Blue Mass Group

I have to admit, I’m stunned — not at the decision itself, but that it has to be made:

With only $51,644 in his account after a year of campaigning, Warren was expected to send an e-mail to his supporters Thursday morning explaining that he did not have the resources to take on the popular Republican, who has a $7.9 million campaign account and consistently high standing in public polls.

“We took a hard look at the numbers and what it would take to run a winning campaign against the incumbent governor,’’ Warren said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I just saw the challenge was insurmountable, based on the ability to raise the money and the resources.”

The money situation is just untenable, I get that. People have to get paid; ads have to be bought, mailers printed, etc. But I’ve simply never felt that the political situation was impossible: Charlie Baker’s enduring and broad popularity seems impenetrable — he gets mild to strong support even from Democrats. He certainly gains from a favorable comparison to the President, which is not saying much at all. But then (for example) you get this, from MassINC Polling:

Baker ought to be vulnerable. That’s not even an exceptional statement about any politician, but as a transit user and a climate-aware person, to me his shortcomings are especially acute. Massachusetts is doing OK in many respects — cruising on the bolder leadership of past eras — but faces vast challenges of climate readiness and energy transformation; transportation; housing; economic inequality; health care costs; institutional racism; and on and on. Baker doesn’t boldly or even adequately lead on any of these. I don’t think he deserves the support of Democrats. I think a Democratic governor — any of the candidates — would be a lot better.

But even though I don’t understand or agree with Baker’s popularity, I can’t really dispute its legitimacy. People think what they think. But $7.9 million to $50K … that’s tough. Regardless of the polls, you can stay in a race if you have money.

Forget about Democratic politics for a moment; this moment is just bad for accountable government.

Too long to tweet, but real writing hurts my brain …

• Do check out the website of Tram Nguyen, the young Legal Aid attorney who is taking on Republican Jim Lyons in the 18th Essex House district. I know that this district (mostly Andover) is a click or two more conservative than most, but Lyons is a gun-loving, immigrant-bashing Tea Partier. He defeated Barbara L’Italien in 2010, so it’s not out of the question that it could be represented by a progressive again.
• [Apropos of nothing, did you know that a couple of years ago, Lyons won a judgment against his neighbors, who were harassing his family in some pretty bizarre ways? I did not know this. People are weird, man.]
• Our friends at 350Mass are still looking for folks to pester their reps (State Reps, mostly) about S.2302, the transformative energy bill by Sens. Pacheco and Eldridge. Thomas Golden (Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy) is now leading your typical House slow-roll and break-apart. It shouldn’t be like this. I know I’m a broken record on this — if you haven’t already, 350Mass is asking you to call both your own rep (find out whom here, switchboard is 617-722-2000) and the Speaker at 617-722-2500. Signup and call scripts are here.
• I think, upon reflection, that it would be a mistake to regard the criminal justice reform bill something other than a success for progressive, decent, compassionate governance. That being said, mandatory minimums are still dumb, and our legal system should deal with people in ways sensitive to both mental age and mental health.
• If we were to have a questionnaire for State Rep/Senator primary candidates, what would it include? For me it would include statements on MBTA (and other transit) funding; clean energy (3% RPS, transport emissions); climate readiness; school foundation funding; health care costs. What else? What would you want to know about?

The recent arrests at a Starbucks in Philadelphia as examples of a troubling notion that is near-invisible to most white folks, even as we participate: That many (if not most) public spaces are self-evidently white – and socially “policed” as such.

“When the anonymous black person enters the white space, others there immediately try to make sense of him or her—to figure out “who that is,” or to gain a sense of the nature of the person’s business and whether they need to be concerned.” – Elijah Anderson, “The White Space” https://t.co/i3F7gg6cNC

— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) April 13, 2018

You don’t have to be ideologically or casually racist to participate in this; doubtless people who are appalled by blatant hatred participate in this kind of social policing all the time. I doubt the Philly Starbucks manager thought of himself as racist. It’s not necessarily ideological; prejudices burrow deep to the amygdala, and remain invisible to those who continue to harbor them. This stuff is hard, and stubborn: Just “being right” doesn’t necessarily count for much.

Renée Graham notes with fatigue (emphasis mine):

For black people, this video has been viral forever. This is what we live with every damn day.

This isn’t a Starbucks problem. It could have been a fast food restaurant, a mall — or a street in Cambridge. Last Friday police responded to a report of a naked man on Massachusetts Avenue. A video shows Selorm Ohene, a black 21-year-old Harvard student, being struck several times after he was already pinned to the ground by three Cambridge police officers and an MBTA transit cop. Cambridge Mayor Marc C. McGovern called the incident “disturbing.”

Everything black people do is weighted by irrational white fear. It’s mentally exhausting to always be on guard, even during mundane moments like waiting in a coffee shop – or asking for directions. 

Boston has made itself a “white space”, not just by blatant racism in policing, home lending, schooling, and the like; but in this more subtle but suffocating way of policing “white spaces”. And these supposed subconscious “micro-aggressions” can turn, under stress, into mega-aggressions, even leading to wrongful use of police power.

This is nothing new:

“Personally, I’ve never seen much difference between the South and the North,” comedian Dick Gregory wrote in a 1971 issue of Ebony. “Down South white folks don’t care how close I get as long as I don’t get too big. Up North white folks don’t care how big I get as long as I don’t get too close.”

Well, what if we didn’t care about how close?

My fellow white folk in MA: Let’s invert our internal conversation here. Can we tell ourselves a new, more positive story? Can we envision something more aligned with our stated values? Can we accommodate making an easier time for our black friends, neighbors, and colleagues? Doesn’t seem like too much to ask, does it?

Black people belong.

• Black people belong in the coffee shop. In your restaurant. In your store.
• Black people belong in “your” neighborhood; on the sidewalk; in their cars; in a cab; on the T.
• Black people belong in your schools, in your classroom, at your gym, at the library.
• Black people belong, dressed nicely, or shabbily, or meh. They belong in short hair, long hair, dreadlocks, or whatever. And they don’t require your approval.
• Black people belong at Fenway Park, at the Strand, at the MFA, at Symphony Hall, at the Middle East.
• Black people belong, in Milton or Mattapan; Brockton or Boxborough; Roxbury or … West Roxbury. In “nice” neighborhoods. They belong on your street. In your apartment complex. As your roommate.
• Black people belong at Harvard, and Bunker Hill. They belong at Tufts, Wellesley, and UMass. As your high school valedictorian. As not-valedictorian. They don’t have to be exceptional to deserve your respect.
• Black people belong in your family; in your church; in your circle of friends.
• Black people belong in your office; as your employee; co-worker; as your boss; in the corner office.
• Black people belong, as your doctor or lawyer; as your loan officer; as your contractor; as your handyman.
• Black people belong in your political party (and the other one); in City Hall; on the school board; in the Oval Office.

It’s not a special thing to ask; it’s the privilege of being not special, not particular. Of being anonymous in public. Of being normal.

Can we do this?