The diversity issue has reared its head again within the Progressive blogosphere in the wake of the Yearly Kos convention, and the revelation that attendees were predominantly white and male. Not surprisingly, many of the A-List bloggers are aghast that anyone would dare accuse them of a failure to include their “less fortunate” blogging brethren. No one likes being told they may have a few prejudices still rattling around in their attic, least of all “bleeding heart” liberals who pride themselves on their tolerance, acceptance and “good will toward all.”
Indeed, its our own identification with the “downtrodden” among us that often prevents white progressives from recognizing that we also often employ stereotypes to exclude and marginalize minorities, even as we applaud our own “compassion.” Because we’re so quick to rail against the racism and bigotry of the right, we often fail to notice that we can be just as ignorant regarding people of color. Our faith in our supposedly superior qualities of empathy and understanding makes us unable to see that we can be just as hypocritical as our conservative cousins.
Well, for my money one of the best commentaries on this entire controversy comes from Latino Politico, the blog of Man Eegee, a long time Booman Tribune contributer. So without further ado, here’s Manny!
Lots of conversation is raging about the blog world and its diversity. Specifically, the lack of it. And here is where I would like to share some thoughts that are wafting around like clouds of smoke out of a pipe. I will let Jenifer Fernandez Ancona begin, by quoting the ending of her excellent commentary over at Open Left.
One of the key ways to build bridges is for people to get to know each other better, and to find where there is common ground across issues. A sense of community is built through ideological ties, but also personal ties. This is also why more diverse voices at the planning table of Netroots Nation is important, and why deliberately bringing together bloggers and Internet activists from all kinds of different backgrounds could be a central goal of the gathering.
But that kind of multi-racial coalition can only work if everyone — especially those with the biggest platforms who are considered leaders — is truly on board.
Now, if you go read the comments, you’ll see some defensive blow back by one the more prominent bloggers in the Progressive Blogosphere™. It’s not surprising since there’s been quite a bit of it displayed in all its glory this week. On the other side of the indignation coming from the most heavily-trafficked blogs are the beginnings of entreaties and conversation.
Only we’re already starting to see that we don’t speak the same language – even if we hold a lot of the same political values. So, how to move forward?
Well, speaking as a Latino and for me as a person, I agree with Jenifer that the first step is to have the blogs who have been coronated by the status quo as the official spokespeople to realize that there is a problem. The other piece that should be occurring simultaneously is a commitment to listening to what has always been going on outside of the Kos/MyDD/FireDogLake/Atrios/Digby realm of existence.
There are blogs out here that specifically write for audiences using our voices as people of color. As I wrote over the summer, however, none of us can (nor will) claim to be speaking for everyone within our demographic. But we are out here doing our thing. We might not have the street cred to warrant an invitation to debate on Meet the Press or anything, and maybe the question we should all ask, is why?
The ugly truth is that liberal white people have as many blind spots when it comes to minorities and minority concerns as conservative whites do. Which isn’t surprising, given the fact that no society that I know of on earth is completely free of in-group/out-group bias. Certainly American society is not. And getting defensive about charges that “liberal white bloggers” perhaps don’t always “get it” when it comes to the concerns of bloggers of color is not the correct response. The beginning of understanding is to listen to what minority bloggers are saying, and why they claim that “diversity” in the progressive blogosphere is an issue. You can’t understand where someone is coming from unless you open your ears to what that person has to tell you. Is that really all that revolutionary a concept?
