Dana Black: Democrats must refocus on being out in the community

We are deep in the middle of the Indiana Democratic Party’s reorganization process. The time of the election cycle where we can push the reset button on our party’s direction.

In an attempt to be a part of that reset, I ran to be the next Marion County party chair. Although the county’s precinct committee and vice committee members didn’t select me, that doesn’t mean the ideas I presented aren’t worthy of exploration. As my running mate and newly elected party vice chair, Wes Brown, explained, “We share good ideas so that other people use them.”

We keep hearing established national Democrats like James Carville and former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown scold Democrats about leaning into identity politics and turning away from the working class and the middle class. With my inability to ignore the identity of those two dedicated Democrats—all I hear is that we need to ignore marginalized communities and lean into the white working class, the same white working class of which the majority has voted for Republicans since 1964. Meaning, the vast majority of elections won by Democratic candidates have been because the majority of those combined marginalized communities voted for Democrats.

This might not be what they mean, but that is how it is received. I vehemently reject this notion because it suggests those of us in the margins are not working class or middle class. As much as they might not want to accept it, American politics, at every stage of our history, has always been about identity. Often, they will suggest it is about the pocketbooks of everyday people. But the denial of opportunities for marginalized groups is a pocketbook issue.

I, too, am a dedicated Democrat who exists in the margins, and I have also traveled this state talking with Democrats about what they want our party to be. Most believe the answer is somewhere in the middle of policies focused on economics and policies focused on inclusion.

They want our party to be about all communities, from the wealthiest family in Geist to those who might be unhoused. Democrats have the bandwidth to engage and address issues that are diverse and speak to the needs of all people.

One way is for us to be in the community. The party must refocus on working with grassroots organizations doing the community work that helps our neighbors. We don’t need to invent anything new; rather, we need to offer support and show up as Democrats where service is needed. Before we ask for a dollar or a vote, we need to be asking how we can help you.

With this kind of effort, we are not simply providing lip service to the values we outline in our party platform; we are living them. When we show up for our neighbors early and often, come election time, they will show up for us.

I know there is a desire to perform a postmortem on our party after November’s loss. But the Democratic Party, as we know, is not dead, unlike the Republican Party that has turned into a Putin-supporting, red-hat-wearing cult.

We are still the party of the people. We will fight for women to have access to reproductive health care because it is an economic issue. We will fight for diversity, equity and inclusion because it is an economic issue. We will continue to fight for every human in the margins of our society because it is an economic issue. We see all our compatriots deserving of the American dream.•

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Black is former deputy chairwoman for engagement for the Indiana Democratic Party and a former candidate for the Indiana House. Send comments to [email protected].

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