Longtime Democrat. First-time diarist. Please be kind.
Also about me: Jewish, New Englander and one-time Midwesterner. Educator. And, full disclosure, big Bernie supporter. I realize that might make me persona non-grata to some of you but I hope you will bear with me.
I just noticed something.
We have a lot of good prospects for 2020, some of whom have declared and some who might soon declare. I have been a fan of Kirsten Gillibrand for quite some time, as well as Elizabeth Warren. (Though I really wish she had supported Bernie in 2016). I’m not sold on Kamala Harris or Julian Castro and though I think Cory Booker is perhaps one of the great orators of our time, I think he is too tainted by corporatism to perform well. Jeff Merkley is great and of course Joe Biden is right up there.
I like Tulsi Gabbard and I’m frustrated that folks aren’t happy with the restorative justice she performed for her terrible homophobic comments back in the day by maintaining a perfect pro-LGBT voting record in Congress. And of course I am in Bernie’s corner.
In the White House we have an orange menace, and we all recognize that one thing that failed us in 2016 was coming to terms with our common vision as Democrats and putting forward a unified front. So I think that should be one of our goals going forward into 2020.
But, like I said -— I just noticed something.
The only two names in the list above that are getting routinely and blisteringly attacked here a dKos are Bernie and Tulsi.
I know that people still resent them for standing opposed to Hillary Clinton in 2016. But they do have one other thing in common: Neither of them is a Christian.
Bernie Sanders is Jewish and Tulsi Gabbard is Hindu. And they are the only two 2020 prospects who get regularly dragged here at dKos.
I personally believe there is an unaddressed and possibly unrecognized element of implicit Christian supremacy in the Democratic Party. It took me a while to see this and feel this but after several online and IRL exchanges with other Democrats in recent days, it finally hit me. Bernie and Tulsi — non-Christians being brutally attacked. This all sounds too familiar.
If we are going to be the party of diversity, elevating the under-represented voices among us. let’s fully rip off our blinders and acknowledge diversity of religious beliefs, too.
I’m going to work more on this thesis and will write a better diary in the future, I promise. But for now I would love feedback and input into my ideas. TIA!