_Sarah Rubinstein is a freshman journalism major at MU. She is an opinion columnist who writes about politics and societal observations for The Maneater._
President Joe Biden’s attitude towards partisanship has appeared as an amiable take on leadership, which contrasts the previous administration.
“I do not see red states and blue states, but only the United States,” President Joe Biden said on election night.
Biden’s words of unity echoed through his “America United” inauguration ceremony and promised a future where party politics could be placed under the importance of one’s American identity. His sentiments promised a swift transition from a president who once retweeted a video of a follower saying, “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat,” to a president who aims to reach across the aisle. However, it is bold to assume that a change in leadership will erase America’s heightened partisan divide.
Traditionally red states have often stayed predictable with everything from their elections to their policies by their elected officials. Due to this, the chance for something new can feel simply unrealistic.
As a southerner, I was shocked to watch Georgia turn blue in the Senate runoff election. I viewed the state as similar to my home state of Tennessee: a doomed red state incapable of progress. Yet, when we make these blanket statements and demonize red states, we continue to hinder their potential for progressive change.
To claim that Georgia’s election results were unprecedented simply means there hasn’t been enough credit given to grassroot campaigns fighting voter suppression. Georgia’s outcome can be traced back to activist Stacey Abrams, who founded Fair Fight Action to help increase voter turnout and fight against unlawful disenfranchisement of Black voters.
What happened in Georgia should not be viewed as an isolated incident, but a potential preview of what could happen when activism in red states is taken seriously. The belief that red states are solely packed with illiteracy and bigotry does not do anything for the minority voters fighting for their access to the polls.
It is easy for Democrats to fall into the idea of liberal safe haven elitism or the comfortability of activism in hard blue states where elections are favored to win. It is easy for Democrats to write off red states as racist without addressing the history of racism in Democratic communities and institutions. If progressive activists continue to ignore these crucial states, they will end up hurting the same communities they claim to fight for.
Red states and key battleground states have large minority populations that often go unaccounted for in elections. A 2020 Pew Research study reported that 33% of eligible Black voters in Iowa lived in poverty, while 18% of eligible Black voters in Florida, Georgia and Iowa do not have health insurance. Despite the presence of significant minority populations in red states, voting sites in their communities are packed and inaccessible to those who cannot afford to skip a day of work.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “Latino voters waited on average 46 percent longer than white voters, and Black voters waited on average 45 percent longer than white voters.”
What Democrats fail to acknowledge is that disadvantaged groups in red states face a vicious cycle of voter suppression, one that can only change once directly addressed.
When red states fail to swing in major elections, they are abandoned without looking at the big picture. At the same time, progress made in red states is often overlooked when it doesn’t make a substantial difference in national elections. While Missouri may not have swung red in the gubernatorial election, voters approved Medicaid expansion on the 2020 ballot. Recognizing these steps is significant for liberal elitists to step out of their bubble and truly examine red states’ potential.
Red states and the unrecognized activism within them deserve attention and recognition. To exclude more than half of the U.S. in the effort for progressive change will continue this vicious cycle of ignorance that misses the mark of true activism. If Democrats want to see action in red states, they need to stop demonizing them and start advocating for the people within them.
The Maneater encourages all readers to commit to the fight against racial injustice and donate to The Okra Project. The organization’s mission is “to hire and train Black trans people as chefs who then provide meals for Black trans people in their homes.”
_Edited by Sofi Zeman | szeman@themaneater.com_
