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Charles Blow Has a GREAT Line About DEI - and About Joy in Life [1]

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Date: 2024-08-08  

Charles Blow’s column in this morning’s NYT (yes, I still read it) — Harris, Walz and Democrats’ Joyful Campaign — that is largely about the joy and enthusiasm the Harris/Walz ticket has stirred up among Democrats (and some of the rest of the country). But he has one line buried halfway down that I believe is a major insight which needs to be highlighted:

[Democrats] recognize that [Harris] represents all that is good about D.E.I., that it isn’t about the granting of privilege but the dismantling of it.

THIS is the answer to those using — misusing — DEI to smear everyone who isn’t White, male, Christian, straight. They were born to privilege, didn’t do anything else to earn any privilege, and are scared that the rest of us will figure that out and get the privilege — rights, actually — that we deserve because we earned them.

Republicans have slammed Harris as a D.E.I. candidate, tossing around the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion to insinuate that she didn’t earn her place. But overwhelmingly, one of the reasons Democrats are excited about her is that she’s highly qualified and also happens to be a woman of color.

Ditto with “liberal.” Republicans have long been using that word as a boogeyman — he’s liberal! She’s a San Francisco liberal! Yes, and your point is? There’s a great West Wing scene where Jimmy Smits (Matt Santos) goes out on the convention podium and proudly proclaims that he will pick that “liberal” badge and wear it proudly. That is exactly what Walz is doing — yes, he’s liberal. Liberal means seeing that school children don’t go hungry so they can learn and grow up to be good citizens. Liberal means ensuring that women get to make their own decisions about their own bodies. Liberal means “Mind your own damn business!” Walz is proud to be a liberal.

Oh, yes — liberal means taking joy in life.

On Tuesday, during Tim Walz’s debut speech as Kamala Harris’s running mate, he thanked Harris for “bringing back the joy.” It wasn’t until then that I fully realized just how much joy has been generating the electricity behind Harris’s presidential candidacy. Not because of some specific stance that Harris has taken — she isn’t articulating policy positions that differ substantially from President Biden’s. She is, however, allowing herself to be the vessel for pent-up liberal energy. [emphasis added]

No wonder Trump can’t stand it when Harris laughs. She’s laughing at him, true — and he hates that — but she’s laughing with life. We need that.

When they go low, we go joy. And laugh.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/8/2261630/-Charles-Blow-Has-a-GREAT-Line-About-DEI-and-About-Joy-in-Life?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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