Study finds State Legislatures Dominated By white Men

[Duvniask]

The progression of hatred for anything dominated by white reminds me of a famous quote concerning fascists made by German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller. If we switch the contexts in the poem around, we can see a pattern emerging at present of a fascists state using the guise of expanding liberties to take away the rights of others.

It's sad too. They control the discussion, the narrative, the topics. You can't challenge them, oppose them, question them, or have a different viewpoint - or you're a racist, as they famously say. So you're forced to keep quiet and watch as they take, take, take, and take again. And no one cares because of the color of your skin.

I wonder when folks are going to wake up to this harmful narrative - if ever - and the implications it has for other groups. It's okay now to be racist towards whites because, according to popular culture, you can't be racist towards whites. Then they'll move on to another group. Then they'll come for you.

Just my two cents on the obscurity of this ridiculous article concerning the demographic remarks. I agree entirely a legislature should represent the demographic, but if the demographic votes for a specific individual regardless of race....well, my remarks are above.

"We should have a legislature more representative of the population"
"LITERALLY ANTI-WHITE"

Perhaps the greatest example of white fragility in this thread.

[Alcala-Cordel]

"We should have a legislature more representative of the population"
"LITERALLY ANTI-WHITE"

Perhaps the greatest example of white fragility in this thread.

"When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."

-unknown

[Aureumterra]

I once again ask, why should anyone care about the color of someone’s skin, rather than their policy positions?

[Diarcesia]

"We should have a legislature more representative of the population"
"LITERALLY ANTI-WHITE"

Perhaps the greatest example of white fragility in this thread.

"When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."

-unknown

It does feel like that if the equality is done not by bringing up the disadvantaged, but by pulling down the advantaged.

[Valrifell]

I once again ask, why should anyone care about the color of someone’s skin, rather than their policy positions?

You'd expect legislatures to reflect the mockup of the communities they represent, it's a good sign of a functioning democracy. Plus, since (and I hope you'll agree) America is not some post-racial utopia, your standard example of race X will experience the United States differently than race Y and representing these often overlooked voices would be good. This is because representation is inherently and intrinsically a good thing.

Stuffing legislatures with people from a single demographic - age, race, income status, or whathaveyou - limits the perspectives granted on a certain issue, which limits the responses the government can take and how they are executed.

[Duvniask]

I once again ask, why should anyone care about the color of someone’s skin, rather than their policy positions?

You might like someone for their policies, but their policies are, perhaps, not put forth with the understanding of what specific communities, which they are not a part of, have need of.

Will a man understand the importance of women's rights? Maybe, but if all politics are run by men and all people in power are men, it's difficult to say how much will be done about it, and how seriously the issue will be taken. Having people of different racial groups represented can help bridge such gaps in representativeness; after all, it'd be good to have people in power that speak for (and have personal stake in) the issues that the Black community faces, the issues that the LGBT community faces or that the poor face. Why are there, after all, local districts from which people are elected to congress? Part of the reason, at least, is to have a voice for those districts, someone that is from the place and knows about it's goings-on. This will presumably be reflected in their policy positions.

In other words:

As long as they're qualified, it shouldn't matter.

People’s race affects their life experiences. People’s life experiences effects their politics. D’you see how making sure that large sections of the population aren’t left underrepresented might be important?

Also, the above post, too.

[Duvniask]

"When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."

-unknown

It does feel like that if the equality is done not by bringing up the disadvantaged, but by pulling down the advantaged.

So how is wanting the legislature to be more representative of the population "pulling down the advantaged"?

I suppose in the same sense that cutting a cake into equally-sized pieces instead of giving more than half to one person is "pulling down the advantaged".

[Valrifell]

"When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."

-unknown

It does feel like that if the equality is done not by bringing up the disadvantaged, but by pulling down the advantaged.

The advantaged were brought there by virtue of systems which keep the disadvantaged in their place. Equality inherently means amending or removing these systems so there are no more advantaged or disadvantaged.

This is why, instead of girlboss CEOs, we should overthrow the capitalists.

[Adamede]

For those who have a problem with the racial makeup of American government, how would you solve the problem?

[Kowani]

For those who have a problem with the racial makeup of American government, how would you solve the problem?

Well, first, I'd get rid of partisan gerrymandering. After that, you make it easier to run for office by making it not soulcrushingly expensive. Civics classes designed to foster interest in government, and especially how government interacts with every day life.
You'd probably need some sort of dedicated cultural campaign that removes the "default" image of politician as Older White Man.

[No State Here]

Are they qualified for the job? If so, nice

Oh you were expecting me, a black man, to complain about the fact that most people in state legislatures are white? I don’t see any reason to do so as long as they accurately represent their constituents

[Diarcesia]

It does feel like that if the equality is done not by bringing up the disadvantaged, but by pulling down the advantaged.

So how is wanting the legislature to be more representative of the population "pulling down the advantaged"?

I suppose in the same sense that cutting a cake into equally-sized pieces instead of giving more than half to one person is "pulling down the advantaged".

Hmmm... my statement is only true if it's not a zero-sum game. Legislatures are not one of those.

[Valrifell]

For those who have a problem with the racial makeup of American government, how would you solve the problem?

Well, first, I'd get rid of partisan gerrymandering. After that, you make it easier to run for office by making it not soulcrushingly expensive. Civics classes designed to foster interest in government, and especially how government interacts with every day life.
You'd probably need some sort of dedicated cultural campaign that removes the "default" image of politician as Older White Man.

Exactly. Even state races are quite pricey in several states. I think in California it costs something like an average of $1.1 million of investment to get elected to the state senate. Needless to say, that's atrocious and is stifling folks from lower-income communities, which disproportionately tend to be minority groups. We need some kind of funding pool for all offices.

Of course the case of California is exceptional, but we should note that it has been universally the case that campaigns' war chests have increased dramatically since the 1980s, going up every year with no sign of leveling off.

But more specifically, the lack of term limits and incumbent advantage both in name recognition and fundraising is absurd. Some state legislators have racked up massive service streaks of 40+ years. Opinions may vary, but I find that disgusting, dictatorships have a higher turnover rate than that. Several places of the US are stuck with broken machine-style politics that lead to these kinds of conditions.

I also agree that increased access and quality of education would naturally help resolve this, but also better economic conditions for the impoverished (which again tend to be disproportionately minority groups) with fun stuff like universal healthcare, so more people would have more capital to try and run for local offices. The remainder of this proposal involves reds with tanks and revolutionaries with guillotines, so I'll stop here

[Adamede]

For those who have a problem with the racial makeup of American government, how would you solve the problem?

Well, first, I'd get rid of partisan gerrymandering. After that, you make it easier to run for office by making it not soulcrushingly expensive. Civics classes designed to foster interest in government, and especially how government interacts with every day life.
You'd probably need some sort of dedicated cultural campaign that removes the "default" image of politician as Older White Man.

And what if, after all of that, white men are still over represented in politics?

[Valrifell]

Well, first, I'd get rid of partisan gerrymandering. After that, you make it easier to run for office by making it not soulcrushingly expensive. Civics classes designed to foster interest in government, and especially how government interacts with every day life.
You'd probably need some sort of dedicated cultural campaign that removes the "default" image of politician as Older White Man.

And what if, after all of that, white men are still over represented in politics?

I would find that unlikely. But at least we removed other mitigating factors, I suppose we'd have to say that the current cadre of politicians are among the most qualified?

[Adamede]

And what if, after all of that, white men are still over represented in politics?

I would find that unlikely. But at least we removed other mitigating factors, I suppose we'd have to say that the current cadre of politicians are among the most qualified?

And what about it insures the outcome you're looking for?

[Awesomeland012345]

Well duh thye're dominated by white men. Non-whites and women were only allowed to vote recently. And before then they were treated as inferior beings. The result was that only white men could vote, and they voted for other white men. Even after blacks and women were allowed to vote they were discouraged from voting, and more white men got elected. There are racist and sexist (usually white males) who still only vote for white men. So basically that pattern from when segregation existed still exists.

TL;DR: long ago, people didn't let anybody but white men to vote, who voted for other white men. Same thing happens now, except less extreme.

[Kowani]

Well, first, I'd get rid of partisan gerrymandering. After that, you make it easier to run for office by making it not soulcrushingly expensive. Civics classes designed to foster interest in government, and especially how government interacts with every day life.
You'd probably need some sort of dedicated cultural campaign that removes the "default" image of politician as Older White Man.

And what if, after all of that, white men are still over represented in politics?

It's not unexpected that they would be overrepresented to some degree, but the magnitude of the disparity would be much smaller, and we can assume that the resulting class of politicians would most likely be more qualified than their predecessors.

[Valrifell]

I would find that unlikely. But at least we removed other mitigating factors, I suppose we'd have to say that the current cadre of politicians are among the most qualified?

And what about it insures the outcome you're looking for?

Because we'd expect in a more uniformly equal and functional democracy that groups are roughly represented on par with actual census data. That is, all things being equal, you would expect something like 70% of all federal politicians to be white just through random sampling.

[Salus Maior]

It does feel like that if the equality is done not by bringing up the disadvantaged, but by pulling down the advantaged.

So how is wanting the legislature to be more representative of the population "pulling down the advantaged"?

I suppose in the same sense that cutting a cake into equally-sized pieces instead of giving more than half to one person is "pulling down the advantaged".

If they're validly elected by the population, it is representative. Regardless of whether it's a black person voting for a white person or whatever.

Unless people of certain races can only vote for people of certain races.

[Adamede]

And what about it insures the outcome you're looking for?

Because we'd expect in a more uniformly equal and functional democracy that groups are roughly represented on par with actual census data. That is, all things being equal, you would expect something like 70% of all federal politicians to be white just through random sampling.

Fair enough

[Duvniask]

So how is wanting the legislature to be more representative of the population "pulling down the advantaged"?

I suppose in the same sense that cutting a cake into equally-sized pieces instead of giving more than half to one person is "pulling down the advantaged".

If they're validly elected by the population, it is representative. Regardless of whether it's a black person voting for a white person or whatever.

Unless people of certain races can only vote for people of certain races.

I'd tell you to read the just the last page of this thread as a response, but I didn't think I'd need to.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

ok and

I trust a female Asian politician as much as I would trust a white male politician. That is; not at all.

[Bear Stearns]

Because whiteness is by it's very nature, in fact, violence, white men in positions of power by default represent an oppressive occupying force, even ones who claim to be Allies. And because these white men live in a system where even if they are no longer in politics, their whiteness still oppresses people by virtue of them taking up the physical and mental spaces of People of Color whenever they make their presence known in public. And because they are oppressing people stolen land, all of their earned and inherited wealth is stolen too.

Therefore, the only solution that would be a first step towards justice is not only for any white male to resign from any position of authority he has, but also to relinquish his property to People Color and then promptly kill himself.

If you are a white male and do not take this affirmative stance towards justice, your silence will be viewed as consent with this oppressive system and you will be considered hostile.

/s

[Alcala-Cordel]

"When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."

-unknown

It does feel like that if the equality is done not by bringing up the disadvantaged, but by pulling down the advantaged.

When you balance a scale, do you bend it so both arms are facing down or do you take some weight off the part with more and add it to the top? It's impossible for everyone to be the privileged class unless there is no privileged class.