“Allyship” and “advocacy” have become huge buzzwords in 2019 among white Democrats, especially with the growing crisis at the US-Mexico border. 

However I am becoming increasingly concerned with the abuse of privilege and platforms I am seeing among white Democrats in their interactions with immigrant groups.

 Recently, a new candidate for Congressional District 4 announced her campaign at a rally intended to be about the crisis undocumented immigrants are facing at our border. I was incredibly taken aback and confused as to why this candidate thought this was a good idea. 

This action goes hand-in-hand with the ill-perceived “we are all immigrants” rhetoric, which dismisses the plight immigrants face — that natural born citizens will never experience. 

Frankly, it looked to me like the only reason she attended the rally was to further her own political career — and thus her motives were completely unethical. 

Heading into 2020, we need to be hyper-critical of the motives white Democrats have in their interactions with immigrant groups in order to make sure these “progressives” aren’t tokenizing and using marginalized groups for their own gain.

Anca Matica

Eugene

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