The Two Coopers
But as fate would have it, they both ended up at a section of Central Park early on Memorial Day morning. One of them is a Harvard-educated science writer and editor, who has done work for Marvel Comics. The other is a vice-president for Franklin Templeton, one of the world's largest investment banking firms. Based on their current professions and their residence in New York City, it can be implied that both of them are moderately successful. Both of them were out for an early morning stroll, so it can be implied that both of them are moderately healthy. But despite these similarities, only one of the two Coopers was in a position where they very well could have had their life cut tragically short due to a potential interaction with local law enforcement. As a black man in 21st century America, Christian Cooper will have these types of experiences that a white woman like Amy Cooper simply will never have.
And that is a stark reality that the far-left political movement in this country refuses to acknowledge.
For the past five years, there has been much discussion about the future of the Democratic Party. The media loves to play out the "center-versus-left" narrative as a way to create the allusion of tension amongst the only sane political party this country has left. Despite 90% of the party coming together behind Hillary Clinton in 2016 and a similar percentage coalescing around Joe Biden today, there remain basic strategic differences about how to advance a democratic agenda in this country. Whereas the far-left is intent on adopting the Justice Democrat strategy of trying to infiltrate the Democratic Party with its ideas by primarying sitting members of Congress, the less extreme Democrats are perfectly content to run a wide range of candidates that match their districts. It's why the 2018 blue wave was led by more moderate Democratic candidates that helped swing 40 seats while the Justice Democrats did not swing a single district and only had candidates win in overwhelmingly democratic districts.
The reason this happened is that the far-left's ideology is rooted in classism as the end-all to equal opportunity. It's an economic model that centers on the well-being of the white working class and the assumption is that as long as workers are paid a fair wage then economic and social stability will follow closely behind. This overly simplistic view of progress is appealing to new voters because it requires them to have no knowledge of our country's history. It's why Bernie Sanders' platform was so popular among a generation ridden with debt. It's easy for an educated white college graduate to envision success by having a good-paying job, paying less for health insurance, and not having to pay off any student loan debts at all. For this person to be receiving more money while paying less would mean a new world of opportunities. For this person living in the moment, that would be a much better life than he or she currently has.
But this only works if the person in question is white.
Because as we saw with Christian Cooper, economic wellbeing does not shield you from institutional racism. That is what the far-left movement in this country fails to account for: the intersectionality of issues that create an environment where a person's life is in danger, even with a healthy 401K. What the far-left in this country refuses to recognize is that economic stability means nothing where there are still systemic issues of racism holding people back in all aspects of their life. The successful black lawyer will still be passed over for a cab in New York City. The successful Muslim doctor will still have patients express concern about him operating on them. The successful Asian professor will still face discrimination when he looks to purchase a home in a mostly white neighborhood. And the successful gay actress will still receive hate mail and death threats simply for being confident in who she is as a person.
But those are just the ones who have bucked the odds. There remain massive barriers for non-white people in this country to achieve that type of success. Four-hundred years of systemic racism have created a gauntlet of hurdles for people of color to clear from anything from redlining to school choice to access to higher education to a lack of generational wealth. It is not as simple as having more money, as the far-left would have you believe. Even acquiring a living wage is often a struggle for people of color due to all those factors as well as having to deal with the implicit and explicit biases that exist today. If you think that Shanita gets the same type of resume review as Shawna, then you haven't been paying attention. If you think that the perception of Keisha as being an angry black lady isn't hurting her chances for professional advancement, then you haven't been paying attention. And if you think that someone like Christian Cooper didn't have to jump through hoops that his white counterparts at Marvel did not, then you haven't been paying attention.
And as bad as all this is, it still doesn't account for the fact that Christian Cooper still, still has to record his interaction with a crazy white lady in a public park for fear of losing his life. That alone shows that a person of color's net worth cannot save them from a potentially deadly situation. We, unfortunately, have way too many examples in this country of a successful black person being murdered by law enforcement that shows this to be true. Philando Castile was a nutrition services supervisor at the time of his murder. Walter Scott was a forklift operator who was studying massage therapy when he was shot and killed. Sandra Bland was driving across the country to start her new job at Prairie View A&M University when she was pulled over by police and was found dead in her cell 3 days later. For Philandro, Walter, and Sandra it did not matter what they did or how much money they made. All that mattered was the color of their skin.
That right there is why the far-left in this country refuses to acknowledge systemic racism. Because to do so would require a deeper conversation about this country and its history. It's easy to convince new voters that all their ills would be cured with more money; it's a lot harder to convince them that this argument only works for white people. That is why the far-left fails to connect with people of color. Because to ignore systemic racism is to ignore who they are as people, as human beings. It is to ignore their lived experience. It is to offer them a solution that ignores their reality. Monday morning, it would not have mattered if Christian Cooper had universal healthcare or student loan forgiveness. All that mattered was he was a black man forced to film his interaction with a white woman for fear of his life. That was his reality and it is the reality of millions of black men and women throughout this country.
And it is a reality that the far-left refuses to face.