Emil Guillermo
There’s no doubt that society and its institutions should look like America. But getting there will be harder after the Election of 2024. This is what happens when our pro-diversity numbers peel away and make our ideological opponents more diverse than they ever were. This is what happens when Donald Trump heralds himself as America’s lead victim and grievance peddler and attracts one out of three voters of color. When Trump “trumps” diversity, we have to rethink our goals and our strategies. 2024 showed us the stories of the past won’t work.
San Francisco's Breed
In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed lost to Daniel Lurie, a tech-bro and billionaire heir to the Levi Strauss fortune in a close race among an array of Democrats from less progressive to more. Breed’s last-minute pitch was amplified by a New York Times story where Breed stressed her upbringing as a poor daughter of San Francisco ‘hood. Her single mother was an addict, her father was absent. Her motto essentially was, vote for me, I have lived through the struggles of San Francisco.
That might have worked 20 or 30 years ago. Stories are great, but what have you done for me lately? Keep in mind, those stories used to get people into jobs, admitted into schools, fast-tracked into positions. Personable stories ingratiated and yes, you were liked well enough to win X, or whatever that thing was you were going for--the thing that was formerly all-white until you showed up.
But now that story is seen as too “affirmative-action-y.” Meritocrats are listening. Their cold hearts evaluate data, and in the case of the San Francisco voters they said to London Breed, “Nice story. But did you fix our problems?” She hadn’t. She was shown the door.
In the past, we’d give anyone who came up from nothing to levels of achievement the benefit of the doubt. With a history where Blacks and minorities are underrepresented, why wouldn’t you go with a high achiever like Breed? But now the meritocrats have made things harder for Breed to rest on “the story.” And what happens when we all have a story, not just a conservative Black candidate but a white one like Trump who claims persecution by “lawfare”?
Harris
And that brings us to Kamala Harris. I saw her as the candidate who supercharged identity politics. She was the picture of diversity. Jamaican, Indian? Prosecutor? Smart? In the final week, she was quick to declare herself potentially “the first HBCU president” ever. She didn’t say, first Asian American. But that’s OK, she was playing to her Howard base, and that’s fine. By the norms of the past, how could she lose?
She was also so likable. She beat Trump on all the likeability questions posed by pollsters. Indeed, most voters disliked Trump so much, but they still believed he was the one who could fix the issues important to them. Voters wanted answers. Forget identity, race, the past. What about my grocery cart and gas tank? That’s the story Latino voters gravitated to. Non-college voters of all stripes felt the same way. The price of eggs was more important than the price of democracy. So what happens when the price of eggs drop? Or when our civil liberties are slashed?
As the threat of deportations of mixed-status families become real, and the only way to stop family separations is to deport both the undocumented and American citizens, will Latinos feel duped by Trump and demand he listen to them? Will they move for impeachment?
For Higher Ed
The takeaway for higher ed is that the election reinforced the existing trend that began when the Supreme Court eliminated affirmative action. DEI is already losing steam and is just about dead. I still thought one’s “personal story” still had some weight and credibility. But the meritocrats have discounted that, and now they have their own “white stories” to push led by their lead aggrieved victim, Donald Trump.
So, we have to rethink how to battle this new strain of virus we’re facing. The old way to fight racism and the misogyny isn’t as effective as Harris and Breed found out last week. We have to show solutions and results. But stay optimistic. We’ve been through these battles before and make no mistake. Activists know the secret of the long game. We shall overcome.
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator.
