Emil Guillermo
There’s no doubt that society and its institutions should look like America. But getting there will be harder after the Election of 2024. This is what happens when our pro-diversity numbers peel away and make our ideological opponents more diverse than they ever were. This is what happens when Donald Trump heralds himself as America’s lead victim and grievance peddler and attracts one out of three voters of color. When Trump “trumps” diversity, we have to rethink our goals and our strategies. 2024 showed us the stories of the past won’t work.
San Francisco's Breed
In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed lost to Daniel Lurie, a tech-bro and billionaire heir to the Levi Strauss fortune in a close race among an array of Democrats from less progressive to more. Breed’s last-minute pitch was amplified by a New York Times story where Breed stressed her upbringing as a poor daughter of San Francisco ‘hood. Her single mother was an addict, her father was absent. Her motto essentially was, vote for me, I have lived through the struggles of San Francisco.
That might have worked 20 or 30 years ago. Stories are great, but what have you done for me lately? Keep in mind, those stories used to get people into jobs, admitted into schools, fast-tracked into positions. Personable stories ingratiated and yes, you were liked well enough to win X, or whatever that thing was you were going for--the thing that was formerly all-white until you showed up.
But now that story is seen as too “affirmative-action-y.” Meritocrats are listening. Their cold hearts evaluate data, and in the case of the San Francisco voters they said to London Breed, “Nice story. But did you fix our problems?” She hadn’t. She was shown the door.
In the past, we’d give anyone who came up from nothing to levels of achievement the benefit of the doubt. With a history where Blacks and minorities are underrepresented, why wouldn’t you go with a high achiever like Breed? But now the meritocrats have made things harder for Breed to rest on “the story.” And what happens when we all have a story, not just a conservative Black candidate but a white one like Trump who claims persecution by “lawfare”?
