Imagine that you are a white male industrial worker in, say, Wisconsin. Your ancestors immigrated here after the Civil War. No one in your family ever owned slaves. You personally, to your knowledge, have never mistreated an African-American, and you certainly don’t consider yourself a racist.
Your wages have remained stagnant for years in the face of globalization and technological change. You decided to vote for Trump in 2016, even though you had reservations about him, because you didn’t like Hillary Clinton’s baggage, and because you thought he might bring a different approach to things that could help you in the future. You have been disillusioned by his endless scandals and his regressive tax cut. You would consequently prefer to vote for a Democrat in 2020, if possible.
The problem is that the nominee is supporting reparations. You aren’t woke enough, she says. You don’t seem to understand that most of what little you own is attributable to “white privilege,” not your own hard work and your parents’ sacrifices. It’s time that you paid up and apologized for your ignorance and your sins against African-Americans. Then, and only then, will you be viewed as a fully acceptable member of the community.
It isn’t just reactionaries and bigots who are going to be pissed off if they hear this message in 2020. If the Democrats want to turn off a huge segment of the population that they need to win the election, there is no better way to do it than to support reparations.