Michelle, thank you for and congratulations on your eloquent and perceptive first column - an important new voice in the Times' Opinion department we can look forward to hearing more from in the months and years ahead. Bravo!
3
With the rise of women in the workplace and in government, the legality of gay marriage and the election of Barack Obama, that country has been born.
Throwbacks like Trump and the GOP can keep trying to bludgeon and smear it, but they're rapidly losing ground.
The majority of people graduating from law school and medical school, and the majority of people receiving Ph.D's in many fields, are now women.
That fact can't be rolled back.
It's taking time to undo the culture. norms and laws that held us down. But we won't be held down anymore.
No matter what they do.
4
"What you resist persists." So true. I'm pleased to read your thoughts for the very first time. Hopefully there will be many more to come, right here at the NYT. Bravo.
5
This has been my hope about what's going on now: that it was the last-gasp, death-throes violent reaction to the changes of the era, such as gay marriage and a black president.
Because it is so violent and desperate, we can really see the ugliness of it. At the moment that's being expressed by the bullying of Christine Blasey Ford, who's being told, effectively, that what she has to say isn't of interest to Republicans who don't care about Kavanaugh's character.
It's been one horror after another, all approved by the portion of the population who cannot stand people different from themselves, people in even temporary need (of assistance, of asylum, of health care). We're seeing that they are willing to lie, cheat, and steal to keep the old norms, the cramped vision, in place. They are willing to submit to authoritarianism for it.
You're right, then: We are not the resistance; they are. We are the future, a better and more vital vision—already here.
7
Excellent article. Well said. We shall overcome indeed.
5
Welcome! Your column has somewhat broadened my thought processes and perspectives regarding my "resistance ". Thank you and I will be looking forward to your future columns.
4
Ms. Alexander,
A fine debut; you are well-begun!
I'm sure you'll find that many worthy causes will appeal to you and your magnificent soap box for support. So, as a career capital defender, I welcome your voice and hope that you will help put me out of business by exposing the horror show that is capital punishment.
In all events, welcome.
-Garrett
2
The idea that Trump is resisting a changing America is true, but to assume that this changing America automatically translates into a more just America is wrong and derives from a kind of sunny American optimism about historical progress that is simplistic and inaccurate.
History is not a river. It is not a simplistic struggle between reactionary and progressive forces. Even Marx, the first one to talk about struggle as a spur to historical progress, was more nuanced than this.
When we think about history this way, we risk realizing how bad things can get. A river has an air of inevitability to it that history does not. I fear that this kind of thinking will undermine the broad resistance to Trump and am thinking of a historic parallel: resistance to Nazism. Communists believed that fascism was the swan song of capitalism and often refused to join widespread resistance to Nazism because moderate leftists were not radical enough. But in the end, it was a broad resistance that defeated nazism and if the popular front of the 1930s had stayed in tact, perhaps the bloodiness of WWII would have been stopped or at least mitigated. When the left seeks to exclude moderate people from its resistance it often loses (and often vice versa too). Lets avoid these teleological, sweeping generalizations about history and focus on the matter at hand.
3
You seem to think that Trump and his kind represent the minority and so forth but this is the kind of thinking that pervades the east and west coasts. Within the great heartland, he has approval or at least grudging approval for his programs. Moreover, the GOP hold the levers of power. While we focus on his corruption and antics, the GOP is implementing its program and quite successfully too. It will decades to reverse the damage done.
Your article is interesting but not realistic. It's an impassioned cry but not much more than that. A dose of reality needs to be in order.
5
This is an excellent article and well worth reading for everyone. A great collection of most of the current and future issues facing us as a nation. Thank you Michelle, I really enjoyed this piece of work.
3
A very good commentary, but lacking in one area. We need to identify what is the root cause of the dysfunction that is plaguing our political landscape.
It is my contention that a couple of truths about the human condition is in play.
First, it is a basic fact that most people will follow the path of least Resistance and effort. The current media has flooded our lives with every conceivable angle of perspective imaginable about what they think we will listen to and read. The total goal is to present positions and statements that their audience will buy and spend in response.
The real truth usually lies not in any one reporting media outlet, but in a combination of the study of all of them. This requires work and a majority of us do not or will not take the time to listen to view points and reports that are somewhat offensive to us.
The second point is that the Trump tide, ie the Republican white male that is doggedly supporting him do not read or pursue divergent trains of thought. This contingent listens to the ten second sound bite and tunes out the relevant facts given to support or denies the basic thought.
This failing is true for most of us, sad to say, but hopefully the majority will listen, analyze and vote for what they believe is right.
1
Thank you NY Times for adding this inspiring and insightful new voice to the Opinion section. I look forward to reading further columns from Michelle Alexander.
3
I've been waiting for this, though I didn't know it. A shift from resistance to revolution is the shift in paradigm that can give hope and momentum to the long hard path ahead.
5
“Resistance” in political terms means resisting the power of those in office and their backers. It is an appropriate term in this era of inequality, resentment and anger. The future is not guaranteed by demographics.
3
As a legal scholar I look forward to your analysis of the issues that daily confront us. I also hope that you frame your thoughts within the historical arc of our “nobel” experiment and how it has evolved over time. Please remember that our country was founded on slavery as well as a corporate economy decreed by the English king to fully exploit the indigenous populations. Americans are confused, angry, and very frightened. We need a model that will explain these feelings and thereby show us a path for going forward. Dante comes to mind - in the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.
2
No one in America understands the impact of slavery our society better than Michelle Alexander. Have you read her book “The New Jim Crow”? Her debut as a Times writer raises the bar for the opinion column into the stratosphere.
Thank you Ms. Alexander for this and for bringing us Vincent Harding's metaphoric river:
',,,the long continuous yearning and reaching toward freedom flows throughout history “like a river, sometimes powerful, tumultuous, and roiling with life; at other times meandering and turgid, covered with the ice and snow of seemingly endless winters, all too often streaked and running with blood.”
I agree the idea " #resistance" is no longer appropriate to fight trumpism, and trumpism is indeed the resistance! We need to flood this nation with powerful force to overcome and defeat this icy block to our progress and our nation's goodness.
Thank you for the hopefulness of this idea, much needed at this time.
And welcome the Times! i will look forward to your columns.
6
As a moderate and independent voter, Ms. Alexander's advocacy of a "revolutionary river" and "radical evolution" is misguided and dangerous.
With prejudice, she claims "many whites feared their privileged status".
She wants to end "mass incarceration" which she deems unjust, but ignores the crimes that damage the lives of law abiding Americans.
Her message is divisive and offensive to many moderates and independents.
12
These days, most who claim to be “Independents” are really embarrassed Republicans and most who claim to be Moderates simply are afraid of change.
Welcome Michelle Alexander! What a fabulous introductory piece! I love that we are not the resistance but are a nation struggling to be born against the resistance of vitriolic forces. What a piercing insight!
Kudos to the New York Times for finally including a full fledged voice from the left.
Although this is a great start, it does not get at the heart of the problem. And that problem is the lack of exposure to a reality that we are loath to see. We need to know what our nation is doing before it is too late to act. For example, how long did it take for us to realize the extent of our support for the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen? How long did it take for us to learn of the machinations of the Democratic Party in squashing Bernie Sanders? How many of Bernie's appearances to huge crowds did the NY Times fail to cover? As we speak, our climate is deteriorating before our eyes. How many times has the NY Times failed to connect the dots regarding violent storms and climate change? It is not only opinions that matter; it is knowledge of reality upon which those opinions are formed.
8
And,,,,, don’t forget the billion dollar business growing in Texas that house young migrants. No wall is needed; just allow illegal immigrants to come over, then house them in these billion dollars profit making shelters. In addition, the laws are so complex, some of these young people maybe house for a lifetime. Who is watching this system? It is simply unreal and appears to be a human rights issue.
1
We need a new political party to complement the new and changing America. Republicans have become the party of indifference and even treason. Democrats are the party of comfort and will do anything to avoid their own shadows (which are long and haunting.)
The Electoral College needs to go. Gerrymandering needs to go. Super Delegates need to go. Universal health care needs to be expanded. Flint needs clean water, and the governor of Michigan and his cronies need to be in jail. Election financing needs serious reform.The Supreme Court needs term limits of 18 years. Vote in November. Your life depends on that single action. Remove as many Republicans as possible. Then remove as many Democrats as possible. Be the change America needs. Vote.
7
I agree with most of what you say, especially term limits on Supreme Court justices. I guess if "Universal health care needs to be expanded", then it's not universal is it?
Beautiful writing! Thank you. A river, eventually, will break down even stone, and nourish us all.
4
Of course, human dignity and all it requires are laudable goals shared by most. But the vehicle for its accomplishment involves expanding the middle class and an equitable distribution of wealth. That is where the rubber hits the road and politics is up against the Oligarchs.
Whatever the value of “stronger together” and “dignity for all” these objectives require practical steps to redress economic inequality, adequate health care, and the regulation of social media and the propaganda machine now running the GOP and reality for 40% of voters.
2
Congratulations to Ms. Alexander on her debut Op Ed. Thoughtful, insightful and well expressed. We should all look forward to many more such articles: Bravo!
4
In this current stress test to our democracy we must vehemently resist in the short term before we can go back to the steady incremental revolutionizing of the future.
1
A wonderful essay. Welcome to my lexicon, Ms. Alexander!
3
There are at least two toxic forces to overcome. The least powerful is white privilege. The most daunting and least addressed by so-called progressive voices is globalized corporate-privileged capitalism. It is that system that is rapidly degrading the biosphere and will ultimately choke any hopes of enlightened, inclusive democracy, as the most powerful fight over scarce resources in years to come. Yes, let’s end white patriarchal privilege, while actively formulating plans for sustainable beloved communities. Much work is being done on that below the mainstream radar. Let’s make it headline news everyday.
7
Welcome but be careful of what you are advocating for. At this point the only thing that matters is a united Democratic Party ,no matter what kind .
Anything else is more Trump.
2
The undercurrent of the article should concern all Americans. Is a political party, one of the two in a two-party system, doing its job if it can be so easily hijacked by a group or a person? Incidentally, both hijacking incidents are fueled by money as a result of Citizens United decision which made money the volume control of freedom of speech.
The country needs a Republican party that has well-articulated principles beyond "evangelical-republican" and have the backbone to stand up against the hijackers. Who knows who will hijack the party in a few years.
Why does our democracy need the Republican Party? To enact the will of its members? Maybe, but I don’t think that’s what you mean. It’s already doing that.
I think you’re suggesting we need a sober counterbalance to Democratic rule, and I say that’s bunk.
The Democratic Party is as responsible for the rise of Trump as Republicans are. The Democratic Party signed Nafta, brought China into the WTO, ended welfare as we know it. It gave us Obamacare with no public option, with no negotiation power over drug prices, and a guaranteed role for private insurance. They’ve done a pretty good job extending copyright and patent protection around the globe. The haven’t passed major social legislation since the EPA. Fifty years is a long time to wait.
We need a counterweight to Democratic Corporatism. The Republican Party is not it, and never will be. A reformed Republican Party would look like the present-day Democratic Party.
5
Compelling, empowering and hopeful imagery of the sometimes imperceptible velocity and momentum of human progress. Thank you. Your voice on these pages is welcomed.
9
So pleased to see Prof. Alexander in The Times. I appreciate her analysis, and attention to linguistics. I look forward to her next column. Thank you.
6
I firmly support the President. That being said, this is an extremely well written and thought provoking piece.
I’m genuinely curious. Why do you support the president? Can you articulate how his presence in the WH advances human dignity? Prepares our country to deal with climate change? Delivers a better educational system? Improves our healthcare system? Creates more stability in the world? Elevates the caliber of public discourse? Respects the dignity of women and minorities? Or is it all about a runaway stock market and that tax giveaway for billionaires and corporations, neither of which will have any effect on the majority of Americans?
1
Welcome, Ms. Alexander. I look forward to reading your columns for a long time.
And how on-point you are. I've never thought I was part of the resistance. I've always thought I was the future of our country.
10
Beautifully written. It presents a view that lay fallow until brought to light by Ms. Alexander. What seemed so obvious to her lay hidden behind the chaotic curtain of the past two years. Thanks to her, we can all see more clearly now.
12
I am intrigued. While I count myself as one of the resistance, I have been nagged by thoughts about how real transformative change flows from love and positivity versus anger.
Thank you for this version of context!
8
What I think is the most brilliant about this column is the positioning of all the “resistance movements”, not as resisting at all but trying to reinstill the sense and purpose of what our democracy is really all about. That should be every Americans mantra as we move forward.
15
There will not be a cleansing followed by perfect harmony. It’s nothing more than the way all of us anticipate after the pain and frustration has passed that we will feel. We will find comfort and no longer think about the cause of our suffering. But suffering is never going to be eliminated.
Taking a look at how many of us enjoy life free of want in comparison to just decades ago, of how much better our democracy enforces equal rights, of how much kinder people treat each other, of how much less violence more and more people find in their lives, our world is better than has been the world of most people before us. It really is a way of life that enables people to adapt to changing needs while providing day to day consistency and stability.
Revolution is the aspiration for transformation overnight. Remove the established order and purge all the decadent ways and recalcitrant proponents of the old system and everything will change into the naturally driven best alternative reality. Ignore Napoleon and Stalin, the true outcomes of the two most powerful revolutions which promised radical transformation, Ignore that false revolution led by a group of frustrated social climbers including slave owners who denied men and women the rights which they claimed all possessed which has achieved one vote one person and still seeks to free all from inequities. Which form of change actually has succeeded? Permanent change is slow because humans and humans living together are difficult.
3
With the gift of words and ideas, you have given voice to my own vision of America's "Dream". It won't happen tomorrow but the journey is ongoing.
The American "Dream" is great. It will take time to achieve it.
6
Resist, persist and insist.
It is true that Trump and Trumpism represent resistance to new realities. But, in the context of recent history, the Resistance is the antidote to unjust, immoral power. It is a necessary phase.
Persistence is required to overcome defeats and setbacks and to prevent pessimism, which can turn into cynicism and apathy.
Insistence is the how we get the needed changes.
2
Ms. Alexander, you have echoed what I witnessed this summer, in of all places, Rye Playland here in Westchester County. The park was filled with families of all colors, nationalities and religions. As I watched a group of four girls, dressed in their hijabs, running to get on a ride I marveled at the diversity evident that day in the park. My friend remarked that she wished everyone could see this panorama because, after all, everyone wants the same for their families: the chance to have fun, to be together, to enjoy the day. There is no “other,” it is simply all of us. Thank you for your buoyant column.
26
What a weird comment. I'm not sure that marveling at diversity is the end goal, in fact it's almost creepy.
I appreciate your thoughts. I have read steadily during Obama but more intensely since the onslaught of Trump thinking where is this coming from. Having been in college during the tumultuous era of viet nam, joe mccarthy, integration, voting rights, and the murders of multiple leaders, I see parallels and not. Having just finished Ramp Hollow regarding the coal industry and the dispossession of the Appalachian people and now Krakowers book on the Mormons, there are common themes. There is clearly a disassembly of democracy. Interesting that our leader has been friends with Putin for decades, that after losing bank support, he became connected to the Russian mafia. So there is the question of just how much the Russians own in America and other than the obvious power battle, where is this going? There is a wider picture worldwide of nationalism that is connected and it is. There is intensification of the ever-present discrimination and deliberate attempts to not only scramble the truth but the meaning of the constitution. And then there is Trump himself, adversarial and always striking a cord of dissension and self promotion that gives us cause to wonder when the next ball will drop.
5
The author makes several interesting points, but fails to address the legitimacy of the concerns of her opponents which makes her debut column just more of the same old, same old from the left.
For instance, should we open our borders and abolish ICE and if so what would be the effect on working class wages?
A Yale University study recently indicated that the number of illegal/undocumented persons in this country has been underestimated by half and is more likely closer to 22 million. Liberals both inside and outside of government are “resisting” a border wall. Where is the popular mandate for such resistance? Surely it does not come from those citizens mired in the lower income bracket in our country, which leads one to believe it is really the resistance of the wealthy in our society and groups like the US Chamber of Commerce seeking cheap labor. What is so progressive about that resistance?
7
If you want to prevent the migration of cheap labor into this country, of undocumented people who can be exploited as cheap and docile labor, face the people who make coming here by any means possible. Employers hire the undocumented deliberately by hiring people to work so cheaply that they know that only people who fear to be deported can be expected to accept them. Prosecute them and make them face insolvency if the don’t stop. Walls are a weak disincentive that people will find ways around.
1
Most liberals don’t want an open border or to abolish ICE. You sound like a typical republican.
What a beautifully written, thought-provoking, and compelling piece! Welcome aboard, Michelle Alexander.
10
Thank you MIchelle, well written and strong article. The problem, of course, is larger than Trump, even larger than America. Most of your concerns affect large (read all) parts of the globe. I would think that eventually you will take more of a world perspective. In spite of Trump's tweets, a 'Great America' is nothing without vastly improved world.
3
Donald Trump and the Republican Party that he dominates did not elect themselves. Bizarre and twisted as it seems, they were placed in power by the electorate. As a result they control the legislatures of 34 of our 50 states, both houses of Congress, The White House and The Supreme Court. Why that is so, and how to reverse that trend is the great unanswered question. What was tried and said in 2016 obviously is not the answer, because it did not work.
6
Our entire political system in Washington has been purchased and is under the influence of vast sums of money. From the White House to the Supreme Court our “elected” officials are lining up for their bag of cash. Is there any wonder the resistance to what we are seeing has and will not end up having any effect. I only hope it’s not too late: have the people of this country lost control of the government?
7
@Penseur
I'm certain that when Republicans lost to Obama -- twice -- they considered themselves part of a "resistance" movement too. How did they respond? Not by reinventing the wheel or tearing up the Constitution. How have Democrats responded to the 2016 debacle? By blaming everyone but their deeply flawed candidate, Mrs. Clinton, and vowing to move even further to the left. Apparently they haven't learned a thing.
2
How the GOP gained control is not an unanswered question. The unanswered question is how a handful of demented billionaires gained control of the GOP. Part of the answer is, oddly, money. But money artfully spent on a ubiquitous and hugely successful brainwashing machine whose propaganda defines reality for 40% of voters.
1
WOW-WHAT A TIMELY AND UPLIFTING VISION. RESISTANCE IS EXHAUSTING- MOVING FORWARD WITH LIFE IS ENERGIZING!
8
"Those of us who are committed to the radical evolution of American democracy..."
Personally, I'm for a radical (in the precise sense of the word) return to the core principle of the American Revolution: the idea that every individual's life is his own, not his king's or state's or tribe's. And that a government exists solely to protect his right to that life, including his property rights. There's no such thing as collective rights, and some individuals don't have more rights than others. Finally, America is of course a republic, not a democracy. There's a critical difference. The Founders placed limits on mob rule.
6
Yes, the word is indeed REVOLT and not resist but it has been a long time since boiling blood trumped comfort in the United Status of America for any substantial portion of its population. Yes, you might say that Trump is indeed the resistance to a slow moving albeit powerful current; but we know that he is only a boil on the back of that well-entrenched 40 or so percent that likes things just fine the way they were. Yes, change is scary but those folks scare me so much more. Welcome aboard. I found your inaugural piece riveting with its fresh and incisive content more than a justification of its length. Revolt not revolve!
3
Wow, what a debut column, Ms. Alexander. Thank you for your historical and contemporary perception. In a sense, yes, Trump and those who paved his path are resisting evolution. Yet in another sense they are working very hard to destroy decency and democracy. We have to insist on speaking the truth--whether or not we call it resistance or insistence.
4
Thank-you for joining the staff of "The New York Times." You are a new voice for this new age of America's Discovery and Journey. Wether it is on a "river" as you call it, or on an "ocean" through a vast sea, or to the "space" in, through and beyond our near and far vast community of people and places the journey continues. New voices like yours are truly welcome and inspiring as a "new world" is sought.
4
Amen, amen, amen! This article makes me want to stand and preach! I'm a Quaker minister and I imagine I will be quoting you from the pulpit. Thank you for your clarity, insight, and inspiration. This is the vision we need.
6
Watching a video, The Breakdown with Francis Maxwell, he goes into great detail and explanation of why women don't report sexual assaults and harassment. In the comments, following the video, numerous (meaning, way too many) told what had happened to them. Mostly they were not believed and mostly they did not tell anyone about assaults and rapes for years and sometimes never.
Here's one telling comment- "I am 71 years old, and it's sad to say, but I've never met ANY woman who hasn't been sexually harrassed or assaulted at some point in her life, and usually by a family member or family friend."
Even though it was a short time ago, I don't recall- Were the victims of Larry Nassar questioned or shamed by people, press, TV?
6
Great initial editorial, turning our anger into a positive force.
You redirected our anguish by offering an excellent perspective.
I’m still part of the resistance, but looking toward a more positive, long-range outcome.
Congratulations on making me think differently about the world today.
7
Wow! Words do make a difference, and this eloquent, brisk essay is asking all of us to revisit just what our forays into activism might mean. Every successful political movement has in deed been a MOVEMENT, a rush forward against the odds. Those who resist our natural evolution as a freedom loving nation, whether by erecting literal walls or metaphorical ones, are of course the resisters. Thank you for so eloquently recasting this discussion.
Time is also a river, carrying us forward. Just look at the members of Congress, or the President and his cronies. None of this will last. Our job is to continue to move forward, not backward. The children require us to be both optimistic and active. Let’s keep moving!
7
Excellent piece and right on point. I’ve said for a long time that this is a new revolution for this country and one in which many are not comfortable in embracing. It’s our challenge to keep the structure of our democracy in tact while the social and economic changes swirl. Hope to see more from Ms. Alexander in future.
5
Welcome Michelle Alexander! I loved reading this column and enjoyed gaining your perspective.
Stay positive. Keep loving. And by keep loving, I mean do things that demonstrate loving others. This looks like serving others, prioritizing those who face obstacles, and listening to all regardless of belief system. Great things are happening all over this country and we will be the difference in this next election cycle. But remember - even if you “lose” an election, you can still love actively in your community. And when you “win” - that action becomes spotlighted and humility should be at the forefront.
Michelle, can’t wait to read more. Readers, let’s be the difference. Keep the complaining to a minimum and let your loving actions be the difference maker.
9
Ms. Alexander's column highlights not only the idea of resistance, but that we are in a civil war for the direction of the nation. Someone needs to win, and it should never be the forces that gave birth to and support for Trump. Once those forces are voted down, voted out of office or just die off, then we will have a much better chance of the cooperative governance (to include productive elements of creative tension) that has been increasingly absent on the national congressional stage.
4
Great new voice to the paper, Looking forward to many fine articles!
4
Welcome to Michelle Alexander -- always an articulate and informed member of any discussion group or piece of writing that bears her name. Welcome to the reality of 2018, where a woman of color speaks for all of us because she has had to consider a range of perspectives and put the messy work of democracy into a cohesive framework. Welcome to that framework of the 21st century that finally gives women an equal societal voice, that gives people a seat at the table of old white men (and in some cases women!) who would rail against what is perceived as their loss of eminence.
Welcome to the process of dealing with the ills of society by acknowledging them with honesty -- in letting people be heard, in responsible press reporting that doesn't always get it right but does get it out, and recognizes when new voices need to be up-front and respected. Welcome to a new moment in American history that hearkens back to who we are supposed to be as a nation even when we have to come to grips with the ills of the founders -- white men who held onto their slaves, their eminence -- but who had a philosophical sense of what is right and meet and wrote it into frame of their documents to be carried forward into a world they could not have anticipated in terms of breadth. In their narrow world, they framed what would later become complicated, sometimes violent, messy discussions and confrontations leaving it successors to battle and form new societies. Welcome to our nadir that forces us up.
5
What a refreshing debut essay! She eloquently describes a truly revolutionary frame of mind.
This provocative essay implies a number of vital questions. For example, what role will the current two parties play in the process of achieving the "other world" that we hopefully believe to be possible? And, where is the leadership needed for the movements for human dignity to join forces and win?
I, and apparently lots of other readers, eagerly await Ms. Alexander's future columns.
9
Amen! Well said... and, welcome!
4
Age does give a certain perspective. Change & reaching for what we hope is a better more open & loving way is not something new. It is what makes us vibrant humans - throughout my 60+ years, long before & hopefully long after these times we continue to reach & evolve - grow. The better part of what makes us human is accepting that change is healthy, inevitable, & reaching for what we believe to be a better way.
Sometimes as individuals or society we stumble & we are also faced with different scenarios. There is no final end point - final victory or loss. We just keep on keeping on - hoping to do what is right - the world is a rockin & a rollin - do what in your heart is right.
4
"Another world is possible, but we can’t achieve it through resistance alone."
To make any progress, "a seat at the table" must be obtained. That can only be obtained, this year, at the November elections. Having a president, House and Senate all willing to inhibit the progress cited here will not result in changes. Having one or two of them switch can determine the agenda.
As citizens we can protest, but that is an indirect force. The direct way is to run for office, and/or register to vote and to vote.
Without voting for progressive candidates who will support progress, the rest is noise.
9
We had taken two steps forward before the Trump abomination took us back a step. It's always been a slow process, but we will get there - we, the majority! Thank you for this inspiration just before mid-terms. Perfect timing!
9
We are currently in the throes of democracy (or however anyone else chooses to aptly describe it) and have been ever since the birth of this country. And throughout its journey, the path has moved forward more than it has moved back.
Yet sometimes the view of its progress has been clouded and the path itself nearly destroyed.
Resistance is a two-way street, as is partisanship. Both can be healthy when properly tempered with common sense, shared purpose and the willingness to put country above party.
Governing positively and effectively can only be achieved through fair compromise. The fact that the term 'loyal opposition' hasn't been spoken in recent memory speaks volumes.
Unfortunately, things will get worse before they get better. Hopefully, this too shall pass.
Vote.
Welcome, Michelle Alexander!
1
Great point and one I will definitely incorporate in my continued work for justice. A whole different mindset; progress, not resistance.
7
"What began as a viral hashtag immediately after Trump’s election has evolved into something that’s increasingly difficult to define."
and therein lies the both the key to trump's election in the first place (the pointed silencing of progressive voices a part of it) and the muddle that marks the resistance or "the resistance," as you will.
investing in the ad hominum attacks on trump, hoping the hate will be enough to dislodge him is certainly an easier lift than actually offering a cogent, comprehensive platform, a commitment to ideas and purposes
that the hashtag is "increasingly difficult to define" indicates a lack of imagination and, maybe more disabling, a lack of vision for a post- trump future..."a reactive state of mind" is not enough.
whatever we do, we must start with recovery of the working men and women who we handed to trump in baskets of disdain...anyone stymied by the size of the task might find guidance in roosevelt's words (the "four freedoms" speech, for example) and actions, (the WPA and CCC, for examples).
so, lose the rage and the sloganeering and get down to the effort of becoming the "informed electorate" that jefferson said was essential to the preservation of "government by the people."
5
@ecco Americans love a superficial slogan like "a chicken in every pot" and hashtags have fulfilled our contemporary need to be glib and shallow. It doesn't cost anything, including intellectual energy, just some knee-jerk reaction...the informed electorate is poised to react violently to the status quo. Problematic is that its reaction will be to support those who already repress us.
1
A great debut article by Ms. Alexander, who has given eloquent expression to our hopes for a more just, even-handed society. But I wonder if she hasn't given enough thought to the endurance of human nature, and how that nature causes people in power to resist change, to resist sharing, and to resist losing power and privilege. This is the bane of our shared human condition, and as the new nation struggles to be born, we must ask if that new nation won't come to act much like the old nation, albeit with different colors, backgrounds, and experiences.
Power - any power - can be dangerous, no matter who wields it. And yet it is essential to organized society and civilization. That is why our precious Constitution must be strengthened and more rigorously defended.
The cliche is true: The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
1
The ‘resistance’ to Trump and his works is to be expected when, as with Bush Jr., a popular minority of Americans get to dictate (through the imperfect lens of the Electoral College) their will over the understandable objections of the popular majority. Some 2 1/2 million fewer Americans voted for Trump then for Clinton. Clinton was, therefore, the ‘people’s choice’ and those people don’t care to be dictated to by the second-place finisher, Trump.
3
Glad you’ll be opining for NYT. I look forward to reading your perspectives on today’s challenges! You’re right—there are good ways and bad ways to advocate for change. Good luck!
3
From this piece, it appears "The Resistance" is going the way of "Occupy Wall Street", which I initially supported but lost interest in when there was never any clear objectives defined by which to cause the kinds of changes needed to reduce inequality, etc. I had thought one clear goal to loudly support in these protests was reversing "Citizens United" decision so that massive corporate campaign contributions to PAC's, etc. would no longer skew elections toward politicians aiming to serve corporate interests.
If specific objectives should now take the place of "The Resistance", there are so many violations of American democratic norms by Trump and his cronies that it's hard to know where to focus. Maybe campaign finance reform, which has gone in the opposite direction since "Citizens", is still the key goal that might bring back a democratic system where "one person-one vote" really is what decides elections.
5
Trump and Citizens are not and have never been the problem. Radical leftist have taken over the Democratic Party. There in lies the real issue for the Democrats. As it is now the party lacks any all inclusive ideas for the future.
I have a different take on how to allow our county to evolve into the true meaning of the founding principles than do the people who want a radical change of our democracy. We have system that seeks to offer liberty and justice for all without changing human nature into one that easily practices and assure happiness and perfect harmony. That radical change of democracy has no room for policy making by majorities and compromising and the need to trust in the mutual respect that make our system so full of discord and fights over inequities. The vision of radical democracy means an ever lasting consensus that is free of conflict and relies upon all vestiges of unkindnesses based upon selfishness and bigotry having been eliminated.
I think that we need to understand that reality does not operate according to moral principles. That we humans impose our desire for harmony and acceptance of natural diversity within our social systems but that it takes a lot of understanding and tolerance of uncertainty to make it work even most of the time. Attempts to solve it with simplistic hypothetical explanations and magic bullet utopian systems is folly caused by intellectual frustration and a just do something response.
White supremacy is no longer a force in our republic but inequities due to it remain. Male dominance no longer is an acceptable organizing principle but achieving parity for women needs generations to achieve.
Change takes persistent efforts.
4
I think Ms Alexander makes a straw man out of the term “resistance”.
As a child I was taught to keep myself healthy in order to build my resistance to disease. The healthier the organism, the theory goes, the more resistant it is and will be to infections of dangerous bacteria.
Today’s resistance movement is not, nor should it be thought of, as merely an opposition to trumpism. It is rather a posture that abhors the damming up and diverting of that great river of our democracy. We are not merely standing “against”; we are standing for justice, equality, welcoming of strangers, fairness in the distribution of our national wealth and civility in the face of other’s opinions.
That’s what my resistance is all about.
6
I agree with Michelle, and welcome her voice. More women are needed as NYT columnists who bring a serious perspective on important issues. That said, an irony of her piece is that she fails to articulate what the other, more positive vision is. I think many Democrats are articulating some of it today....FOR health care for all. FOR a decent wage for all, and reduced inequality (both of those imply higher taxes on the wealthy, and this is a good thing...(witness Europe, witness the US pre-Reagan). For protecting the environment. FOR fighting climate change by supporting clean energy all over the country, which helps to GROW high-paying, sustainable jobs (far more than are lost as fossil fuels are phased out). FOR increased funding for public education. Etc.
4
Consider the demands of Trump’s opponents.
Conservatives and moderates demand that the President respect our institutions and the world system that we struggled to establish. Show a dignified manner in dealing with everyone.
Liberals and center leftists, to replace Republicans who refuse to challenge Trump’s poor behavior. Restore low cost public education after secondary school. Provide universal life long affordable health care and reduce the costs by half. Secure the future of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, increase union participation. Use incentives to change our energy system and more efficient use of energy to reduce climate change drastically. Raise tax rates to pay for it all.
Far left, all basic needs provided without any limitations aside from need. No more reminders of male privilege and suppression of women, elimination of respect for masculinity as retaliation. Eliminate norms of biological gender and bisexual reproduction to normalize outliers who have suffered harsh suppression, in order to achieve equity and to retaliate. Attribute all racially correlated inequities to white supremacy and to disestablish all existing institutions and let the chips fall where they may until something replaces it that erases centuries of suppression and injustice. It’s all resentment and demands for payback but not one constructive serious proposal to address any of the things that cause distress.
Trump is a symptom of profound divisions and mistrust.
4
Ms. Alexander, after spending a few hours reading the comments submitted in reaction to your first NYT op-ed column, one astonishing fact is became apparent.
Your thoughtful essay has evoked responses from all across the American political spectrum.
Unlike NYT essays which motivate lots of people on the left to criticise Trump and his administration, and a lesser number of commenters to jump in from the right coming to the president’s defense, the artistry contained in your writing has elicited an unexpected balance.
Good for you!
Good for all of us!
The best we can hope for in these perilous times is the initiation of an all-inclusive, civilized conversation. One where all viewpoints are respectfully considered. No one is excluded. All thoughts are considered.
Michelle, it is remarkable what you accomplished on your first trip to the plate. Home run!
14
"Those of us who are committed to the radical evolution of American democracy are not merely resisting an unwanted reality." Radical. Right there is a big chunk of what delivered Trump to the White House. The right is of course the party to blame primarily, but he couldn't have gotten over the finish line without the myopia of the far left, so reassured by their own echo chambers that they mistook their own sentiments as having overwhelming support, and thus thought that their own energy was enough to make up for the loss of centrists alarmed by the far left's absolutist tear-everything-down attitude. Bernie Sanders and his devotees helped get us Trump, and if they're not careful, people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will help cement his rule, by again scaring away centrists from the Democratic Party. But hey, it's more fun to play at being a righteous guerrilla than actually have a country that comes together and progresses in more cautious steps, I guess.
5
There are many groups in this country who have had to overcome prejudice. Immigrants at the turn of the 20th century were from Europe and had to overcome the prejudices of those here before them.
Let's not forget our history and only see current issues as the basis for our struggles for democracy. There are many of us here now who remember.
As for Ms. Cortez, well, she has never held elected office...and may or may not be worthy of mention here.
15
@simon: Yes, and how many of those groups of Europeans were brought over against their will in chains by the millions, with many dying on the way, to have their oppression become the basis for the privilege of others, continuing to undergo oppression and violence and prejudice for hundreds of years?
4
@simon: As for the so-called president, he lost by over 3 million votes; the only election he has ever won was in the Electoral College, which he has repeatedly lied about. He may not be worthy of mention here except for his record of malfeasance, casual cruelty, and ineptitude. He will be remembered in history with Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, Franco, Caligula, Amin, and others of their ilk.
Thanks for reminding us that others have had to overcome prejudice here and that we shouldn't forget our history. You might mention native Americans (who, unlike almost everyone else, are not immigrants) and Asians among these.
2
Trump does not fit what we want and expect from a President. He doesn’t fit what his supporters expect. The Republicans in Congress treat him with care so as not to upset him. But his support amongst Republicans is strong. Being disapproving of Trump has little to do with his policies for these Republicans.
The open protests against injustices suffered by the poor, minorities, women, and those with gender and sexual orientation issues are a mixed bag. They don’t have a single cause and the mutual sympathies amongst these groups is limited.
Some social justice can be corrected with a more inclusive and shared approach like heath care costs, affordable higher education, higher wages, and more union membership. Some issues are really hard to resolve, especially racial and gender and sexual orientation biases. The laws cannot change people’s perceptions of reality. The people must take it upon themselves to open their minds and hearts.
So while there are a lot of people protesting, there really is no real consideration about how to change anything.
43
@Casual Observer
You are correct. Each person, as an individual, has to come to the conclusion that we are all in this life together and when we hurt each other, we only hurt ourselves. It is not the system that needs to change, it is us.
1
@Casual Observer I think there is a "consideration of how to change" things: the huge upswing in women running for office across the country.
1
@Casual Observer
Education could help change people's perceptions of reality.
1
i thought that’s why we have elections.
4
@Bag o cheese
That’s why we have FAIR elections.
No voter suppression.
No unconstitutional gerrymandering.
No foreign interference.
No violations of electoral statutes.
16
"...merely tinkering with our political and economic systems will not end poverty or avert climate disaster, nor will mere resistance to the status quo."
Being familiar with Alexander's writings, I can tell you that simply replacing Trump and the Republican house with Democrats is what she means by "tinkering".
She's calling for wholesale change of the only viable, reformable party - the Democratic Party. That party's corporatism, abandonment of the working class and general ineptitude is more responsible for Trump's rise than anything the Russians did.
Think Obama did a good job with the environment? Think again. He presided over a huge expansion of non-renewable energy extraction - even bragged about it.
Do you think NAFTA and other trade pacts were a good thing for the country? Better think again, unless you're a member of the 1%.
We need a revolution within the Democratic party. Alexander is now the only Times pundit to (almost) come out and say it. To keep this gig, she'll need to write - and we'll need to read - between the lines.
9
You repeat facts out of context and use them to dismiss the significance of facts which the overall context actually make significant.
The great wealth equities are the direct result of cutting taxes that concentrate wealth into private hands who have enough of it to become the investors into creating new wealth and who become who decides how it is used. This is the work of Republicans.
The public programs which enable people with talent or creative innovations or just smart hard work to prosper have been viciously diminished by Republicans claiming that these services are nanny state waste of money.
I once agreed that people should be free to choose their own lives efforts. That was before I realized that most conservatives felt that if everyone had a fair chance they would lose what they’d achieved. They are like the students who destroy the reserved material in the library to bias the grading curve in a class.
3
@Casual Observer Wealth inequality is a multifactorial phenomena. The Republicans do far more to increase wealth inequality, but the Democrats have also done their share of policies that transfer wealth upwards:
> the Democrat's support of NAFTA and other trade pacts - the TPP included a massive wealth transfer by prolonging already inordinately long patent periods,
> Bill Clinton's deregulation of the banks and commodities markets,
> you speak of public programs forgetting that Bill Clinton signed legislation slashing the funding of the already meager welfare program - and you forget that Obama signed legislation cutting food stamp funding.
No Casual, you're the one who has misjudged the Democrats. They're better than the Republicans, but you're stuck in denial.
Brilliant!
4
Where is the resistance to the complete demolition of separation of church and state by deliberate infiltration of the judiciary with religious fanatics?
6
"what you resist persists" - a spot on observation of how life seems to work. I would include, for each of us, looking to find our own reflection of "Donald Trump." If we can't find glimpses of it in ourselves, no matter how ugly and repugnant it is, we'll never overcome. We shall continued to be defined by that which we resist - because ultimately we resist ourselves. Do we have the courage to see the racist, they misogynist, the hater in our own being, in our own self? That, in my view, is the front line in this struggle.
2
Yeah, whatever. Like "BLM", the "Resistance" is a total joke. Even his strongest supporters know he is mentally unfit and a total crackpot and they cringe at everything he "Tweets". Nevertheless, he is not an open-borders, sanctuary-city, anti-white male, anti-business, anti-free speech liberal. Believe it or not, for half the country even Trump is better than the best "progressive" on the ticket. The liberal brand is in tatters and doesn't even realize it.
7
Uh, sorry and all, darned sorry, but I happen to be a white guy who doesn’t believe in open borders, is sort of okay with “sanctuary cities,” because I think it’s a shuck, and kind of noticed that in a capitalist society you’re kinda gonna get businessmen running around.
I simply think that as Adam Smith wrote long ago—you should read him sometime—capitalism must be regulated, and the argument’s over how much.
Whoop-de-do; if that’s your Devil, sorry.
Oh, and free speech? All for it, think Nazis and Kluxers have a right to march peaceably (once they learn how, anyway), think it was okay to interview Steve Bannon, have no prob with FOx&Friends existing, okay for Ann Coulter to spew drivel, stuff like that.
I simply think that there’s no Constitutional requirement for me to take horsepuckey seriously, pretend that the likes of Alex Jones deserve thought, take a pass on the endless ridiculous lies trumpists tell—geez, subtle it up some, willya?—or overlook the fact that we’ve elected a greedy, lying fool as President, and he’s getting us all into a pack of trouble.
Which includes what you’re doing, which is well down the road to Putinism.
6
Actually the lingering stench is squarely in the White House and in the Trump Tower and everywhere Trump goes... The stench of greed, depravity and mysogny... Of disrespect for human beings especially female human beings.. We need the strongest push and the bleaches of true democracy...
4
@Franklin: Trump just has to be the baddest of everything he projects onto others, to save us all from the others he projects upon.
1
Fine observation! Trumpism has been shown by many studies to be based on white racial anxiety. They hold onto a past where being white entailed greater advantages than it does today and are trying to get that back. This reached its culmination in the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville when they changed "You will not replace us!".
2
@Bill B: The chant was "Jews will not replace us!"
3
WoW! I like you...
3
Who are "we"?
We are the heirs of the one and only biological DNA genetic evolutionary fit African primate ape multicolored multiethnic multifaith multi -national origin biological human race species that began in Africa 300, 000 years ago. We are programmed by our nature and nurture to crave fat, salt, sugar, habiitat, water, kin and sex by any means necessary including conflict and cooperation.
What we call race aka color is an evolutionary fit pigmented response to varying levels of solar radiation at altitudes and latitudes related to the production of Vitamin D and protecting genes from damaging mutations in isolated human populations.
What we call race aka color, ethncity and national origin is a malign white supremacist American socioeconomic political educational demographic historical myth meant to legally and morally justify black African enslavement and separate and unequal black African Jim Crow.
The 2.3 million Americans in prison are 25 % of the world's prisoners with only 5 % of humans being American. And while only 13 % of Americans are black like Ben Carson, 40% of the prisoners are black. Because blacks are persecuted for acting like white people do without any criminal justice consequences.
See "The Half Has Never Been Told : Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism " by Edward Baptist; "Dog-Whistle Politics : How Coded Racial Appeals Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class " Ian Haney Lopez
4
Myself, I just went with the “All About,” books and Huck Finn, followed by courses in behaviorial genetics and black literature/history. Sollers’ “Invention of Ethnicity,” didn’t hurt none neither, especially by contrast to the loopy claims about “sun people,” v. “ice people,” that came out from Nation of Islam and a part of the Afrocentrist movement, where it looked a lot like reaction formation.
Or as by sheer coinkydink, the nice lady on PBS is now discussing, “race,” is a convenient shorthand when doctors and researchers want to talk about about such issues as sickle cell—but technically, it’s a crude term that deals only poorly with reality. And which, as she’s now pointing out, has a long, ugly history of wacko abuse, after being invented to justify white guy fantasies in the first place.
By the way, when you biologize everything as you just did, you miss the point of this excellent article, and repeat exactly the biological fantasizing that you think you’re mad at. “We,” whatever that means, are more language, history, culture, art, literature and so on, than DNA chains with feet.
Or as an excellent developmental psych teacher I once had usedta say, “The whole point of being human is that we are not slaves to our bilogy.”
@Blackmamba The US incarceration rate suggests that US public policy is psychopathological cognitive dissonance creating an exceptionally high proportion of antisocial people.
2
With the addition of Michelle Alexander, you bring a voice of substance, who critically reframes today's crisis. A crisis which is both a moment of great danger and also filled great opportunity. White Rage has been the historical response to our nation's humanizing social movements.
Trump is the latest voice and represents this white rage and resistance to our movements committed to change ourselves and walking the journey to create the beloved communities. Michelle Alexander referenced Vincent Harding who was instrumental in writing the draft of Martin Luther King Jr. speech of 51 years ago: Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence calling upon us to create a radical revolution in values and struggle against the evil triplets of racism, materialism and militarism. Thank you NYT for Ms. Alexander's opinion to be heard by a larger audience which will advance our nation's discourse and journey. Listen to Vincent Harding:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6W42KLpNgQ
5
I've admired your writing since reading "Why Hillary Clinton Does Not Deserve the Black Vote" in 2016 in The Nation.
Hard-hitting and a welcome respite from the predictable neoliberal pap that spews from the so-called progressive newspapers. And actually uplifting.
Welcome to the NY Times. I look forward to reading your columns in the future.
258
Yeah, and how DID encouraging black folks not to vote for Clinton work out? That go well, did it?
By the way, pretty sure that the Times has never been described as “progressive,” and it would seem useful to think about bellowing at “neoliberals,” who publish views that you adore.
5
@TM: Now people are learning what they had to lose by voting for Trump.
5
@TM ... " Why Hillary Clinton Does Not Deserve The Black Vote " ... well, there it is. The reason for Trump's election victory; too many sanctimonious purists stayed home on election day.
5
Nobody is the resistance, except for the partisans in France and Italy and even Germany who fought against fascism in the 1930s and 1940s. The "cultural appropriation" of this term by Democrats is not only offensively inaccurate and inappropriate but actually disgusting. I highly recommend reconsidering this one.
3
@krnewman: I think the imminent loss of separation of church and state is way under-resisted.
6
@Steve Bolgerl
You are so right. I hear prayers to start meetings or dinners everywhere I go. This in liberal California. A simple grace, like the one Catholics used in the 60’s no longer seems to suffice. BTW, the prayer did not end with “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Just AMEN. I have ventured a. complaint about the Jesus thing now and then, but that simply makes me “a.
complainer.”
"Donald Trump is the one who is pushing back against the new nation that’s struggling to be born." And his millions of like-minded supporters are pushing right in lock step with him. This makes for a more daunting mission to overcome. To see this new nation building reach its fruition within just one or two terms in office or for that matter decades of resistance is not realistic.
That said, as a person of old age, I am supremely heartened to read optimistic and thoughtful articles like this to see that the processs has begun.
Notable transformations of this country took decades for those of us who lived in the times of the New Deal or the Great Society. Withstanding whatever flaws or benefits those movements embodied, it was a more united country then which created change through programs like Social Security and the Civil Rights Act, strengthening the social fabric of what might more aptly be called "an improved nation."
I hope to live a little longer to witness your continued resistance. Who knows? With the rapid-fire daily advances in technology that "new nation" you speak about may be formed sooner than I think. In the meanwhile, let's always strive for a "more Perfect Union."
With those words Lincoln sought to bring the states closer together and unite them into a true unified sovereign nation. At the time the Constitution was written, they were still very independent and not fully committed to being one nation.
Centuries later are we committed to being one nation?
4
There can be no question of the necessity of this credo for the continued realization of the best goals of humanity, at whatever pace such realization may be proceeding at any moment.
May it inform the thinking and animate the spirit of those who would be keepers of the revolutionary river.
"Predictable yet repugnant". I loved it! Thank you
2
Does the NY Times ever tire of endless diatribes against President Trump? You've become incapable of discussing anything else on these pages. Your incessant ranting & sermonizing about & against all things Trump and most things conservative is frankly wearisome.
7
Fewer words = better message. Avoid overkill.
2
When Trump says that the press is the enemy of our democracy, he is only partially correct.
A coordinated, politically calculated press acting in concert that seeks to impose a particular orthodoxy through the guise of its impartial "news" status is an enemy of democracy - particularly when you add the socials such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter who march in lockstep with that coordinated, politically calculated press.
The fact is, CNN, NYTimes, and Washpost, along with the socials and many junior partners, are engaging in a coordinated attack on the Trump presidency due to its conservative ideology and public policy. They are doing it under the guise of impartial news. This is extremely troubling and I suspect columns like this are prophylactic attempts to conceal what is really happening.
The ultimate irony is that liberal public policy - while being largely correct on things such as the environment, consumer protection, and government regulation, is simply wrong and extremist in many other ways (see, e.g., de facto open borders - which is an insane policy position that goes against the basic norms of the centuries-old international system of nation states). Public policy is where the real debate lies. But the press isn't engaging in those debates. Instead it's trying to undo the 2016 presidential election by means other than voting. You are shameful.
62
@Captain Obvious.
Well said. Thank you.
@Captain Obvious The only obvious thing here to discuss is the fact that progressive policy ideas are the only ones that will move the country forward (hence the title "progressive") "The purpose of the press is to keep in public spotlight every deliberation and decision that the government makes, since everything the government does is to be done on the people’s behalf. This constant spotlight will no doubt exert continuous pressure on the members of public office, but it is exactly this pressure that keeps their role as public representatives – fulfilling the interests of the public – above their role as private citizens – fulfilling personal interests"-Dmitry Fadeyev And thus we vote after being informed-that is how this works.
1
@Captain Obvious I thought you were describing FOX news and our president's unethical relationship with a news agency. Or the fact that Trump dines with Sean Hannity a very loud voice expressing lie after lie about the left. Or the fact that FOX skips reporting on negative stories about Trump.
The border and immigration are diversions from the real goal of this administration which is dismantling or democracy and two party system. Everyone agrees that people should come here legally. But you should know that most immigrants fly back and forth only the poorest of the poor are so desperate that they try and sneak in to this country to escape death in their homeland.
The NYTIMES is reporting the news, with a left leaning slant. But it is through honest reporting that is backed up by evidence not by conspiracy theorists whom assault their opponents with lies backed up by no evidence.
3
How do you account for the white women voters who switched from Obama to Trump? Seems it's not as simple as you wish.
2
I'm an old white male Republican who thinks that everybody should be treated the same and who hates Donald Trump and his ilk. Seemingly you think that people like me cannot support you. Suit yourself, and have fun losing elections.
5
@Jamie
I’m an old white male Democrat. Jamie, all I know about you is what you revealed in the first sentence of your comment. Taking note of the positive fact that you dislike Mr. Trump, I certainly see no reason why folks like you and me can’t work together.
Something is very wrong in our country.
Without judging one another or rubbing each other the wrong way, let’s work to set things right.
Nov. 6th, buddy, Nov. 6th.
Count me out of this “revolution”. No, count me on the other side of the barricades. I despise Trump’s administration and would do anything to get rid of this erratic, unhinged dumpster fire of presidency. But if the alternative is the oxymoronic “democratic socialism”, I’d be as outspoken in my resistance as I am in opposing Trump. If your idea of economic justice is state control of the economy; your idea of racial justice is quotas; and your idea of freedom of speech is silencing of the opposition, you may be sure that many of those who are outraged by Trump and his minions will turn against you with equal force. My mother was a dissident in the USSR. I know totalitarianism in the making when I see it. During World War 2, Norwegians called Nazis “brown socialists” and Communists “red socialists”. I refuse to choose between red and brown.
7
Take it, Trump: "You are the resistance yourself!"
1
“If the only prayer we ever say in our lives is “Thank You” that will be enough.”
– Meister Eckhart
Ms. Alexander, thank you.
2
Shall we surrender now?
Probably. It’ll get you time off your work camp sentence.
Thank you for everything you have written, including this initial column for the New York Times.
I think that the writer is mistaken if she thinks that just because I and certain members of the White House staff who would like to see Trump go away as soon as possible, we also want to establish the social justice paradise that she dreams of. We just want things to go back to where they were before Jan. 20, 2017. Obama was deporting illegal aliens, criminals were still being tried and sent to prison, people were succeeding or failing depending on how hardworking and intelligent they were. We elected a black president, and every "old white man" was not assumed to be a racist and sexual predator. I'd be happy just to go back to that. Seems like another lifetime even though it hasn't been two years.
4
"...people were succeeding or failing depending on how hardworking and intelligent they were."
Really? Do you believe that hard work and intelligence were the primary factors determining success and failure in the pre-Trump era?
1
Lots of blah blah but bottom line, Trump is the democratically, duly elected President if the United States of America. Whether the author likes it or not.
6
"a multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, egalitarian democracy" … a liberal pipedream.
1
Our headlines:
Russia election threat left unchecked, we're saber-ratting Iran, water scarce in Puerto Rico, his shutdown threat looming, tariffs counter -threats and trade talks in jeopardy.
Maligning intelligence agencies, migrant children in custody, senate spectacle, dubious supreme court nominee + senate protocols, tariffs raising cost of rebuilding after Hurricane Florence.
Asbestos in a child's crayon, benzene in a child's marker. Porn stars, playboy bunnies and Access Hollywood admissions....Rosenstein drama impacting Mueller investigation. Are we exhausted? Is this Mr. Trump's goal?
2
Welcome to the New York Times, Ms. Alexander.
1
Welcome Michelle Alexander!
2
#persistence
1
fresh!
1
My family has lived in the NY general area for about 400 years. I live where my great many times ancestors lived. But I heartily believe that America today, like America of years ago, depends on new blood and new peoples. This is who we are!!
3
So what's your plan?
It has become epidemic at The New York Times that its paid opinion writers describe problems - usually problems already perfectly obvious to informed readers - but suggest no solutions. This process is as useless as the Fox News echo chamber. This isn't even preaching to the choir, because preaching is usually intended to make a point, to issue a call to action.
Ms Alexander has now positioned herself as part of the "revolutionary river". Well, okay, what does that mean exactly? Do you believe the Electoral College should be reformed? Do you believe in universal health care for citizens and legal residents? Do you support mandatory voting or some kind of "ranked-choice" voting system? How do you think your readers should go about doing anything you think ought to be done?
The op-ed pages of The New York Times are the most powerful resource for opinion-leaders on the planet. What are you going to do with your columns in those pages, Ms Alexander? Bleating about a problem might be the first step to spreading an understanding of the problem among your readers, but there is no point in identifying a problem if you don't intend to do something to fix it.
The determined avoidance of suggestions for actual action by the op-ed staff at this newspaper is simply appalling - and really very difficult to understand. If you can't come up with a worthwhile idea twice a week, do the decent thing and give your space to someone who does have a suggestion. Please!
6
@Colin McKerlie. Agree heartily. I do want a powerful black female voice on the NYT editorial pages. I’m thinking a little more Barbara Jordan—who understood and revered what was best in American institution—and a little bit less of whatever this was.
@Colin McKerlie
So true! As someone commented about a year ago the Times is simply practicing "historical journalism". I've started wondering if the editorial writers are being hired BECAUSE they won't say anything of substance. If a person only relied on the editorials for their information, they would be years behind on even the biggest topics of the day.
• Viewed from the broad sweep of history, Donald Trump is the resistance. We are not.
Welcome home, Ms Alexander! You are a welcome addition to The Times, as I have often said of Michelle Goldberg. The USA needs your voices.
Act and speak out, don't just 'resist'.
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.... Not to speak is to speak.Not to act is to act." ~ DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
Congratulations on your 'debut column'! Excellent!! KUDOS TO THE TIMES ... and YOU!!!
3
@Objectivist
Wow!
Three people clicked “Recommend.”
Maybe I’m getting old and a bit slow in my reasoning, but as a former math teacher I need more statements between your initial statement and your conclusion to figure out how you got from Step1 to StepConclusion.
I’m not contradicting you.
It just seems to me that you took quite a logical leap.
1
It's weird to live in these times. The revolutionary river has grown a lot more young, more full of rapids, than it was through most of my life (I'm 62), dammed up as it was by fear and its logical conclusion: Trump.
Of course, the fear I'm talking about is what the author calls the real resistance, which I would call resistance to social common sense and practicality. We are social beings. We have to cooperate to survive, and the need is more urgent than ever. But our tribal history is blocking that lesson, and dashing our chances of taking the step that would preserve our evolution: full miscegenation of our genetics and our hearts. From here, it seems too huge a wall to climb.
For 3 years I've lived next to Roberto, like me a pale-skinned Latino. He's been so kind to me that, at first, I considered him a Christian who actually lives what he professes. Then came Trump, and cracks began to show in his facade. When the border separations came to light, I was so angry I confronted him on the dissonance between his constant references to his god and his stubborn support of Trump. I pointed out a range of contradictions he deflected Fox-like until his true self emerged. He said that Trump was trying to save America but we weren't letting him. Then, flustered by my pushbacks, he went full authoritarian. He said I'd better get used to Trump, and that the righteous will prevail. Never in my life have I loved a man so much but hated everything he represents. The pain of evolution...
Come on! Are you changing the tune? Didn't I hear and see appeals to resist Donald Trump after he was elected? Weren't the participants of all those demonstrations calling for resistance? You cannot feed this lie to us.
Besides, what future do you see for America? Going back to the New Deal or the politics of difference? That's in the past, not the future. Your time arrow is confused.
Michelle! The sky is falling!
If not Kavanaugh now then someone later just like him.
Votes do have consequences.
I am not sorry some thing Trump said really really bothers your liberal sense of humanism.
1
Excellent! This truly is a clash between the past and the future. It's telling that today's conservatives are largely older to extremely old, white, and often from places with a distinct lack of diversity. And they're fixated on a glorious past that skips most of the ugly details. Those pesky facts--we'll invent alternative ones and call ourselves great again.
Good one! Unfortunately you all are ones out of power. Thus you’re the resistance. And resist you are, with all Your might.
Sad for the country. I hope conservatives remember the next time a dem President comes in.
Pretty simple.
The people want lower taxes, jobs and security. You can (and do) tell big lies 24/7 but you can't change that.
Why does reading this piece make me recall this?
“If individuals and societies at large would not willingly submit to being radically remade, well then, on frequent occasion compulsion would be used to enforce the planned perfection that was kept in mind. Such terror would in turn be justified in reference to an ideology that, it was said, legitimized the actions of the present by pointing to that bright far off future.” - Utopia and Terror
4
i would like to encourage all fellow human travellers on spaceship earth ... smile ... to invest some moments to
imagine a planet where perhaps half or more of all villages and cities on all continents are their very own sovereign
villages and cities deciding locally how and what when is going to happen, how products are being created, consumed, imported, exported ...
who is welcome to stay as guest for how long...
this is not sooo difficult to achieve as one could think it could be ... a change of regional and national state constitution what would either define all local political units at all time
the primary decision makers and the regional/national state
only having a say in times when several sovereign local communities do demand a regional / national action ... or a change of regional and national constitution what simply allows each village, each town, each city to exit the regional and national state at anytime
and be respected from then on as a sovereign entity
to imagine further, one could sketch a future with hundred tousands of sovereign local communities having their very own unique deciding mechanisms and evolving their partnerships and alliances with fellow free and selfstanding villages and cities all over the planet
it is not necessary to give ones voice to an other person,to give ones deciding power away with voting for a representative,in a local sovereign community,everyone interested in a matter might be present to vote directly for or against
@mayloveheal
i just found this description about the village arden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arden,_Delaware
what indicates that there are some possibilities for local communities wanting to selfgovern
Every day the highly reactionary ideology of “progressive” intellectual Marxianity gains a bit more clarity and the ultimate goal of a “social justice” social democracy to replace the Jeffersonian Republic defined in the Constitution openly proclaimed, and the danger inherent in the gambit goes to definition; task a thousand individuals from the “progressive” front with defining social justice without the aid of the intellectual cardinals and bishops of the false religion and the result will be a thousand different definitions.
Marxists in the United States have been following a playbook that looks hauntingly familiar; Antonio Gramsci’s ‘Prison Notebooks’ incrementalism which leads to the same place every other Marxist movement eventually arrives…violent revolution. Gramsci recognized the greatest impediment to atheistic Marxism was the American Judeo-Christian ethic and even though Herbert Marcuse laid waste to the foundation with the most effective Marxist liberation movement in history, sexual liberation, the wall is still intact.
Americans have a visceral understanding of what freedom entails and the strategy of asserting the Civil Rights Movement is THE seminal event in American history has expended itself. A civil war is inevitable in that violence has always been the end game of Marxists “progressives” who religiously believe a blank check social justice constitution mirroring South Africa must replace a Constitution bearing our Creator’s personal imprimatur.
1
Michelle Alexander, you shine. You go, girl. Your piece flows like that powerful river of Harding's mention. Bravo!!
The groundswell is swelling.....
1
People born after 1970 or so were the first Americans who experienced their formative years in a time when blatant unbridled sexism and racism was not OK. Those are the people under 50 years old, and it's no surprise that they are on average substantially more likely to back female and non-white leadership, even among white guys in this demographic.
The people younger than 30 were born in a world without the Soviet Union either, which is a big reason why "socialism" isn't a scare word for younger people. And that's why they were so willing to embrace avowed socialists like Bernie Sanders and Kshama Sawant.
Part of what surprises people is to realize that the young parents screaming racial epithets at black students back in the 1950's are in many cases still alive and voting. And their beliefs haven't changed all that much in the intervening years. Their reaction is predictable, but is doomed to failure. The only question is how much damage they will do on their way towards failure.
155
@Dave unfortunately, young people are still quite racist and sexist. This isn’t a generational thing. I just heard about a new comic book called alt hero, run by those born later than you state. It has a following, and supports the alt right mindset. Silicon Valley is mostly young, and yet they are full of less than ideal thinkers. And so on...
1
@Dave
Your response is just conjecture. It feels a lot like an intellectual round about argument for agism. "They will never understand". I was not alive when Hitler was doing his worst but I can appreciate how it happened and see these traits in others, who shall remain nameless. I am over 60, unafraid of socialism because it makes sense not because I was alive when the Soviet Union was in existence. I back any candidate regardless of their gender or ethnicity based on their understanding of the issues and their zeal and I also know that people screaming racial epithets at black students back in the 1950's can change their beliefs. One visible example is George Wallace .
1
@Dave
Ignorance is not one-sided and holding one's eyes shut long enough as an attempt to "wish away" those of us over 50 you biasedly corral as "predictable" and causing damage to your world (which reminds me of liquid bubbles kids pay with), is like the spoiled child screaming to get their own way.
Ironically once my generation passes from this earth, those like yourself will have to find others to blame for all the ills inherent in people....
Good luck...
Welcome aboard, Ms. Alexander. I agree with most of your column but you say, "the struggle for human freedom and dignity extends back centuries and is likely to continue for generations to come."
WE THE PEOPLE - average and socially conscious people across OUR United States are not temporarily resisting. We are showing our intention to change HIStory to OUR story of inclusiveness for all time.
This is not a black/white issue. It is not a republican/democrat issue. It is a PEOPLE issue. Until now women have been expected to sit back and shut up. No more. Women across America and around the world are stepping up to take one-half the power and bring balance to OUR United States and the world.
I do not believe it is going to take centuries if we work together. I believe it can happen in our lifetimes. NOW is the time for every American who believes in true democracy to step up and take every action possible to preserve/protect/restore democracy in America.
NOW. While their is still a country to defend. NOW before the International Mafia Robber Barons can start WW3.
117
@njglea
Please note that not all white people over 60 were frat boy jerks. Many of us, including members of what was called the counterculture, are solidly with you. Please be sure not to alienate us as you - and we - go forward. We fought for this progress, too.
1
@njglea "We the people!"
1
At last, a full blown progressive voice at the New York Times. With the Editorial Board's craven and weird endorsement of Cuomo, I was considering canceling my subscription, just having had enough of the disparity between the majority-progressive reader commentary, which polls show reflect the progressive values of the majority of Americans (self-identified and not), and the gatekeepers.
Notice the difference? Notice the scope, the territory, the expanded view that Alexander presents, and the killer punch line: they are the resistance, not us.
Congratulations! Prediction: If she keeps writing like this, and she is published often, she will be soon be one of the most popular opinion column writers.
323
@Janine Rickard
And what poll did this come from?
" which polls show reflect the progressive values of the majority of Americans (self-identified and not)"...
Appears that "reality" is slowly corroding away with such statements. Once there was a time (not that long ago) know as the "Age of Information", which has rightly or wrongly evolved into an age of social media that "accusations" and/or misinformation holds more credibility than actions, as long as it is from anyone that identifies as progressive or Democrat.
Like I wrote in another comment (if the NYT publishes it) once everyone from my generation (over the age of 50 ) passes, who will you blame?
Amen, sister,amen!!
1
Amen.
1
Well stated. The trolls are no doubt hard at work finding ways to undercut you. Keep it up!
1
Beautifully written, articulate, brilliant. I write that in the hope that my comment won't be censored, as they usually are, because I usually disagree with the NYT . My comment merely was twofold: we don't need another Trump column, as we get 1-3 every day, and this writer seems upset with the outcome of a democratic election, and therefore calling for resistance seems to be anti-democratic.
2
The Time should shift from Op-Ed page to Pro-Ed page. At least that would be honesty in advertising.
3
I LOVE this column. Thank you from the bottom of my Quaker grandmother heart. "This Friend speaks my mind." Thank you for the metaphor of the revolutionary river sweeping us along, ending "mass deportation and mass incarceration."
Thank you, NY Times for adding Michele Alexander to your columnists; brilliant choice.
2
Beautifully written piece with a powerful take on history as a river leading us toward true freedom and equality. I will plan to read every column Ms. Alexander writes.
2
The US apparently hasn't even got the maturity to recognize that its economy is divided into public and private sectors with different motives and objectives. Hence, we get no adult discussion whatsoever of exactly how the public sector should be managed in concert with the private sector. Instead, we are bombarded with claims that the private sector can take over all functions of government if it is motivated by profit. It is all infantile to me.
3
Welcome and thank you. We need to be reminded about what the fighting is all about. I enjoyed your column and will share it with my wife.
1
On White Rage - I wish we could stop grouping all white people together as this monolithic community and truly recognize that the white community is as diverse as any other and that there are millions of white Americans who welcome change and recognize the injustices of the past. We (progressives) would never lump all all Latinos, Asians or African Americans together - so why do we do it with Whites?
I am a Black identified, but technically biracial woman. I am witness to 5 generations of interracial relationships, beginning with my great grandmother (black) and grandfather(white) at the end of the 18th century and carrying through to my nieces and nephew and within my own nuclear family, that there are white people who can enter into loving and respectful relationships with Blacks, and vice versa. Why is that always lost in this conversation? Can we make a commitment to celebrating our victories while still addressing the prejudice that is still there for many White Americans? Remembering and recognizing that there are just and kind White people in this country does not mean we are ignoring the work that still needs to be done-
10
This nails my sentiments since Trump became a viable candidate who could win.
"the only common denominator for “the resistance” today is a commitment to resisting Donald Trump — the man, not necessarily his mission."
While I've despised Trump for decades now, watching him here in NYC, I always said, lets worry less about him, and more on his mission - but more so those around him. The ones he appoints. Because lets come to grips with the reality that Trump knows nothing about Wash DC, the Fed Govt, its institutions, or the many characters moving in and out of same. Most of his appointments were not the result of research, then his careful deliberations with staff, but the direct advice of others already in the system, telling him this guy, that guy is the one "we" want. Or due to those who pitched themselves as perfect fits to his ill-planned mission of disruption and chaos.
He didn't know these people, till he became someone they needed to know.
The SCOTUS list and subsequent nominations are perfect examples. He knew nothing of anyone on that list, or Kavanaugh. He didn't read their papers, mull over their decisions. He was told candidates A-E, satisfy parameters X,Y, Z. Then a happy-meal lunch, a candle-lit dinner later and he's effusive in his praise.
Its not truly about Trump, although he's very much a danger to the Republic. Its the insidious machinations going on around him by various appointments. Its about the lower courts being stacked by GOP operatives.
3
congratulations on your debut column!... i look forward to reading many more to come... the river metaphor is better than a march or a path, because some of us having been watching a parade more than marching... in this river of life, we are all in for the ride... i guess it's time for me to start paddling...
1
Brava. A wonderful piece that lifts us all out of the frustration of resistance to realize where we need to take our nation. The arc of history is long, but [with our help and dedication, Mr President] it bends toward justice.
1
‘A new nation that’s struggling to be born’. Read another way: revolution. Alexander’s offered no examples of Trump’s resistance, just rhetoric.
Before the 2016 election, Trump met fierce resistance. From Democrats as expected. From Republican Never Trumpers. And mostly from the media. Yet no Trump policy is outside traditional center right/conservative American politics but has ridiculously been equated with nazism, facism, and totalitarianism.
Where in American history was a nominee threatened with a brokered convention, followed by a duly elected president met with vote recounts and attempts to coerce electors into dishonoring their pledge?
Is a president accused of collusion without a shred of evidence the resistance? When has an opposition party used a fake dossier (ironically created with Russian assistance) to justify spying on a candidate’s campaign? When has an intelligence community been mobilized by one party to prevent the opposition party from winning an election? When has a Special Counsel been appointed to take down a presidency without alleging a crime as required?
Assaults in the street against those voting for Trump, suppression of conservative speakers, and a continual stream of false or one-sided media coverage while ignoring anything positive are now commonplace. Calls for impeachment come daily.
If that is the new nation struggling to be born, we should want no part of it. It looks more like a coup cloaked in artful rhetoric.
6
@Dutybound
You make semi-valid points, but like you complain about Alexander, you offer no hard data to support them.
Trumps Resistance. ? His breaking of norms, or his disregard for basic human rights - kidnapping children and(purposely?) losing them in a chaotic system of shoddy record keeping.
His anti-Muslim travel bans. Poorly written (legally), handed out with zero planning as to how the agencies would 1.plan, then 2. react. He resists the logical norms of proper policy roll-outs, but rather acts like a petulant child.
Undermining Consumer Protections, siding with Banks, and lenders, etc...despite the mountains of evidence for the need of these protections, and their lack in 2008, of having brought the roof and a few walls down on us.
Trumps resistance to even basic truth. Where he has to lie about everything...and I do mean everything. From his crowd sizes (not only Inauguration day but his rallies too!) to the state of the economy, jobs creation, and how the FBI works regarding - well everything. There's nothing he doesn't lie about.
Lying is a blatant position of resistance to norms and standards.
His daily profiteering off the presidency.
His obstruction of justice.
The crime alleged is called conspiracy (collusion is a generic term) to work with and gain aid and benefit from a foreign adversarial nation. In order to sway an election.
Mueller is acting ON proper charges, and they are real. How many indictments so far? Guilty pleas?
1
I am opposed to abortion in most cases. But an abortion is recommended for this "radical evolution of democracy", "struggling to be born".
2
Thank you for lifting us up and reminding us who we are!
1
The more I read this paper the more I see the GOP as the only option for keeping this country from turning into Venezuela.
6
I am very glad to now know about Victor Harding, about whom I knew nothing before.
1
I am impressed by the way you are looking at the situation in the USA.I hope you are right and what we are witnessing is the "swan song" of this monstrosity named THE GOP . This party which is a real disease affecting your country.Best
Congrats Michelle A. You did it, now let your voice be heard.
1
Wow. Just beautiful.
I don 't know what country Ms Alexander is looking at. I read this & not only does it seem all over the map, but she uses examples that to me don't make any sense. Chicago, Ferguson, protests at airports? Didn't a high court just rule that Trump's Muslim ban is Ok as it stands? Families are still being torn apart & deported because someone has a parking ticket. The whole conversation has shifted. Even under Obama people were being kicked out at record rates. Our defense budget of 715 billion was approved by both parties & there's barely a peep about it. Health Care is a total disaster & most people want medicare for all, but the mainstream politicians are totally beholden to insurance companies. Both parties just signed a bill that once again allows less regulation of the banks & lenders that brought on the financial crisis. Our election system is corrupt & antiquated. Environmental rules put in place to protect us in the long run are being gutted. All the courts are being stacked with ultra righties & that has the Democratic leadership's blessing. We drop bombs all over the Mid East because our Saudi & Israeli masters want that. Guns.. forget it. Drug war...keep it up. I wish I had more space.
You know maybe there will be a real sweep in the coming elections & we will finally see some positive direction. Maybe it is darkest before the light. New country waiting to be born?.. The old one won't go down without a big fight. Resistance alright. This is a confused pipe dream.
4
Has this lady ever had an original thought or does she just regurgitate the democratic party talking points. Someone should get her a history book so she can learn that the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement were pushed through by the Republican Party against entrenched Democratic Party power. Then, as now, the Democratic Party has always stood firmly on the wrong side of history.
4
@Roscoe Kurdli
Now that's funny. So the historical record of the actual changes within the two parties seems to have escaped your reading? Why do exclude those realities?
Right, bias. Its easy to argue that if Lincoln was alive he'd be a Democrat. Not a Repub.
What party was Lyndon Johnson? What was that tactic of Nixon...hmm...oh right, the Southern Strategy...aka; pander to white racists and Govt haters.
So the Dems are now on the wrong side of social justice issues?
While the Repubs are on the right side?
You might not like the policies, etc - but to ignore the historical realities of the changes in the two parties - while using them to make a point, shows a huge bias, and trumpian need to lie.
1
@Roscoe. It is you who need a history book. The Democratic Party of yore is now the Republican party. And the Republican Party is now the Democratic Party.
3
Open borders,socialism and free stuff however packaged rarely works. see Europe
Any movement that includes demonizing any group, in this case old white guys, is inherently flawed. see Venezuela their Republican equivalents were hounded out of the public square.
5
Open borders and socialism camoflauged as “progressive” policies. No thank you. I will be voting for Trump again.
4
How refreshing, another slightly left-of-Lenin voice. Let the conversation begin. Or not.
5
That's some debut. Finally the NYT adds another intellectual heavyweight to its roster. Looking forward to reading more!
"new nation struggling to be born"? Thanks but I like the one we already have.
6
In a few short weeks, all Americans will know whether democrats who are either expressing outrage at everything Trump does (with sufficient justification), or feeling very sorry for themselves (completely unjustified) - were able to mobilize a vote that put them back in the house and senate.
Does the resistance have any plans - other than to show up after milk is spilled? Hissy fits and photo ops make for poor strategy.
The right has a clear message: (a) your city is about to be inundated with immigrants, Muslims, blacks, terrorists because you are living in a sanctuary city, and (b) every brown person in your neighborhood is MS13, and is sitting next to your kid in school, if not a terrorist who aims to blow you up. Republicans will come out to vote, for this reason, even if Trump eliminates someone on 5th with extreme prejudice. This includes white women everywhere but in the metros (Alabama?). Fear and hatred of other people have shaped this world for ever, and isn't stopping now.
What have you got? What have the democrats got? Free healthcare? Free college? Raised teacher salaries? Tax on the wealthy? New regulation to curb banks?
So witless are the democrats that they can't call it. A nation of white christians wants to keep the nation white and christian and is okay with extreme measures. No amount of mobilization apparent among the religious right has clued anyone on the left, nor produced a meaningful response.
You will be protesting for ever.
1
The author is totally misguided. DJT didn't elected himself or appoint himself to the position of POTUS. He was elected by over 60M voters. If she thinks that getting rid of DJT will change the course then she is living under a bush.
6
Right now, "Trump's Resistance" (Trump is a danger, with his cult leader status. But he is also a distraction and a front.) is on offense.
What's at stake in November: Move back toward Democracy, or further toward Fascism?
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/temcnally/episodes/2018-05-18T18_03_1...
Make no mistake: Republicans and their financiers are enemies of Democracy and the Constitution. And they are no friends of most of the people who vote for them.
Michelle Alexander's first column is irresistible. Glad to have her voice in the Times.
3
The people who voted for Trump don’t want a new nation. Some of the newly formed nations didn’t turn out too well.
Would she like to live in Cuba? How about Venezuela? Does she think things turned out well for white farm owners in South Africa?
People are in jail because they committed a crime. People who want to escape oppression in their own country should first try to change that country’s regime.
We don’t need a new country. We need less people who want to change our tried and true system
6
Michelle you have quite an imagination, progressive and liberal movements are the entities that are encroaching on current civilization, treading on the founders toes, ignoring the voices of satisfaction, supporting anti-patriotism, and supporting illegal activities. I admit that it's a good try on your part but we got your number alright. We certainly do.
Normalization of abnormal behavior is the progressive way, and you can underscore that there is a resistance to that, its just that traditionalists are not quite as extroverted as a general rule as your group. Attempts to normalize abnormal behavior is not positive for several reasons the main one is..... In any situation there are 2 extreme boundaries that exist in context of what the norm is. The position of the 2 extremes is diametrically opposite of the norm in both directions, i.e. if 100 degrees is normal then one extreme is 0 degrees and the other is 200 degrees. Moving the norm also simultaneously moves both extremes. You have no idea what you're tampering with.
3
“Normalization of abnormal behavior is the progressive way”?
OMG. Take a look at you president.
1
I am white. I am male, cis-gendered, heteronormative 40 yo guy. I voted for Trump because I didn't want Hillary Clinton to be president and because I like tax cuts, spending cuts, deregulation and am opposed to single payor healthcare. I was given a binary choice -- progressive Hillary Clinton agenda versus more conservative Trump agenda. I am not a racist. I am so glad that black unemployment is the lowest it has ever been. I wish the republican party had a better message for black and minority voters because I really believe these constituencies do better in a business friendly environment that fosters growth and entrepreneurship. Anyway, I am not a racist. I am tired of politics being boiled down to questions of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation etc. Why can't we talk about ideas instead of identity? What ideas are you promoting? I look forward to hearing more about where you would like the country to go and what your policy ideas are. I am confident this comment will not be published, as most of my comments are not published. But we'll see.
4
Well said. I’m with you in sentiment and I feel we will vindicated in the end.... whenever that is.
Let’s stay the course!
Welcome, Michelle.
You hit a home run right out of the gate.
Unfortunately ethno-tribal lines are converging with political affiliation already. We can see this now given that most Republicans are now white Americans, while most black and brown Americans are Democrats.
2
I'm a fan of yours and genuinely thrilled to have you join The Times as its first truly progressive columnist.
That said, I would have preferred, however, for you to be clearer in pointing out that it's often those most loudly trumpeting their part in the "Resistance" who are part and parcel of the combined D and R establishment that created the conditions that gave rise to Trump in the first place.
As Glenn Greenwald noted in his excellent review of Michael Moore's new movie coming out today, today's most powerful establishment figures are essentially using their "Resistance" membership as a rebranding effort -- to focus all criticism on Trump -- always Trump! -- as the end-all and be-all of our many serious problems in this country.
The truth is, it's today's political-media-corporate establishment that created the awful mess we're in today -- and thus gave rise to this orange-faced authoritarian.
I'm greatly looking forward to your columns here, and I sincerely hope you'll challenge the endless neoliberal or neocon platitudes spouted by Friedman, Krugman, Weiss, Stephens, Bruni other columnists employed by the Gray Lady.
Sure...let’s welcome with open arms the millions of migrants and destitute ‘dreamers’ who cross our borders illegally and park themselves permanently on our soil so that we can provide them with the all necessities of life...food, housing, healthcare, welfare, education, jobs... while we ourselves struggle to provide for our own families.
That will do wonders for our national unity. Brilliant.
6
Awesome. Powerful. Well said.
1
The new nation would have been born if HRC was elected. The resistance is working to complete the work begun by 19th century progressions. This new nation run will be by enlightened elites controlling the people for the "greater good". Big tech will censor "Hate" speech and "offensive" speech and de-platform "fake news". Big Tech, multinational corporations, media and coastal elites will control speak, the economy and all aspects of life. Democracy will become an illusion. The goal of a "multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, egalitarian democracy in which every life and every voice truly matters" is just a opiate to motivate the masses until the elite solidify their control.
1
A fine and noteworthy debut in this important forum. Myopic comments are abundant in all kinds of media, but well-informed opinions on larger developments are scarce. Thank you from a trans-Atlantic but sincerely concerned reader (our world is one, isn't it?)
No, I believe you, in fact, are the resistance .
This nation elected Donald Trump to do exactly what he’s doing, and he’s doing . You are the minority
4
@Crossing Overhead The "nation" did not elect Trump, he won only through an antiquated fluke in the system. Trump is a dishonorable man and an international disgrace.
3
@Fred W. Hill
Not everyone feels as you do. Nor should they have to.
Welcome Michelle Alexander. And good luck.
1
I would settle for the America of three years ago.
1
Bravo, Ms. Alexander. As an avid NYT reader for forty eight years, I look forward to reading your future columns.
I'm glad to hear that you are not the resistance.
I trust that you will not bother to complain about Trump at all in the future and focus on your policy proposals.
4
If this be resistance, make the most of it!
Sorry, Ms Alexander, but about half the country wants nothing to do with your leftist, dystopian, "Utopia." We've no interest in government-enforced equality-of-results. We've no interest in having our pay cheques and lifestyles diminished by fanatically, futilely, "resisting" climatological cycles that have been going on for millions or billions of years. We've no interest in being victimised by an authoritarian, government-run, health "care" system a principal treatment by which involves consigning us endless waiting-lists until we variously recover naturally, give and live with it, or die.
We're tired of the vindictive, envious, "Progressive," shrieks of "Soak the rich!" expressed in different ways--robbing others to enrich yourself is a contemptible practice; robbing those who strive in order to reward those who laze is worse. Why not try actually working for a living instead of "marching" aimlessly in support of some "cause?" We're tired of the incessant efforts of the Left to "radically evolve," to "fundamentally transform," the country we grew up in, that we kinda like the way it was, and turn it into a government-dominated society of "people" spinelessly dependent on that government.
You don't like Trump. I get that. I don't like him either. But given a choice between a bombastic boor who will "drain the swam" and a decent soul who will ruin my country, I'll take the former.
5
@Henry Miller, There is no paleo-geological precedent for the injection of 4 trillion metric tons of fossilized CO2 to the atmosphere over a 300 year period. And there is no industry more dependent on the US government than the so-called "defense" industry the US justifies with constant provocations.
2
@Steve Bolger
First, volcanoes alone dump a great deal more CO2 into the atmosphere than humans do.
Second, any correlation between CO2 concentration and climate is conjectural, not demonstrated, and the nature of that relationship, if any, is unknown.
But, you're right--our military sees to much use. My son the soldier just got back from Afghanistan, blowing people and places up with his 120mm mortar, but that's a bloody expensive way to have fun.
None of what you're saying is real. Why not critique actual progressive ideas rrather than a Rush Limbaugh style strawman version?
1
Excellent debut article. Looking forward to many more
1
How is Trump responsible for the still failing public schools in inner cities, the crime, badly maintained public for the poor, gentrification and teen pregnancy that is still prevalent - Chicago, Baltimore, St, Louis? Democrats run these cites not Trump. More of the same.
5
None of this will happen with the current Democratic Party. They are clueless Republican-lite operatives who have not championed common people for decades, the beloved Obama included. And now they are guaranteeing perpetual defeat with touting the likes of Ocasio-Cortez and persisting in holding onto dinosaurs like Schumer. I was hopeful in the way this writer is hopeful in the ‘60’s, when similar trends and movements seemed imminent, but you know what happened.
Dinosaurs also should include Mitch McConnell, right?
2
Welcome, Ms. Alexander. The Times is a better paper today than it was yesterday.
Welcome Michelle Alexander! Your voice is sorely needed in these pages.
Michelle Alexander's piece will do for the Trump debate what gravity does for all of us. Without gravity we lack an orientation. There is no up, down, forward or backward. We are adrift. Michelle shows the way. It is forward. VOTE!
What a writer and what a heart! Your voice is essential now and for hopefully what will be a long life of writing for the Times.
5
Welcome Ms. Alexander.
I find comfort in the indisputable fact the Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.8 Million votes.
'As the saying goes,' writes Ms. Alexander, '“What you resist persists.”'
Yes, there is a tendency, which has been called 'countersupport,' to inadvertently strengthen your opponents by resisting them.
Our progressive strategy must be to craft a challenge to the present regime which wrong-foots the racists and fascists who support Trump, thereby making them ever less capable of lending their cause the power to persist.
Fortunately, this task is eminently doable. Given the chaos that Trump's avalanche of Tweets has created in the minds of his followers, half of our work's been done for us.
Indeed, as the mess that Trump and the GOP have made of the Kavanaugh nomination proves, the regressives whom we oppose are ever more ripe for a long, long decline and fall.
I'm confident that, after the elections that are now less than seven weeks away, we progressives will have earned a mandate to stop reacting and to start putting our proactive programs into effect.
Wait for the sequel, Ms. Alexander. You will be pleased.
1
First, let me welcome you to The Times as a longtime reader and subscriber. Your work in The New Jim Crow should be required reading for every American student, and anyone who wants to learn about the every day injustices that need to be legislated away in this country.
I absolutely, 100%, categorically disagree with the premise of this column, as someone who is fighting government injustice every single day, who is fighting political injustice, and who is fighting to help inform my fellow citizens.
Your view of #TheResistance misses the point of why it is an effective movement, and why it is the basis for so many other necessary societal changes driven by ordinary citizens for the betterment of America.
I am one of the top persons who Tweets #TheResistance every day, who helped spark the movement with investigative journalism and non-stop advocacy.
#TheResistance is:
- a movement
- a state of mind
- an idea
Ideas have a power of their own. Just because they are not books, that doesn't make them ineffective. Quite the opposite. Ideas are more accessible to a mass audience, and act as a lever to millions of independent actions.
#TheResistance is an idea that uses the mind space of millions of powerless Americans to defeat the machinations of a few citizens who hold unchecked political power.
Ideas cannot be killed, bullied, imprisoned or easily contained.
#TheResistance has changed the world.
That is what makes Donald Trump afraid of one idea:
#TheResistance
Thank you, much applause and kudos. I'm thrilled you'll be writing more at NY Times.
Take the example of those in France in the 1940s, including Communists among others, who took up arms against the occupying Nazis and who called themselves the resistance, and thought of themselves at the same time as revolutionaries. The revolutionaries were those who understood that the resistance was only for the short-term goal of ousting the Nazis, but that victory ensured nothing about the creation of a just society. Throwing out Trump to be replaced by Mr. Pence, or Mr. Schumer, or Ms. Pelosi may be resistance, but none of that will create a just society. That will require a revolutionary sensibility that transcends resistance to Trump.
1
Please remember that ALL people want respect and dignity, not just Americans. If we are to survive as a species, we must uplift others, not just ourselves.
Ms. Alexander, who lives in the echo chamber of progressive media, would like the US to become the next Venezuela. The socialist utopia that Progressive embraced while Hugo Chavez was alive. Yet if Ms. Alexander would get out of little cocoon and travel to the red states, those that actually make up the majority of the US, she would find her dreams to be anathema to those people. Thankfully we have a Republic and states have the rights, as clearly defined by the Constitution, to rebel against the subjugation she wants to inflict on "non-believers".
3
Welcome, Ms. Alexander. Looking forward to more columns from you.
Terrific debut! In regards to the word “resist”, I’d like to think that people are just being proactive, not resistant. We can see the handwriting on the wall on how Mr. Trump’s “policies” will affect many of us in the future.
Holy Moley truth has been spoken. Bravo Michelle Alexander!
1
Excellant editorial. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Alexander's writings.
Thank you for your insights and compelling perspectives, Ms. Alexander. What Trump wants to accomplish, as born out by his reactionary and regressive policies, is return the nation economically, politically, and socially to America, circa the 1950’s, with white, male domination as his central organizing principle for governing. It is, of course, a fool’s errand, ignorantly disregarding the profound consequences of our dramatically changed and changing national demographics. The days of the “Rat Pack” are dead and buried, but the Fake President chooses to ignore that reality. His signature slogan, emblazoned on all of his red caps, attests to his forever embrace of those days of wine and roses.
Few abolitionists were as uncompromising as William Lloyd Garrison who wanted to scrap the "pro-slavery" Constitution and dissolve the "Union with Slaveholders."
Some were gradualists, others believed in the benevolent guardianship of the slaves whom they considered as children, incapable of full equality.
The NY Times piece of a few years ago, "Was Abolitionism a Failure?" considered that "Abolitionism's surprise victory misled others about how change gets made."
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/was-abolitionism-a-fail...
I'm not a Bernie Sanders supporter, to put it mildly, and even though Ms. Ocasio-Cortez shows much promise, she hasn't done anything yet.
I consider your colleague Cornel West, who began attacking Barack Obama on the day he announced his candidacy, as four notes short of a pentatonic scale.
I find nothing wrong with the term The Resistance.
Welcome Ms. Alexander. You sure woke me out of my Saturday morning stupor.
Thank you for revealing the bigger picture. I'm less exhausted and less furious--and more motivated and hopeful.
Funny how great writing works.
And what of those who voted for both Obama and Trump? I somehow am not further enlightened by hearing yet one more voice of the privileged. Both Trump and Obama in very different ways appealed to those for whom the system is not working. Ignoring it won't make it go away.
3
Excellent essay. Thank you Michelle!
1
First Michelle Goldberg, now Michelle Alexander. How great it is to hear from these glorious Michelles.
2
Thank you Michelle Alexander for your debut column in the NYT today. I had the privilege of hearing you speak here in Charlottesville after you published your very important book "The New Jim Crow". I have felt a need since the election in 2016 to resist partly our of fear of the present administration and the harm he has created, but you frame this issue in a more forward light with more power. It is women like you, Michelle Obama, Symone Sanders and many progressive women running for mid-term offices that give me the courage to move from resistant to insistence. We must insist that any candidate for the Supreme Court be thoroughly examined, especially now. I suggest the judiciary committee read seriously the opinion by Richard A Friedman 9/19 NYT opinion "Why Sexual Assault Memories Stick". We must resist advances of bullying but insist on our democracy being honored. Again, I appreciate your clarity and courage.
Sydna Julian Charlottesville, Va
The Democratic Party cannot be a "big tent" party so long as it seeks to limit progressive elements inside the party.
First we had the reprehensible treatment of the Sanders' candidacy by the DNC and party bosses, then attempts to subvert progressive candidates in primaries in favor of their centrist opponents in the Delaware and Texas primaries *.
Recently, reports that Pelosi is determined to continue the Democratic Party's drift to the right on economic issues **.
As a progressive, I'm reluctant to identify with a party that has pretty much purposely abandoned the working class - a party that refuses to admit that it is trying to hide their economic neoliberalism under a veneer of identity politics and social issue liberalism.
Michelle Alexander had the courage to declare that HRC did not deserve the black vote. It would be a shame if she allowed her new gig at the Times to mute her insightful criticism of the Democratic Party establishment.
* https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/26/democratic-party-l...
** https://theintercept.com/2018/09/04/nancy-pelosi-2018-midterms-democrats/
2
Shorter, less unnecessarily pedantic. Trumpies are winning by being plain spoken, not by looking to the academy to find language to explain our times. This article is interesting but resonates in an empty room.
1
@MAARRS
I agree.
Michelle Alexander refused to vote for Hillary Clinton and urged people never to bother voting. I have no interest in her advice.
5
Hooray for adding Michelle Alexander to your opinion page!
An important voice who deserves a platform.
I prefer to think of him as the birth canal. His election is demonstrating that democracy can not run on auto-pilot, that we need to take control lest we be taken control of. It may be that history will show he did us a service -- like a bucket of cold water in the face.
1
Well done. Welcome.
Michelle Alexander, welcome to the NYT. I appreciate your mega view of this point in American and global history. Your words were thought provoking and gave me hope for the first time in a long time. Maybe we should change our #Resist hashtag and bumper stickers to #Flow. I like the idea of our flowing streams, a new river, a new nation, trying to be born. I hope in the subsequent columns you will break it down, one element at a time. Until then, keep flowing.
Alright. At long last. A new writer with a keen "overview" perspective. Love it.
Now to name names. The "resistance" that has attempted to thwart every single stitch of forward progress toward true American ideals - you know, that liberty, equality, justice for all stuff - has been conservatism. It has infected every party - from the Whigs to the Federalists to the modern Democrats and Republicans. It is totally consistent in its effort to "conserve" but one thing: the Dominator Hierarchy. That ominous hierarchy has many columns: skin color, wealth, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and perhaps the worst - man over nature. One can be rather liberal with regard to this or that column and virulently conservative on others. The line of demarcation at any point is simple: if you support, you know, that liberty, equality, justice for all stuff on a particular issue - say gay marriage - you are liberal; if you seek to conserve the old status-quo which invariably involves advantage and privilege for a few and the disadvantage of all those lower on the established hierarchy, hello there conservative!
Conservatism has offered little or nothing to the world.... ever! Indeed, it is a constant drag on human cultural evolution... that "arc of history" that MLK assured us bends toward justice. His statement is not false. But when will humanity at long last awaken to the actual demerits of conservatism as an ideology and actively seek its demise? This article is a start.
1
I'd say you are quite right, Michelle Alexander. We are less resisters of hate than keepers of democracy, defenders of freedom—to paraphrase Crowe-as-Maximus, our name is Citizen, and we're loyal servants to the TRUE emperor, the United States Constitution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1UmHfWCw-4
And we shall have our more perfect Union, in this life or the next.
I “resist” Alexander’s vision of what America should be. Her view is not providing everyone with an opportunity to succeed but guaranteeing that outcome using government power. This country is great because we all have an equal shot at progress and because we are given the freedom to make choices. To wit, Mass incarceration, more accurately described, is the result of a large number of people making poor choices that hurt themselves and others. To blame society is ridiculous, enables this sort of behavior and absolves these individuals of responsibility for their actions. This sort of thinking is typical of the hard left and I fear that your new columnist, who is imbued with this mentality, will not add much useful thinking to your opinion section.
5
Ms. Alexander, when I first read your column I got nervous. I asked myself: What is she doing here? Your stuff doesn´t match NYT standard columns. It seemed to me like arguing on the wrong track - until I got your last both paragraphs. Then I was glad to have stayed to this end because it was worthwile.
Look: Mr. Cohen´s column of today ended up to an "Democracy will still surprise us" stance. That´s what you have delivered here. So you are far ahead even of conventional "campus" ways of thinking still sticking in retrogressing, sometimes misguided views. That´s a good thing.
But I don´t think your formal analysis is completely right. I agree to your plea to overcome the "more of the same/status quo" system.
I don´t agree that this has to go always in the "progressive" direction you have pointed out. The movement that has brought Mr. Trump to power goes quite in an other direction. It´s just like a U-turn but the bottom line of both is: "It can not go on this way". So simple "resistance" in the sense of conserving 100 % of the present status quo can not be an option for anybody on any side of the fence. You are right to go beyond "resistance" but you have overlooked that this doesn´t lead necessarily to your own "progressive" conclusion.
Now I´m really curious what is coming next from you. In any case it would be a serious mistake to fall back in old patterns spun out in "opinion" sections again.
1
Read it, liked it, thought about it, read reader comments...realized that it is written to sound "different," intentionally vague, overly complex, and speaks to what the reader does or does not want to hear. I vote "yes" today. Will, I look back on this first opinion piece 20 columns later and say, "I was right" or "what was I thinking?"
@Ned If the author's vision for America comes to pass (God forbid,) you will undoubtedly say "what was I thinking" - as you stand in line for hours hoping there are products left when you make it into the grocery store.
1
Did you mention Egomania and individuals only concerned with self interest? I don't think so. Because whether it's a megalomaniac like the 45th, or a pseudo-revolutionary writing for the NYT, the reality of rugged individualism is a key factor in the death of community welfare. The US is in dire straits and the "talking heads" are a major part of the problem.
3
Oh! The brilliant Michelle Alexander! Lucky, lucky are we. Thank you for both noting the problem with the phrase “the resistance,” (I remember resisting it, too, it seemed too small) and seeing its connection to the principles and history underlying all this activity and feeling. The DNC came up with the phrase, “A Better Deal,” which seemed like spitting in the wind — too small a vision. And, by the way, I truly miss singing in marches — the drumming sounds militaristic, solipsistic — what and why are we calling out?
We need your voice.
Excellent theory .
Looking forward to more from your “pen”
3
Such an eloquent and inspiring debut! May all of these tributaries keep swelling and converge in a new, unstoppable Mississippi.
Excellent reminder. Being reactive is exhausting. Harnessing power by spreading and supporting what is right, good and honorable is regenerative.
2
What a great piece! Thank you and welcome, I look forward to more. I can not improve upon many of the comments already here so just wish you well.
4
We do need more rigor in our speech as you so beautifully point out. Thnks for the superb column with uplifting insights.
4
Welcome, and thank you.
Until the midterm elections, opposition to Donald Trump will serve as a good centerpiece in liberal politics. Midterms are historically a referendum on the sitting president, and it would be folly to fight that tradition when we have a president like Trump to talk about.
At the same time, it's good that liberal candidates are engaging their constituencies not only about the things that need fixing, but also about the possibilities that will open up if we elect enough Democrats to Congress now. These are the first stirrings of the nation you write of that's struggling to be born.
After the midterms, no matter how they have turned out, the great task for liberals will be to conceive an inspiring and yet realistic way forward for voters to choose in 2020. The Republican Party will be trying to repackage corruption, incompetence, and deceit. It won't take much effort to make most Americans dissatisfied with the status quo. The effort must go into assuring them that they have a worthy alternative to turn to.
4
Thank you for your uplifting column and welcome to the Times. I felt inspired by your juxtaposition of resistance and revolutionary progress. It has felt depressing and isolating to constantly be focused on the temper tantrums of one man and by the contortions his defenders go through to support him. Your column reminded me that we are a part of a much broader march towards a more equal and inclusive society.
4
Thank you for your inspiring writing. We have forgotten how to stand for something, not just against. Immigrants know—or perhaps still believe. They come here because they believe we stand for justice, equity, opportunity, and freedom. Resisting has helped many of us overcome despair over the past 2 years but now needs to be translated into positive action for the future of our children, our communities, and our nation.
1
Thank you, Professor Alexander. Yes, this is the right way to think about it. Your work The New Jim Crow has resulted in a thoroughgoing, bi-partisan rethinking of the criminal justice system (which was paused, but not stopped in November 2016). We can hope and pray for more of that clear thinking in your new column.
2
Welcome and thank-you for reminding us that on on the continuum of time and history, this era is the fulmination of a 'resistance' to the movements of several decades, if not centuries of work done to better lives. It suits this current 'resistance' as Ms Alexander articulates, to keep us divided by gender, race, culture or religion . Their world is a singular one of accumulating wealth and anything that divides our voices is good in their books because it keeps the real fight obfuscated.
1
The good old white boys’ clubs. Every time I have thought that certainly they will eventually fade away and be replaced by new, energetic young people, I have been disappointed. Good old white boys instill their values into their offspring who instill their values into their offspring, and so the cycle never ends. Those on the sidelines watch powerlessly, not able to climb the socio-economic ladder and seeing inequality perpetuated with no end in sight. Why vote? As long as we do not have a living wage and decent, affordable health care for all, nothing will change and people will continue to fall for any GOP candidate stoking their existential fears.
5
@Ellen
And which side would YOU rather be on?
As one of the few remaining progressive American Catholics, who feels betrayed by two institutions that I love (state and church), this article is a great reminder of the deeper historical current flowing towards respect for the dignity of all people, inalienable rights, justice, and a longing for a beloved community. Thank you and congratulation!
3
A good column, worthy of some follow up. I hope you will put more flesh on two specific phrases that you used. The first is "equitable democracy". Is that equitable in results (economic, social, intellectual etc.) for all people or equitable in some other form, like equal voting rights? The second is radical evolution. I would like to further comprehend what what you meant. Evolving to our roots?
It’s plain and simple. It’s us vs the “olds”. Yes we too will join those ranks one day but you can be sure that we will not be the same. We recognize the fortune we have being born at this time and this place; we recognize the current world is ruled by the 1%, we recognize our parents generation trashed the legacy of our grandparents? and we recognize what needs to be done. The only thing constant in this world is change. Move aside olds, you can’t vote your youth back.
1
Thank you, Michelle Alexander, for your upbeat perspective on America's future, and welcome to the New York Times. I suspect you'll find your readers as provocative as the topics you choose to address and I hope you'll enjoy the give and take as much as we do. Challenge us!
1
Beautiful piece, looking forward to reading more of your writing.
5
Welcome, Ms. Alexander. This a fantastic debut and -- if indicative of your contributions going forward -- a real coup for the NYTimes.
4
Trump would take us back to the days of Warren Harding, although I don't think he's smart enough to understand the Tea Pot Dome scheme. The man has absolutely no idea about this country, its history, its ideals, or how the government works.
2
I remember just days before Barack Obama and Joe Biden made history, I was considering that maybe the country has passed a threshold and was possibly ready to take the country in a long awaited new direction. Then those words......"We are days away from fundamentally changing the United States of America". Red flags went up and I wondered what in the world did that mean ?
So now here we are again with Ms Alexander declaring that those on the left are "committed to radical evolution of American democracy". No lessons learned because moderate liberals and conservatives will never let that happen.
1
Demographics predict that it will. Moderate liberals and particularly conservatives are mostly older. They will die off. A new generation will keep this nation moving in the direction of social justice and decency.
1
@Fed Up...and there's just enough old, liberal, white-males like myself planting seeds along the way...
1
Interesting because my children are of the generation you’re referring to. Still young and raising families and developing careers. And clearly they are not with you.
1
Brava brava, encore encore and thank you!
Just because a tent appears to be attractively big doesn't mean one shouldn't inquire into what's going on beyond any nose indicating desire to enter.
I am grateful for Michelle Alexander's hopeful vision that takes the spotlight off Trump- a much-needed correction to the sensational and deeply dispiriting discourse that occupies most of our news and journalism. Thank you.
Welcome home, Ms. Alexander. Beautifully written, a wisp of hope inextricably woven into the prose. I can be a hard nut to crack re: first impressions, and, in my opinion, you've pulled out the stops on what is a maiden NYT op/ed magnum opus.
A more cynical slant (which you'll be more than immersed in here) will find your thesis little more than a game of semantics. And that, of course, is only a convenient diversion from the profound fear inherent in their powerlessness. For every action, there's a reaction. The complete birth of a new social era that re-fired a decade ago, after it's crowning was wedged still 40 years ago, is now imminent, hence the final futile post-Obamaian social/political anomaly that is the true resistance.
The energy you put forth in your writing feeds us, and hopefully plants seeds of evolutionary wisdom. You ARE the change you want to see in the world. Thank you.
1
"struggling to be born" - the poetry that we desperately need and that's very actual in these exact days.
3
The only color that matters in this country is green. Getting it, I'll admit, is no walk in the park. Tougher for some than others, but green is color-blind. Eyes on the prize, guys.
2
Welcome to the New York Times. I’ve found your books to be powerful. I look forward to reading your column.
3
Love this. Thank you. This is a roiling, tumbling, wild and free river that given time will reach the vast ocean. No wall and no dam will be able to resist its patient, healing, inevitable flow.
We are not the resistance, we are Americans that still believe in democracy.
1
congratulations! thank you for a very serious and thoughtful piece. Welcome to the Times
4
The solution is simple in any context you choose. In November, vote Democratic to remove the GOP from Congressional power.
6
Happy to see the Times is bringing some balance to its columnist roster. I was especially moved (almost to tears) by the part about the Gautamalan mother.
6
Wow, welcome to the punditry...Thanks for an unabashedly progressive, even liberal! viewpoint from the NY Times...
Your column is extremely important, we liberals need thinkers and pundits to help us navigate an increasingly uncertain future. Resistance to President Trump and his white male patriarchal band of despicable dinosaurs (I am a white male. btw) is a fine organizing tool, but we need to have vision to rally around going forward.
Thanks for taking a first step along that narrow way, and congratulations to you and the Times for your inclusion here-in.
7
The change coming is inevitable. Great piece. Thank you!
1
Beautiful
Thank you for turning the light on.
Thank you for making this clear! The Republicans' regressive, uninformed and willfully ignorant view of humanity and the world is built to restrain progress and the greater good for breathtakingly grotesque and petty reasons. By standing for what we know to be right, to be ennobling of ourselves and our fellow human beings, the woeful nonsense that defines the right will steadily crumble under its own bloated weight.
Such a beautiful column. Sheer poetry.
What a wonderful article.
Don’t resist. Lead.
The Buddha spoke about impermanence, that the one thing we can be sure of is impermanence. Change is the nature of all things. Morphing, evolving into forms, multiplicity and diversity of everything is at the core of all existence. Trump and his insecure white band, resist change, they are the ones who are resisting the very force of Nature. But we all know that he is momentary, but change is permanent, cuz the nature of all things is impermanence.
2
Welcome!!
and what an opening!
I don't quibble with anything you say, in fact I quite admire your take and thank you for giving me food for thought.
The one group you don't mention are young students fed up with school shootings, who are certain to be a new voting block this November. Too many journalists "forget" to poll them or even mention them.
But I think they are also a big part of the revolution.
I look forward to your next column.
299
@c Not to quibble, but Alexander did mention the students fed up with school shootings, and that is why I was so impressed with this piece, it managed to mention, well...everything of import. And to weave those elements together in such idea-rich and elegant prose.
"in the voices of teenagers from Parkland and Chicago"...
2
@c M.Alexander is eloquent and to the point (Welcome!) - but "c" I wholeheartedly concur with you, we must not overlook the emerging young adults. They will soon enough be adults and voters and a force to reckon. It is this emergent group, the Dreamers, and other oppressed, this administration fears and is hastening the passage of their Supreme Court nominee before the mid-term election. Hope the tide changes soon before more damage can be wrought.
1
@c
Excuse me @c, but she did mention students fed up with school shootings; they are going to be a strong voting block in the very near future, you are quite right about that. As we get tired of fighting, they are coming along behind us and isn't that a good thing.
1
many of these systems were in place before the current president; the 3 strikes law; mass deportation; mass incarceration. we are short-sighted to think Pres. Trump is the reason for these systems. many of our own Democratic "leaders" were the very culprits of such oppressive systems.
the author seems to focus on us v. them mentality; as if a re-born America is only left-leaning fellow Dems. she is wrong. there is a better America that involves all colors of the spectrum.
2
Thank you for telling the truth in this insightful op ed . There are Americans who believe in democracy . Donald Trump is an aberration of how the majority of Americans view democracy . His version of a leader of the free world is a combination of Richard Nixon ( without Nixon’s knowledge of the constitution) and Joe McCarthy ,with a pinch of Mussolini thrown in to keep this mixture particularly toxic . He is an autocrat , a true antithesis to the rule of law .
And yes , we all had a hand in creating this perfect storm, but we can also undo this American nightmare that we find ourselves in ... and we can begin undoing it in November with the mid term elections.
Nonsense.
I am a non white immigrant (now a naturalized citizen) with a PhD and an MBA from Ivy League schools and I am a staunch Trump supporter. So is my wife who is also a highly educated immigrant of a different ethnicity.
There are many like us but who don’t dare admit it openly for fear of the social media mob and how outing us could damage our careers.
2
A new nation struggling to be born? The only way for a new nation to be born is to overthrow the government and its Constitution. Her prose is sweeping, lovely and possibly even inspiring. But it is also very much the resistance that half of America rejects. At it's core it's just anti-Trump vitriol framed by bitterness that Hillary is not further advancing a progressive agenda. None of this is some sort of racist statement - it's just a recognition that many of us see no need to destroy this nation because some vocal progressives say it should be thus.
Great piece and welcome aboard. To my eyes, the primary failing of those of us on the left isn't that we've failed to advocate for a new and better world for women, ethnic minorities and the LBGBT community. The oppression these groups have faced are still very real but the river is moving in the right direction and articles like this one will help keep it moving. Where we've failed utterly is in making clear to lower and middle class whites that the movement of the river will benefit and not threaten them - that when we talk about opportunity for all we're not taking about world where they have less but a world where they have more.
These are the sorts of statements that lose elections. You can despise Donald Trump, the Republicans and their policies without feeling it's Americans' responsibility to solve the problems of "The Guatemalan mother desperately fleeing poverty ..., young child in her arms, yearning for freedom."
A clear majority of Americans feels illegal immigration is a problem demanding a solution weightier than merely labeling it 'undocumented', as though immigrants in our country illegally in effect simply forgot their driving licenses at home, a harmless oversight anyone could make. Suggesting as the writer does that there is a deep moral obligation to ignore the illegality alienates rather than enlists most voters.
Ms. Alexander, you are of course entitled to your views and to speak them, one of the (increasingly few) great things about our country, but if don't want to contribute to Mr. Trump's reelection, find a way to build bridges to the many voters you need, not merely recite emotional soundbytes that drum up intoxicating strong emotions in your partisan echo chamber of choice. It is an unfortunately, paradoxical feature of being such a successful, populous country that there is a sufficient cohort of like-minded individuals of almost any political persuasion to fill the Washington Mall, though that cohort nonetheless remains far too small to win any significant national election.
Remember, Ms. Alexander: if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
2
Hear, hear. But our revolution should not be limited to the United States. We need a worldwide revolution, and not just for marginalized and oppressed people but for all endangered life forms on our precious planet. In other words, we need to fight for Earth justice now!
1
Great article but I'm not optimistic about transformative change in America or really anywhere. In the struggle for racial justice, in my experience, even "progressive" whites seem to line up with the tribe, when the going gets tough.
I guess one can never say never but just trying to keep it honest.
1
There is an underlying theme in many of the more skeptical comments submitted to this point to Ms. Alexander’s essay. Perhaps the negative, dubious tone to these opinions reflects a belief that those who currently support Trump and his dysfunctional political allies are doomed to remain in their present stance.
Whether they like it or not those in the Trumpist base have tied themselves to Trump’s countless lies, to the president’s remarkable ignorance, to his unstatesmanlike behavior and to his erratic judgement.
There are self-perpetuating behaviors and self-extinguishing behaviors. For whatever reasons, tens of millions of voters have gotten themselves into the fix of being obligated to support, that is, to DEFEND the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump.
When the Trump Era is behind us, doesn’t it seem likely that many of these folks will have learned something from having made the mistake of backing a childish, willful, pathological liar?
The essay we just read mentions “revolution”, but the river metaphor Ms. Alexander artfully employs points to the process actually leading to longterm political and social justice being more evolutionary than revolutionary.
Progress will come. A better day will dawn for all of us as former suspicious right-wingers allow the current of the River to slowly alter their opinions.
Play your part to bring about a brighter future for our country.
Have faith in the current.
Allow your countrymen to climb on board when it’s their time.
1
Thank you, Michelle Alexander and WELCOME! You are a breath of fresh air!
We are where we are because of the voting public! At the time of the election I talked to a number of the young people about voting. The general comment was why vote, its fixed by the party's as who they can vote for. No Choice... Two Wacko's and they choose not to vote.
We revolt against something. We evolve toward something.
The goal should be a strong voice that earns a place in the room where decisions are made.
Participation is democratic. Election is the way this democracy works.
The civil rights movement, the anti-war movement built voices that earned a place and were heard.
Evolve and elect. Resistance is futile.
I have no quarrel with the author's sentiments and arguments.
However, she Pollyannaishly glosses over the powerful forces arrayed against the new nation waiting to be born. Trump is only the most visible and currently influential part of this force.
Let's not succumb to premature euphoria over a purported new America. We've done so in the past, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Obama's election.
These were grand feel-good moments, but nothing in the white power structure changed.
Yes, we can protest and call out Trump's egregious and anti-democratic actions.
And we can vote every few years.
But until we occupy the halls of power where the fate of America is determined, we will be on the outside left to shout about the injustice of it all.
190
@Ricardo Chavira - She did not "gloss over" anything. "To the contrary, the struggle for human freedom and dignity extends back centuries and is likely to continue for generations to come. In the words of Vincent Harding, one of the great yet lesser-known heroes of the black freedom struggle, the long, continuous yearning and reaching toward freedom flows throughout history “like a river, sometimes powerful, tumultuous, and roiling with life; at other times meandering and turgid, covered with the ice and snow of seemingly endless winters, all too often streaked and running with blood.”"
2
@Ricardo Chavira, yes, but most of those powerful forces are old and are going to be consigned to the dustbin of history soon. It's time for a younger progressive generation to take US to a new world!
1
@Ricardo Chavira
Thanks again to all those Republican Congressmen whose votes were necessary for the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act to pass under Pres. Johnson.
The Dems appeared to still be in favor of Jim Crow and segregation at the time. Now they just hate the workers of any and all colors.
To me, this writer is powerfully ideological, which means she displays a set of preconceived channels in which her thinking will run, and which will skew her assessment of our social reality. That includes her perception of people who disagree with her, whom she simplifies and more or less demonizes here. Sure, President Trump is an incompetent slob, but that doesn't mean that all those who voted for him, and continue to support him, are white supremacists yearning for simpler times. This implies that the writer hasn't made the emotional effort to listen to those who disagree with her. And that's exactly what those who disagree with her are doing- not listening right back.
The inability to listen runs the risk of dysfunctional policy, unhashed out with those who disagree, and unvetted. Look out below when the Dems have control of the presidency, and both the senate and the house, come January 2021. A lot of what I'm hearing from "progressives" looks at first blush to reflect an ignorance of how economies work. If they're not open to critiques of policy along these lines, we won't solve anything, and we'll likely simply make matters worse. The best way to address concern for the have-nots is to have faith in the one sitting across the table from you, and put your heads together.
Ain't gonna happen, though.
"The Sage does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone." Lao Tsu
This is the art of non-doing, or 'non-resisting', as it were.
2
Congratulations on becoming a NYT columnist. I've appreciated your work on racial justice and am delighted you have this opportunity to expand your reach and impact. And you raise an important point here regarding the long arc of justice and resistance in our country.
This article is spot on! There have always been reactionary elements in every society. They tend to be violent because even they know they cannot stop the future, merely delay it. Their violence exposes their desperation.
Yes, yes. When a thing is dying, it screams the loudest. Trump's tweets are death throes. Something good is being born. Obama's America is the future; Trump's is the past. Trump will ever be mortified, as long as he lives, that he caused the forces of light and life to come together for what Lincoln called "a new birth of freedom." I don't know if Trump was necessary, like painful contractions in a human birth; I just know I agree with you completely that in his repulsive way he is pushing back against forces that will win. That are winning. That in the long arc of history, must win.
1
Marching, "resisting" and feeling good does not achieve political reform.
Electing Democrats who give us symbolism and "hope" but not action, does not achieve political reform.
Election Republican wrecking balls does not achieve political reform; it magnifies the problems needing reform.
To achieve political reform requires reformers who have done their homework, starting with learning basic civics and basic US history.
It requires reformers who have a tangible plan for enacting tangible workable and substantive reform legislation, and who focus with razor sharpness on getting those reforms actually implemented, not in collecting donations and feeling good about caring while accomplishing nothing.
This column soothes my soul. Suscint. Consise. From high above, looking down on it all.
A way forward.
I'm in.
1
Resistance is a term from the broad anti-fascist movements in Europe, and the movements that tried to free their countries from fascist occupation - in France, Italy, Greece, Denmark -
Insofar as the Trump presidency shows parallels to that time, it's a good term because it points to the broad "People's Front" across many political positions, that is crucial to stand against regimes that operate by terrorizing whole populations.
For us today, Michelle Alexander brilliantly points out the limitations of that historical model - especially since many of the policies of Donald Trump's administration, with respect to mass deportation and mass incarceration, were put into place and accelerated by his Democratic predecessors.
In fact, one silver lining of the Trump administration's terrorization of brown and black people is that many well-intentioned whites are finally paying attention to these policies.
When Bill Clinton initiated militarization of the border in 1996 with "Operation Gatekeeper" and mass deportations after IIRAIRA, many didn't notice. When President Obama tore apart millions of families, deporting 2.5 million people - more than any previous president - many didn't care. Because these were Democratic presidents.
Mass incarceration was similarly accelerated under President Clinton, as his wife's comment about "superpredator" black youth highlighted.
As Ms. Alexander points out, it is time to stand up for the justice we need, not just against Donald Trump.
2
Trump is an incompetent President who generates opposition from citizens across the entire political spectrum. It’s not a coalition nor even people talking together. There isn’t even a dialog within the Democratic Party nor between moderate and left leaning groups. There is no coherent set of common objectives.
We are living with each other quite civilly but politically we are in chaos.
The problem is that every faction wants what wants and have no interest in compromising. They are fed up with what has been and compromising to achieve incremental changes is not acceptable, it’s all or let it all come down.
Let’s be clear about the differences, the far left want freedom but liberties for individual people has nothing to do with what they want. They want all people to be materially satisfied, to live in peace, to not fear anything, and they want an end to history, a utopian existence where nobody wants because all there needs are completely provided by everyone else who have no disagreements over which to contend. The liberal idea of freedom is more about individual liberties with common cooperative efforts to assure all have the means to survive and to improve their circumstances as the wish. The shared goals with the far left are significant but not the same. Then there are the identity issues, treating all the same while not becoming too much alike, that is the biggest challenge. People are the same with slight differences but that view is now politically unacceptable
Wider actualization of Constitutional freedoms and of our democracy's potential has been unstoppable. There's no turning back.
Ms Alexander's persuasions to accede to the perspective of the "revolutionary river" - seem painfully overdue.
Trump's backward blathering may have temporarily 'dammed' our flow toward community, but regressions will be overcome as Ms Alexander foretells. "Another world is possible".
1
Rather than gum up your comment thread, I’ll follow in the generous footsteps of many others here and say “welcome.” Well, actually, I’ll append a brief observation. I am heartened by the addition to the op-ed page of a woman of color to broaden the perspectives of the Times’s many readers.
I can speak for no others here but it’s going to be refreshing to take in another voice. I’m looking forward to easing into your writing style and trying to gauge your thought process. I like already what I have read here.
Yes, we are a movement—not an impediment—to the basics of the (flawed) Founders’ vision for a grand experiment in self-government. It’s something like quicksilver; you see it but you can’t hold it, even when it’s in your hands. It’s constantly renewing itself and the process is often messy, like eating barbecue: you can’t dress up and you lick your fingers a lot.
We will survive the current presidency but the repairs may take years, a monumental task that many, like me (74) will have to leave to others. I think we’ll be in good hands.
Keep us on our toes, thinking, Ms. Alexander. Godspeed.
A bright new voice has been added to this newspaper. That being said, Ms. Alexander does not sufficiently address the urgency of our present situation. Unless Trump and his greedy, unfettered, crony capitalism is checked, our planet will lurch irreversibly into climate catastrophe.
The moral arc of the universe may bend towards justice, but all of us need to make it bend faster.
1
Thank-you Michelle Alexander for a thought-provoking and optimistic column. You remind us that we must strive for something better, not just resist that which is bad. And, I think many Americans believe that as well.
The “common denominator” for the resistance on the right may be a commitment to resisting or tolerating Donald Trump in an effort to achieve conservative goals. However, on the left and perhaps the center, I think the call is to Resist yet Persist–Resist the current administration’s corruption, repression, bigotry, misogyny, and undermining of the health and welfare of our citizens and our planet, but Persist in following the “revolutionary river,” which you so eloquently describe, to create a better country where freedom, equality and justice are enjoyed by all.
I hope that the Trump administration and the current Republican Party are just a rocks in that river, which make the ride turbulent and dangerous, but also one that can be survived and conquered. To that end, voting may be the life-jacket.
3
Thank you, Michelle Alexander, and welcome. I look forward to such insight and eloquence in the future.
Years ago there was a PBS series on the history of the civil rights movement titled "Eye on the Prize". Those who struggled for what was right and good did not become dispirited or discouraged by individual and collective setbacks. That in spite of arrests, fire-hoses and vicious dogs, bombed out churches, lynchings and assasinations, people did not loose sight of and faith in the ultimate goal.
Ms. Alexander's essay today echoes Dr. King's "the long arc of history bends toward justice". Donald Trump is a setback, a bump in the road. But "we as a people will get to the promised land."
The next step forward will be on Nov. 6, 2018.
1
Corey Robin in "The Reactionary Mind" expresses the same understanding. It is the radical Libertarian neofeudalist financial elite that is resisting swelling streams of justice movements that may coalesce into a powerful enough movement to undo a hundred years of corporatist hegemony into politics. Those swelling streams must run together in the Mainstream or they will never gain any power. If they come together they can restore an actual democracy. When we have an actual functioning democracy, in which corporate charters are revocable and are conditioned on the public good, and money isn't speech, I'm confident a just America will emerge.
Welcome and wonderful essay. I would add just one word to it. Vote!
1
Seeing you here at The New York Times has made me very, very happy, Ms. Alexander! I always find that your words, intelligence and warmth inspire me. With your pragmatic, can-do approach you demonstrate that sometimes seemingly lofty goals are actually within reach and that, in fact, with continued determined perseverance reaching those goals will be inevitable.
3
This article, written beautifully, gave me more hope than I have had since November 2016. The writer reminds us of the progress we have achieve, and the hateful backlash that follows such progress. Thank you for reminding all Americans of our potential and our way forward.
7
There is a consensus in resistance that is not necessarily present when pursuing visionary goals. Many of those committed to resisting the policies and actions of the Trump administration would be fine with it were it simply a more orthodox version of conservative thinking and policy. Many independents who are broadly content with the status quo with minor tweaks.
Of course there are the progressives committed to a "radical evolution of American democracy" but unfortunately the political force of that faction of the American electorate is diluted by the aims of those with less radical goals.
This is one of the vexing aspects of American politics. The vaguely and moderately liberal voter ends up opposing those more progressive.
Exactly. These past 2 years, I have thought "resistance" was an odd word to use, since the majority of Americans support progress. After all, when inclusive progress is a flowing river, only the ones who are swimming upstream are resistance.
This is not to say that all "rivers" are good, or that all resistance is bad. Quite the contrary. Resistance salvaged our humanity during World War II, among many other calamitous times. But we are merely in a time of rapid progress, with a few old, white, whining men resisting it.
1
I've enjoyed Michelle Alexander's work for awhile; this one is subtle and profound:
" Viewed from the broad sweep of history, Donald Trump is the resistance. We are not."
This is truly a thinking person's piece.
8
This piece expresses an essential denouncement of the subterfuge of "Resistance," which often replaces genuine commitment to creating a just system that reflects the ideals we pretend to have professed since independence with disguised complacency and emotional catharsis. Just one observation: the Tea Party started well before Obama was elected. My own stepfather advertised his membership as a Tea Party member soon after the invasion of Iraq.
2
Thank you. This is beautiful, and draws together many threads. I totally agree that we need a proactive vision, and you have nailed it — the same river of hope that Martin Luther King knew how to tap. Welcome to the New York Times. Your voice is needed.
8
I was so impressed with this column that I searched the internet for interviews and one Ted talk that Ms. Alexander has done. Now I'm even more impressed. I think what we are looking at here is the rise of one of the best intellectual voices of our time. Many of the great intellects of the past 70 years are old or have passed: Ralph Nader, Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, and Kurt Vonnegut, to name a few.
Ms. Alexander is exceedingly well informed, synthesizes knowledge into meaningful conclusions, presents herself through the importance of her subject matter, not a personal agenda, and is articulate and self contained, not inflammatory, in her delivery. She exudes integrity and authenticity in her concern for the decline in America democracy and for the exploitation of minority's and the poor of a privileged few who's goal is power and domination. In a nutshell, she seems like one of that very small number of people of any generation which is incorruptible .
Glad you are on the planet right now Ms. Alexander, and fortunate for us, landed in America. Your presence and voice is much needed.
9