Quote (Black XistenZ @ Aug 6 2020 07:44am)
The opportunity to come to a real understanding on race relations that cuts across racial lines and could lead to legislative action with bipartisan support. In the wake of Floyd's death, there was a short moment when a big majority of white Americans (I think it was 62% or so), big enough to include a sizable block of Republicans, supported BLM (or rather, the abstract idea behind the slogan) and unspecified calls for racial justice. Violence, looting and divise politics on both sides have squandered this moment.
That said, I personally think that the country was already on a good track in terms of race relations during most of the 2000s. I cant tell you exactly when things went off the rails, if it was Obama's election in '08, or the rise of the tea party in '10, or the Ferguson protests in '14, but at some point, something went horribly wrong. To be fair though: this impression of the 2000s is only my personal opinion, the biased perspective of a conservative-leaning foreign voyeur, so take it with a grain of salt.
It really depends on how much progress you want to make. Middle class+ folks don't want to bothered but they don't want to feel bad either. White identity politics is difficult to navigate IMO.