Thread: Despite the narrative in national media, Chicago demonstrates how a major obstacle to progress in the US isn't Blacks, Latinos, or millennial Leftists, but rather wealthy white liberals who vote in favor of policies that reinforce inequality and systemic racism.

The four major political blocs in Chicago are: 1) wealthy whites (purple), 2) low income Blacks (light blue), 3) low income Latinos (light green/light orange), and 4) millennial gentrifiers (on the periphery of purple areas in Logan and Humboldt).

In Chicago, wealthy whites consist of two populations: lakefront liberals and cop enclaves.

Lakefront liberals live on the Northside, in more educated, wealthy, gentrifying areas and you can see they are Lightfoot's primary base of support in the 2019 election.

Cop enclaves are white and wealthy, but less educated, more right-wing, live on the city limits in suburban single detached/owner occupied neighborhoods. They voted against Lightfoot, but benefit from the system she protects, receiving over a billion in CPD income this year.

In 2020, although Chicago voted overwhelmingly for Biden, cop enclaves and lakefront liberals banded together to vote down the Fair Tax amendment that would've raised taxes on the top 2% and against State Attorney Kim Foxx who is a strong opponent of police misconduct.

While Black communities voted for progress, many wealthy whites continue to support predatory institutions following a pattern spanning decades. We can draw a straight line between the regressive tax code + CPD practices and disinvestment + mass incarceration on the S & W side.

This system of race-class stratification is not unique to Chicago. Complicit white liberals across the country protect their position using political power, capital, and cops to enforce policies that abuse, exclude, and expropriate wealth from POC and low income communities.

It's no coincidence that SF, DC, CHI, ATL elect black women mayors who are deferential to the status quo. It's the perfect way launder guilt and feel woke without having to question systemic inequalities or change anything (even if most white libs are oblivious of their role).

The ascent of Kamala Harris, who may likely be the next president, reflects a nationalized version of this same cynical strategy. Establishment control over the DNC will likely force progress underground for a decade, but ironically it also presents an opportunity.

It forces us to shift the focus locally. Community groups, activists, union organizers, and nascent Left organizations must put aside their differences and form a new coalition within and across every city in America and take down these local political machines one-by-one.

Out of that coordinated local infrastructure we'll have a deeper farm system and launch pad to win more congressional races and further grow power in DC. Power will concede nothing without a credible threat. And to deliver that we must build a base locally from the bottom-up.