By 2045, a majority of the US population will be people of color. This will change the electoral makeup and enable people of color to have a transformative political impact.

In Zerlina Maxwell’s, The End of White Politics - How to Heal Our Liberal Divide, the former staffer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign explains this is not a movement, it’s not a theory, it’s a demographic fact. To take advantage of this shift, the Democratic Party has to listen to the people of color and diverse groups, promote them to positions of power within the party, and let them lead the way.

According to Maxwell, when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression, and that applies to all white males including those in the Democratic Party. Maxwell takes aim at the Bernie Bros, calling them “a manifestation of white male privilege”, and the “same as Trump supporters responding to the same perceived loss of privileges.” She claims whitelash increased racial solidarity among white people with the shared perception that they were losing status, rights, and privileges they had traditionally enjoyed was the reason for the Trump win.

She endorses identity-based politics explaining, in reality, it is politics saying there is more than one experience to consider. That means embracing identities other than those that are white, male, and heteronormative and accordingly running political campaigns based on the needs and experiences of those African Americans, Latinx, and the LGBTQ+ communities and women. Though women currently are a majority of the US population, their numbers don’t reflect that in elected officials.

Critical of Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, she suggests he has a “long history of telling the black constituency he can be trusted, while simultaneously authoring and implementing policies that would hurt them.” This includes supporting Bill Clinton’s 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that has resulted in the current crisis of mass incarceration.

Maxwell identifies with The Squad, four young women of color recently elected to Congress saying, “there is no group more representative of how the next generation of leadership will look than The Squad.” She’s a supporter of their outspoken candor on public policy saying that lived experiences make better-informed policymaking. To Maxwell, the impulse of most Democrats to be moderate “feels like a manifestation of the white privilege that has plagued us for so long. Being a moderate is not a virtue. Moderation does not pull us toward progress.”

The book is dense with facts and then some since Maxwell has a tendency to repeat the same arguments in different context. She’s also fond of political jargon and memes, ostensibly to enhance her insider credibility, but which frequently sent me on an internet search to understand.

As an analysis of the current state of America’s political system, The End of White Politics reads like the future, like an awakening, like common sense.

Written with passion and commitment, Zerlina Maxwell presents her argument persuasively and unapologetically, and with enough anecdotes to lift it above the political thesis. She reminds us when she quotes feminist Laura Duca, “At any given moment, you’re either actively fighting for equality, or you’re complicit in the system of oppression that prevents it.”

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

                I teach at two community colleges, and, therefore, have an interest in this timely book.  If you haven’t heard about all the protests about racism on college campuses then you haven’t been watching any news.  Congrats on having your head in sand.

                Ross’ book is something that anyone associated with any college in any way should read; however, there are some problems with the book. 

                On the one hand, Ross’ book does shed light on the issues of racism on major college campuses, and that is something that should be addressed.  It’s more than just a debate over admissions policies.  There are documented instances of black students being asked if a white student can touch their hair, of liberal uses of the “n” word, of a host of micro-aggressions.  Ross makes an excellent case of racism still existing on campuses and how little colleges, at least some colleges, do to deal with the issue.  The reasons for this non-action seem to run from lack of knowledge to lack of care about the situation.  Ross does a good job of analyzing how some racial incidents on campus are played out.  The book, for instance, opens with a detailed analysis of the fraternity that made the news after chanting a racist song on a bus.  Ross’ analysis is far more in depth, in part because of the book, but also it makes the reader realize how little the news actually really covers such things (for instance, the connection such groups have to the Confederate south).

                But the story also showcases the book’s weak side.  Too much of the book is focused on the racism in sororities and fraternities.  Now, there are good reasons for this, and Ross, to his credit, makes these reasons clear.  The primary is the connection that such organizations have to the running of the college as well as the status in the college – in some classes such groups basically control student governments (and boy, the history of some of these groups).  Therefore, Ross’ focus does make sense, yet it also can be limiting.  No doubt there will be some readers who will dismiss much of the racism described in the book as simply the fault of the Greek system.  While the book does cover micro aggressions and other incidents, the predominance of examples always come back the organizations.

                Another flaw is the focus on an only a select number of schools, and no community colleges are discussed, though state colleges are.  Considering that a number of minorities attend community colleges, I would be curious to see if the experiences are similar.

                Despite the emphasis on the Greek groups as well as the lack of community colleges, this book is still a must read for anyone connected to a college in anyway.  You don’t believe me?  Ask any minority student.  I double dog dare you.  There is also a frank discussion about the names of certain college buildings, a topic that is also recently in the news.

                Thank you, Mr. Ross.  As always, you have given me some food for thought.  (On a side note, I brought up some of the issues addressed in this book in one of my classes.  It was a pretty good discussion).