"Values" and "Social Justice": The Language of James Talarico

 "Values" vs. "Social Justice"

In American politics, a focus on “values” has for many years been code for social conservatism. Politicians who have spoken of “values” have tended to oppose things like abortion or gay rights, and they have supported the existing, hierarchical social arrangements. Such politicians have often rooted their views in one or another biblical religious tradition. The focus on traditional social arrangements has in our society gone along with support for “free enterprise” and low taxes.

In contrast, a focus on “social justice” has been code for social and political progressivism and a recognition of the reality of class conflict. Politicians who talk about “social justice” point to the injustices in our society and propose that we should eliminate or reduce them. In recent decades, that has meant support for changes in racial relationships and in gender roles. It also has an economic focus. Politicians who talk about “social justice” have favored government action to ameliorate the lives of Americans through things like a national healthcare system or public support for childcare.

Talarico Brings Together "Values" and "Social Justice"

James Talarico's way of speaking brings the politics of “values” and the politics of “social justice” together. On the one hand, he speaks in religious language and frames his views in biblical teachings. On the other hand, he is a politician of the left. He favors “social justice,” and he emphasizes the importance of class conflict. On his campaign web site, he says,

The biggest divide in this country is not left vs. right. It’s top vs. bottom. Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other instead of looking up at them. 

The people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and power. So, their cable news networks and their social media algorithms tear us apart.

They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion so we don’t notice they’re defunding our schools, gutting our healthcare, and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends. It’s the oldest strategy in the world: divide and conquer. 

Talarico’s positions on specific, political issues are often indistinguishable from those of a more typical leftist politician like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Bernie Sanders, but unlike them, he does not claim to be a democratic socialist, and he does not use the language of democratic socialism. Instead, he draws on the American religious tradition by emphasizing its strong support for social justice. He says,

My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas. He taught me that we follow a barefoot rabbi who gave us two commandments: love God and love neighbor. Because there is no love of God without love of neighbor. Every single person bears the image of the sacred; every single person is holy — not just the neighbors who look like me or pray like me or vote like me.
[The] billionaires want to keep us from seeing all that we have in common. They want to keep us from realizing there’s far more that unites us than divides us. Because once we do, we’ll come together — across party, across race, across gender, across religion — to fix what’s broken in our country and take back power for ourselves and our communities.
2,000 years ago, when the powerful few rigged the system, that barefoot rabbi walked into the seat of power and flipped over the tables of injustice. To those who love our country, to those who love our neighbors: 

It’s time to start flipping tables.

Talarico also says,

Politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton claim to stand for freedom, family and faith,

• But you can't stand for freedom and control what we say, what we read, and what we do with our bodies. 
•  You can't stand for family and vote against paid family leave, affordable child care, or the right of every American to marry who they love
•  And you can't stand for faith and then warp and weaponize religion to hurt our neighbors

Talarico's Language Has Deep Roots in American Culture

This way of speaking is deeply rooted in American culture. It reaches back to f Frederick Douglass’s Fourth of July speech against slavery:

Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery – the great sin and shame of America!

We can hear, too, the cadence of William Jennings Bryan’s famous "cross of gold" speech:

You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

Democrats Should Take Note

This way of speaking frames social justice in a way that resonates with Americans all across our country’s heartland, and the Democratic Party should welcome candidates for political office who talk this way. Most Americans support the policies that people like AOC advocate, but many do not respond to the language of “democratic socialism.” That language may play well to young, educated people in our cities, but to many Americans, it sounds foreign and vaguely menacing. 

Talarico offers a way of framing social justice with deep, American roots, and if Democrats want to win elections in the heartland, we would do well to accustom ourselves to hearing people talk as he does. His campaign for the Senate in Texas will test the value and strength of his style in American politics. We should pay attention.

We Have to Work Together

Antisemitism is One Expression of the Fear of Otherness

I have written a lot lately about rising antisemitism in the United States, but in this article, I want to point out that it would be a mistake to view rising antisemitism in isolation from rising prejudice and violence against all groups that are not white and Christian. We have Islamophobia, anti-immigrant policies, oppression of Native Americans and repeal of civil rights protections for black people. All of our minorities are in danger, and we Jews should see our concerns in that context. 

We Jews tend to think of our sufferings as unique. We see contemporary antisemitism as the expression of an age-old prejudice. We think of the slaughter by the crusaders of the Jews in the Rhineland; we think of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain; and of course, we think of the Holocaust. We say to ourselves, "No other people has suffered as we have." 

This attitude prevents us from seeing that right now, here in the United States, other people are suffering too, and the failure to see their suffering prevents us from building alliances with people who share our interest in building and maintaining a diverse society "with liberty and justice for all."

Instead of thinking of antisemitism as unique, we should see it in the context of widespread fear of people who are “other,” we should understand that antisemitism is one expression of that fear.

Why is the Fear of Otherness So Widespread?

Why is that fear so widespread today? Why is there so much political action and so much political propaganda against minorities? Part of the answer is that much has changed in our country in recent decades. We have far more people of color in our society than we used to have, and what is more important, white people encounter members of minority groups far more often that they used to. 

In the past, white people rarely encountered people of color except as service workers, but today, white people encounter people of color daily on the streets, as employees of supermarkets or local banks, and as neighbors. All of this contact creates a strong sense that our society is changing, and for some of people, the changes are frightening. That fear provides the basis for the widespread fear of "otherness."

Antisemitism springs from the fear of otherness, and in addition, it comes with a long tradition of literary justification from the false medieval blood libel to the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the racist teachings of the Nazis. It is not surprising that in a time of widespread fear of people who are “other,” we should see antisemitism rear its head. If we look at antisemitism in this light, we can see that our interests align with those of all groups that are seen as "other."

Trump's Republicans Have Built a Political Movement Based on Fear

The fact that fear of otherness is widespread is not a complete explanation for the rise of racist politics because fear is not by itself a political movement. Political action and political propaganda can come only from an organized political movement, and a vague fear is not an organized movement. Turning a vague fear into a political movement requires lots of money along with political leaders who want to capitalize on the fear by using it against their enemies. Bringing together the money and the leadership is the role of Trump’s Republican Party. It has created a regime based on fear of minorities including Jews. 

Don't be Confused

Don't be confused by Trump's theatrical statements against antisemitism in universities. Those statements come from his desire to crack down on the universities and from a desire to get more Jews to vote for his supporters. He has no real concern for Jewish students. We know that because we can see that he never speaks out against the antisemitism of his supporters.

Jews Share With Other Minority Groups an Interest in Defeating Trump's Republicans

We Jews along with other minority groups have a common interest in overthrowing Trump’s hold on the federal government. We can accomplish that by working to elect Democrats in this year’s elections. We can be successful if we work on building a coalition with other groups. Jews, Muslims, Latinos, Blacks and Native Americans should all work together to defeat a common enemy. 

We Have to Work Together

In order to work together, we are going to have to table the issue of Israel's policies for now. All sides of that controversy are going to have to tone down their rhetoric. American Jews are going to have to focus on the issues here at home, and non-Jewish progressives are going to have to do the same. Non-Jewish progressives will have to stop saying that the State of Israel is a colonialist entity that should not exist, and Jews will have to stop saying that anyone who criticizes Israel's actions in Gaza is antisemitic. We cannot protect the security of minorities including Jews in American society if we insist on insulting each other. We cannot win if we allow our differences concerning Israel to blind us to our common interest here at home. We have to work together.

Are We Missing the Point of Memorial Day?

 Something Has Begun to Bother Me

Last week, I marched in the Memorial Day Parade in the community where I live in Wisconsin.  I have marched in the parade for many years, and I enjoy it. It has a small-town feel about it, and after a long winter, it is great to spend time outdoors with friends on a warm spring day. However, something about the parade has begun to bother me. I think we are missing the point of the holiday.

What is Memorial Day About?

Memorial Day is about remembering the people who gave their lives to preserve our freedom. As such, it should be a solemn holiday, and it should inspire us to think about those people and to remember the occasions when we have called on our children (most soldiers are very young) to risk their lives. Memorial Day should be a day for solemn reflection. It should not be a day for mindless, flag-waving patriotism, but that is what it has become. Participants in the parade wave flags, and high school bands play patriotic march tunes. There are floats glorifying our country, but all that feels wrong. There should be floats with the names of the local people who lost their lives in our many wars. We should recite their names.

We should also think about the wars in which they died. Were all of them really justified? Have we always been honest with our children when we sent them off to war? Have we ever asked them to risk their lives for unnecessarily? Has our freedom really always been at stake?

We Have Not Always Been Honest

As I marched in the parade, I could not help remembering the occasions in my lifetime when we dishonestly asked our children to make great sacrifices. We sent them off to fight in wars that did not really defend our freedom. Our children fought for many years in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Each of those wars was lost without diminishing our freedom here in the United States. In effect, we lied to our children and to ourselves when we asked them to show “the last full measure of devotion.” We should think about that; we should recognize our guilt; and we should resolve to do better in the future.

We Should Be Honest in the Future

On Memorial Day, we should not wave flags. We should remember the people who died, and we should accept our responsibility for their deaths. We should resolve never again to send our children to war on false pretenses. We should be honest with our children and with ourselves.