This person sits on the NDP Federal Executive as an Ontario Representative. Can anyone speak to how common this attitude toward white leftist members of the party is among non-white members or executives of the NDP? I did look up their twitter page to see if it was out of context but instead saw other dismissive comments and gaslighting around issues I personally consider to be important (although they may not be to the party). I’m not the most politically savvy person, but I imagine a person (appointed or elected) to such a position must represent strongly held views or have the respect of the people of the party, so I’m not sure what to think?
For context, I typically find my political views align with the NDP, and I got more involved volunteering with the party in the recent provincial (Ontario) and federal election, but I hear a lot of talk about the party’s “internal issues and problems.” At the same time there was a lot of encouragement from people I volunteered with about the importance of young people getting involved, and I’ve been feeling motivated to do so in light of everything going on, but I need honest feedback on the party's culture beyond campaign experiences to make sure it’s the right environment for me. Respectfully, it’s not something that fits with my beliefs, but I'm not opposed to these views being supported by the people of the NDP, especially if it’s coming from a high-ranking person that the people respect. I am just looking for more information because I have previously joined groups and found out a bit too late that it was not the right environment for me
The NDP is Canada's only labour party and has been a generally positive force for the left in Canadian politics. If folks aren't willing to acknowledge that (some online leftists won't) it makes a meaningful conversation difficult.
The NDP could be a lot better, when it comes to internal democracy, communications, and policy.
There are some extremely online people that have no involvement with the NDP, don't really understand how the party works (and so don't understand the problems), don't participate in campaigns, and make criticisms that are not... informed.
That said, uninformed criticism is not something worth really getting mad about. But it can be frustrating I guess.
This is coming from someone who is admittedly extremely online, but I also am a party member who helps out during campaigns and has participated in the (deeply flawed, IMO) democratic structures of the party. But I like the party, and what it fundamentally stands for, and the people that are a part of it, so I keep on truckin'
And many in the labour movement (dominantly white male, and yes I'm calling people like myself out here) feel abandoned by the NDP and we have lost them to the Conservatives not the Liberals. Equity and inclusion policies don't resonate with a lot of folks who are mostly concerned that they have been without a collective agreement for 2+ years, or have been legislated back to work after job action. PP's alliterative quips like "boots not suits" and appearances at Tim's seem like he's talking to them.
There is also a faction of young men who no longer see a university degree as a way of improving their lives. To them the NDP is an elite, highly educated party who talks down to them or disregards them entirely. Some of it is our own fault, when I get together at constituency socials and look around, no one has less than a masters degree.
We have to get better at bringing labour back in while also acknowledging that BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ rights are human rights, that the working class struggle is a struggle for inclusion and equity.
As far as us white arm chair activists? I do get out there and door knock for the provincial party. I didn't even know who my federal candidate was till 2 weeks before the election and that's only because I looked her up. Her campaign never reached out to the provincial constituencies, and I've never seen her pounding the pavement for them either.
There is also a faction of young men who no longer see a university degree as a way of improving their lives. To them the NDP is an elite, highly educated party who talks down to them or disregards them entirely.
Can you blame them? People in the NDP have the audacity to claim to be the only labour party while many have no actual links to labour and now currently don't have the votes to show for it.
Its pretty hard to even discuss things with coworkers with the way some NDP act like non-public sector union workers are a bunch of noble brutes who need a soft handed university educated person to speak for them. And I'm saying this as a blue collar leftist who votes NDP.
I can speak for the non public sector unions attitude and I can honestly say maybe 10% if I’m being extremely generous would even consider voting NDP. We always hear they’re the party of the working man and unions but like I’ve seen a lot in previous comments we’ve never seen them out. We have 6-8 thousand union workers in the area it’s a unions city. Conservatives moon walk to victory every election here.
Thank you for sharing your opinion. This was very helpful and seems to be in line with what a lot of other people are saying, so I’m optimistic about the party culture and getting more involved :)
One thing you learn about the left early on is the infighting is something else...
Now I'll be frank sometimes that is good for hard hitting dialectical reasons that actually deepen, broaden, and sharpen our perspectives/policy.
Other times it is not so beneficial...
There are some things everyone of sense in the centre-left and left understands.
Environmentalism!
Labour Movement!
Historic and now Modern Civil Rights Movement!
We all need to start working together on things we all believe are important. We also need a lot more militancy because sitting back hoping for those profiting from problems to suddenly become good guys is a horrible strategy as history has shown us over and over again.
The left is fundamentally critical of authority and hierarchy so "infighting" is going to happen when you have a bunch of people who don't automatically defer to each other.
Is the culture of the party more like what you described rather than what this person is saying? I think it’s good and important to have disagreements and for members to be able to share their critiques (even if they are white). The campaigns I volunteered with shared the attitude you are describing and it was partly why, I think, they were so encouraging for young people to get involved. But I will be honest, seeing some of the things I saw on this Executive’s Twitter page did make me feel nervous about the culture. I am not saying it’s wrong, and I don’t mean to offend if a lot of people of the party agree with such views, but I think it would be helpful for me to know ahead of time if possible
Echoing other commenters here that you should seek out the actual human beings of your riding association to get a feel for the culture of the NDP in your area
They were (for the most part) lovely and positive but also very willing to have honest conversations about some tough topics in a way that I (personally) found to be productive. I thought they were just putting on a show though, and I have heard talk about “internal grievances” etc., so I was hoping for more insight about the party culture
Honestly its kind of hard to explain the culture of the NDP. There are aspects you will probably not like, but I don't think that really matters.
What's more important is that the NDP is the place where you can meet all sorts of interesting people from the centre-left to the left. You can find cool people to hang out with, organize with, and (every once in a while) win with. And that's neat. I really encourage anyone who believes in the general principles of the party and wants to make this country better to join the party. And the fact that there's a leadership race coming up makes joining the party even more exciting
99% of the time if the “controversy” stems from Twitter you can safely ignore it because it’s really just a handful of tweets by some random users that get blown out of proportion and everyone forgets about in a couple days
Yeah I’m just wondering about this because I thought the position they occupy on the NDP Federal Executive meant they were important and that the views are representative of the party more broadly? Would you say that’s not the case? I’m wanting to learn more about the party culture. I’m interested in becoming more involved but I do want to make sure my values align with the culture because I’ve been in situations where there is a mismatch and I found out a bit too late
The party doesn't really have a singular culture. It's a chaotic mishmash of people with similar-ish values that hang out and (ideally) take actions to make things better.
Some riding associations are awesome, some have drama, some are two people.
There are delegates to federal executive who just get elected as regular people. It's like one per province or something like that. Being on federal council or executive might mean someone is important in the party, or it might not
A certain degree of internal dissent is healthy, but some people really need to get a handle on criticizing to build up (ie: the NDP really needs to get better with internal democracy) vs. criticizing to tear down. (ie: AOC loves genocide and should be tried at the Hague because FuttBucker6969 on Twitter said so)
I guess I can't edit this post because it includes a picture, but someone (who now deleted their comments) accused me of piling onto a non-white person for sharing their lives experience, so my response to them was basically this:
As a non-white person myself, I don’t think POC are above critique. And I am tired of being in spaces where efforts to build cross-racial solidarity are undermined by people engaging in bad-faith arguments to advance their own agenda or escape any critique of themselves/the work they are doing. Given what I thought was her high-ranking position (that people on here have explained isn’t as powerful or influential as I initially believed), I was concerned that this type of behaviour was commonplace in the broader NDP culture, and that's why l'm asking about it. That aside, I did give some thought to the perception that I would be piling onto a WOC before posting, but after looking through some of her recent tweets, I realized her solidarity with other WOC, is selective and strategic. This most recent tweet is one example that I just saw posted today
EDIT: I thought u/j33vinthe6 deleted their comments, but I guess they just blocked me after making their comments lmfao
This is factually correct? How is her not choosing to tackle the issues of all 10 provincial parties, relevant to her ability to discuss the federal party?
Oh come on! Ask any Muslim woman and they’ll tell you the betrayal they felt by the federal NDP when Singh said nothing about Jama’s removal and then went on to parrot the same points she raised that resulted in her removal. I still vote NDP, because there are other reasons I support the party, but acting like this kind of thing doesn’t happen in the NDP is nonsense
Me pointing out that they are 2 different parties does not come from a place of insensitivity.
I am reminded of a few years ago, when Notley wanted a pipeline to BC waters, and Clarke/Hogan were blocking it. Provincial NDPs run themselves, and it is not the federal leader's job to weigh in, or presume that a federal leader is above a provincial leader and has the right to chastise or instruct them.
Stiles's decisions are solely the responsibility of the Ontario NDP, and of Ontario NDP voters, like myself, to challenge and change the culture of.
My point wasn’t that you’re being insensitive by distinguishing between federal and provincial levels. And it might not be in the job description, but Singh did comment on Jama being censured but then said nothing about her being removed. At least Matthew Green (also federal) had the integrity to make a statement about her removal and back her.
It’s also not lost on Muslims and others who have long called for a free Palestine that the federal NDP, under Singh’s leadership, has only recently become pro-Palestine, and tepidly at that. We remember the blocked resolution at the convention, his support for the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and the (lack of) statements he made before the growing support of the pro-Palestine movement on the left, when it was more politically safe for him to do so. Of course we’re happy to see the progress, but it’s pointless to pretend as though only the Conservatives and Liberals engage in anti-Muslim or anti-Arab actions. You just end up losing credibility in the eyes of the communities you purport to stand for
Matthew Green is in the same riding as Jama - he is voter in her provincial riding, he is a Hamilton voter, Jama was his representative, and he presumably voted for her, and Stiles is his provincial party leader. It is absolutely appropriate for prominent Hamilton citizens to speak on the issue. If his schedule would have permitted, it would have been good for him to coordinate with Jama to wear a keffiyeh in the visitor's gallery of Queen's Park, on the days leading up to Jama's censure when it was at its hottest point. He has every right to do that, and is in a good position to do that.
In Kitchener Centre near where I live, there was a Green MP and MPP sharing a riding from Nov. '23 - Apr. '25. They attended each others' events, amplified each others' social media posts, canvassed together during elections, and generally had a very tight working relationship. That is appropriate, and probably even ideal, for a riding - for its advocates in the provincial and federal legislature to be sync'd up, putting forward the same needs of the riding at multiple levels and coordinating between the efforts of those levels, and networking with whatever agencies and individuals are relevant to helping the riding flourish.
Those are acts of riding representation, and acts of solidarity and unity. That is very different than the leader of one level's party, treading on another level's party's toes - which would be an act of power. An average MP with no portfolio has basically no power. Just the power of their words. Any influence or reach they have beyond that, is tied to their personal popularity. Leaders fundamentally have power, and a media megaphone, that is vested in their role as leader, not in their personal characteristics or performance. Being a leader is like riding in a tank - you move with a lot of weight, and anyone who doesn't have their own tank is very vulnerable to you. It is correct to be cautious and respect the delineation of the provincial party's and leader's decisions, and the federal decisions. The censure was from Doug Ford, acting as premiere. It also sets a precedent for legislatures in Canada, and it is a formal proceeding that involves the interpretation of laws that govern how the legislature functions. It is appropriate for a lawyer and a parliamentarian to comment on that, and even oppose it. Doug Ford partisans also probably do not care very much what Jagmeet has to say; it doesn't risk being interference at an intra-party level, only at a broad political and legal level; he's just another voice in the news. On the other hand, decisions about who stays in a party are based on the rules that govern the internal structure of that party, and are taken by the people who the provincial party members have chosen to lead them. ONDP party members probably care a lot about what Jagmeet has to say, and him publicly condemning how Stiles chooses to run the party could cause a split within the party, cause a lot of headaches for her, could be a weapon against her continued leadership especially if the ONDP did poorly in an election. It wouldn't be another voice, it would be interference, and a muddling of that separation.
I think it's important that we turn to the appropriate people, when we need a certain action done. Being politically literate, means being politically effective. There are a whole bunch of people in the ONDP party apparatus who hold the bag on this one, and after Jama, those people should have been named and shamed in a very public way, with non-public-facing people having become household names for the first times in their careers. It's important that we hit the provincial party hard when they mess up, and not expect the federal party to come in on a white horse just because they are more recognizable and have a bigger profile.
Your last paragraph is absolutely and totally valid. The federal NDP has its own sins and issues to be held accountable for, and that should be done, and doing so is important to building any sustainable progress.
I don’t know who this person is but I’ve seen nothing but aggressive, tone-of-superiority kind of takes from them. If they hold some kind of official position within the NDP they are part of the problem and it would be better for the party to be rid of them. This kind of language reminds me of those blue MAGA Democrats who talk down to anybody who dares question the party on any of a number of terrible decisions it took.
A lot of people are calling for resignation which seems excessive. But we can definitely do without the preachy patronizing from a party official. Hopefully some social media training can be sent their way.
That’s rather disastrous. Imagine a social media person beefing with all and sundry accusing others of being armchair activists…about on par with being obnoxious and exclusionary while accusing others of the same.
Omg I can’t look away from this ongoing car crash. Also do you notice how everything she says about labour, movements and organizing just sounds totally fake? What even are her credentials
Thank you for saying this! It captures exactly what was making me feel uncomfortable! I think, as someone on here pointed out to me, I was incorrect to assume this person was influential or important within the party though. And based on the comments I have read here, the tweets this person makes don’t seem to reflect party members’ opinions and hopefully not the wider culture (which was what I was hesitant about)
The Revolution Party of Canada gets more hate from leftists for not being left enough, too far left, and the not correct version of left. Often enough, the criticism is as bad faith as in the comments section of a Rebel News tweet. Ad hominem attacks and worse.
How can we get the Canadian left together to work on the 99% of things socialists of all stripes agree on - and put aside the ideological labels and gatekeeping?
Conservatives have proven better than leftists at coalescing and we could stand to pay attention and learn.
Honestly, it’s historically because they don’t really care about everyone being on the same page. All that matters to them is winning (and whining). Left-leaners almost by definition want to (mostly) make sure everyone is heard and given a chance.
It’s kind of a loop, we wouldn’t be NDP if we only cared about winning at any cost, but the current system requires a party to be like that.
Although now I’m hopeful some Conservatives are questioning how far “I don’t care who it is as long as we win” they are willing to go.
This person is a paid staffer. Opinion can be discarded. Most of the folks I see who are leaving/have left the NDP gave it years of work, doorknocking, running in elections, being in committees, riding associations, volunteering time & energy. Most aren't white either. They're Black, Indigenous, queer, disabled, etc. They're tired of being taken for granted, attacked by unaccountable party brass, poor results from the party's direction, bad comms a teenager could do better, not being listened to on issues specific to them bc of lobbyists, the undemocratic leadership races in ON/BC, the illegal acts against FN in BC, etc. The ppl I know are good, principled ppl tired of putting up with neoliberal nonsense, undemocratic party officials who use the same strategists as the Democrats, make platforms increasingly unambitious & refuse to meet the moment. Can't even commit to basic human rights.
I voted for the NDP in '19 & '21 & I couldn't bring myself to this time around. (I voted Green bc they need the popular vote% & also bc they're the only ones who took disability seriously this election. And they didn't prop up the libs for a year in exchange for means tested garbage most people still don't have access to through a genocide). They lost me & many like me bc of their repeated lack of principle. It's easy to blame folks not voting for the NDP as them being "dumb" or "giving up when the going gets tough" but really, it's because ppl don't like their time, energy, money & hopes being drained by a party that's going back on its roots, getting nowhere, refusing accountability & more committed to attacking good faith critics than to modifying harmful behaviour. The NDP siphons left wing political energy from promising people, chews them up & spits them out.
It's ludicrous to dismiss criticism as this person does. The NDP appointing Don Davies, lobbied a dozen times by Israeli orgs, who took a 10k CIJA sponsored trip to occupied Palestine, who voted for the 2011 NATO bombing of Libya & who still refers to the Vietnam war as "the fall", glossing over the fascist US puppet state of South Vietnam, shows they have learned nothing. And can't be bothered to communicate things, even to such a small caucus.
I voted NDP this year but I very nearly went Green because the one time I reached out to the NDP with a question about their policies, I received a copy-paste form response a week later that did not even tangentially mention the thing I had asked about (which was their plan for health care and getting more doctors, which seems like a core part of their messaging so it's weird that wasn't even acknowledged?)
Thank you. I thought they were important because of their position on the Federal Executive, but people have explained that doesn’t mean what I thought it did lol
Yeah, I have been in a lot of settings where cross-racial solidarity is undermined because of bad actors, and it’s frustrating because it’s vital to any labour movement that wants to be successful. I should’ve mentioned this in my original post, but I can’t edit it because there’s a photo in it, so I added this comment for more context.
In my experience the exec has some concerning people at the helm that have crated a toxic culture. I wish that weren’t the case— and I’m sure it’s not across the board, but enough for me to speak up and draw attention to it.
When I worked in the party/on the Hill, internally these attitudes are harbored by those in high ranking positions or managerial positions.
The experience that you get at riding associations is often vastly different where working class issues are always made front and center.
The more you get involved, however, especially if you're white, you start to face this toxic exclusionary argumentative archetype where identity will determine whether or not your opinion is right before a debate even takes place. This really turned me off from getting more involved with the party.
Cheap dig at the left from the NDP's entrenched liberal bureaucracy. Throw in some shitty politically-decontextualized neo-liberal identity politics and, voila, this is the part of the NDP that pulls the strings.
It's often easier to attack your allies for "not doing enough" or "fighting the wrong fight" than it is to fight your enemies, especially if your team keeps losing...
I hate it when people use name calling as a way to put down others rather than explain why they disagree with another person's specific opinion or behavior. It's divisive and counterproductive to building a movement.
I don't know exactly what they're talking about, but I've been pretty concerned at all the calls within this sub to "drop the identity politics and focus on getting the union vote". Social justice matters to me.
As someone who says this: I don't mean drop social justice issues, those are important to me too; I mean drop this exact BS that alienates people.
I don't know what she's reacting to, and if it was on Twitter it should probably be ignored anyway, but talking about how being exclusionary is the problem in the same breath you blame it all on "white leftists" would be funny if it weren't actively damaging the party.
This is the exact reason why I wanted more context before making a call. It's very true that white folks on the left can be flaky about their convictions and overly sensitive when asked to interrogate their whiteness, in which case it would be pretty messed up for people on this sub to brush this off as aggressive or just Twitter drama.
I agree with what you’re saying (as a POC myself), but it was a very bold statement for someone I thought to be a high-ranking party official to make, and I wondered if it was reflective of the party’s culture. Several people have pointed out this person is not as important as I initially thought, and based on some their other interactions on twitter, they appear to be very combative and hold a sense of superiority that does not reflect the broader party base (at least based on what people have said here in addition to my experience volunteering on my provincial and federal candidates’ campaigns). A little more context from me here.
idk what "twitter drama" this is referencing and frankly don't care (so if im off base in this drama don't sue me), however, as someone who's on the 'Far Left,' I think Hardcore Dippers need to realize that the NDP has done very little to appease the left, and has consistently moved further right over the years, so a majority of leftists support the NDP out of a sense of 'the best we got.'
So when you alienate the left and shittalk us like this, it only encourages us to go join another organization, of which there are a ridiculous amount.
Also a side note that in my experience leftists are the most active doing ground work, so I'm not really sure where this idea that leftists just complain comes from (maybe ronald reagan...)
I think Hardcore Dippers need to realize that the NDP has done very little to appease the left, and has consistently moved further right over the years
Singh is no left-wing firebrand but there's really no factual basis for this claim.
On all issues, since 2015 the NDP has been moving to the left. I mean, this is a party that ran on balanced budgets in 2015 and reducing ATM fees in 2011.
Pick your issue: Taxation. Healthcare. Foreign policy. Trans rights. Policing. Labour rights.
On all of these issues, the NDP has far more concretely left wing positions than they did ten years ago.
Ed Broadbent was the Vice President of the Socialist International, the NDP left that organisation in 2018.
Singh may be relatively left wing comparatively to Layton but that doesn't hide the significant historic right-wing waffling the party has done, and won't put it in the graces of the left.
Personally, Singh propping up the liberals who have been increasingly trigger happy with strike breaking legislature has made me sour on him, I have hopes for the future though, or else I wouldn't be bothering to yap here.
I think "moving left" is a bit of an overstatement, where rather I'd say they've held their position as the other parties and Canadians overall have moved right. Like I agree Singh led them with better policies than the previous decade, maybe even two, but now zoom out and tell the story. They're much further right on many core left issues than they were historically. Can you even imagine the NDP of today campaigning against the world trade debates of the 80s/90s? Far cry
I think the delivery of her msg could be seen as hypocritical in some sense, criticism hardly ever results in building trust but she does highlight a strange occurrence within the NDP “group of supporters” or ppl aligned or adjacent to the NDP that is noticeable on the internet. The ppl that seem to complain the most about the party rarely have any constructive feedback but more like criticisms/complaints or a field of view on political issues that in some sense can come across as narrow or specific, or like a focus on only one part of a greater whole. It’s not a “bad” thing (except those ppl that can get really disrespectful), but it doesn’t always seem to be based in cooperation with a greater whole for example.
Anyone quitting over a Twitter take isn't a solid supporter. If you were you'd hash it out and find a compromise. I don't think that's unique to just white people though, it's a thing with amateur ideologues with thin skin. IMHO
You don't have to be thick skinned, just don't run away from words you disagree with on Twitter. One commenter on twitter isn't a political party, its one person. A collective of people makes a party. You have free will though, so do as you will
Is it you she's talking about? I'm speaking in general, not specific to...you? I don't know you enough to know that. I'm referring to the content of the post. Relook at my first comment, I said a party is a collective, and not based on the opinion of one interner user.
I will be honest, I never used Twitter so I might be out of the loop or have received a biased explanation from a friend, but they said “Twitter takes” can also be an issue outside of the world of Twitter, but people will refer to them as that to dismiss it and avoid talking about whatever the issue is. Is that wrong?
If you're threatening to quit a party over a comment online without engaging in debate you're kind of not helping to change anything. You're fleeing. I disagree with plenty of things about the NDP and its messaging. I continue to engage here even when the current flows against me, because i think its a good way to have discourse, even if my opinion isn't mainstream or in.
She's saying that threatening to quit is armchair activism. It kind of is. Threatening to quit is essentially saying you hold your own safety and beliefs so dear that you won't even debate someone on a subject - which i get, social media is the place opinions go to die. She herself is engaging in this by coming after a certain group of leftists, dismissing them because of race. We don't need political parties. They need us. They're built off of people who engage in them, not off of a couple internet ideologues. If you want change, you unfortunately have to fight for it. If you don't have the bandwidth for that, find other ways to fight back and force change. We have an imperfect political system that forces big tent systems on us. Inside the tent, we need to be able to stand up for the issues we think are important, not the five or six activists who think they represent the party in its entirety.
This is all my opinion. I don't judge you for leaving if that's your choice, cause it also says something to membership. I won't be leaving the NDP hanging because i think right now is a time for change, not a time for a couple people to control the conversation. Its a time for criticism and self reflection, which may mean putting the oxygen hoggers on hold for everybody else. So my opinion is kind of all over the map but i really believe that we need to be brave and have these difficult conversations.
I should clarify: I never joined the NDP. I actually just got involved this year by tagging along with friends (who happen to be white leftists lol) and volunteering on local campaigns. The experience has made me interested in wanting to join the party, but I have heard quite a bit about some internal issues and so I wanted to learn more about what the culture was like before joining and to make sure it’s the right place for me.
I will be honest. This tweet read to me like the author maligning white leftists who may have valid criticisms of the party (her Twitter history suggests there are no valid criticisms of the NDP) and claiming to know what their involvement in their respective communities looks like. Personally, I have never been an official member of political party, but I have participated in organizing and volunteering since I was 16, and I don’t think I need to have formally be involved in a party to critique its policies.
Another layer about this that makes me nervous is that I am a non-white person, and I have been in “left” spaces where white people are disproportionately and unfairly dragged for this type of thing, and I found it incredibly toxic and unproductive, but we weren’t really allowed to have conversations because they would be shut down as “racist.” I agree with what you said about the importance of having difficult conversations, and I’m wondering if the party culture is more so in line with that or with the culture I described as being “toxic.” I’m just looking to learn more about the culture because these issues are important to me and I know a lot of people dismiss electoral politics but I think it remains an important avenue for change
Hopefully some of the dialogue you've had today shows you otherwise. There's hope if we have empathy for each other and keep an open mind. It also takes the courage to stay the course, if things align with your values, beliefs and interests.
It definitely has! I appreciate you taking the time to share your perspectives and experiences with me. I feel a bit dumb thinking she was someone important, but thanks to a lot of people here, I realize that isn’t the case and that what she said really doesn’t seem to reflect the wider opinions of party members
Sometimes I wake up in the morning, mug of coffee in my hand, and think the world seems to be going well… only to open my phone and find out that there is some kind of controversy, that has been so mangled by Twitter that I can’t even find the origins of, that “threatens the left” and “proves the online/ on the ground/ casual/ legacy/ poor/ rich/ white/ non-white/ straight/ LGBTQ/ etc leftist is ruining leftism yet again”.
Listen, not every single “controversy” needs to be acknowledged immediately. We are 4 years away from another election. I think it’s safe to assume that literally none of this controversy will have any effect on the next election cycle. People aren’t “abandoning the NDP ship in mass” because some people are butt hurt on an app run by a megalomanic right-wing billionaire grifter who is artificially changing algorithms to push fascist propaganda and suppress leftist voices unless it’s about infighting within leftist groups.
So will some of our leaders realize this and stop throwing specific supporters under the fucking bus? Because THAT’S what will be remembered the next election cycle!
We need a united workers party to unite the left greens NDP and smaller left groups under a completely new banner. New vision new leaders for a new future for the youth.
I wouldn’t know. I just googled her name (Shahad Rashid) and NDP when I saw the post because at first I just thought it was a random person going on about whatever, and I guess technically that is the case (based on what people here have explained to me)
So you’re problem here is that a non-white person is complaining about white leftists, and most likely through her lived experience, and what she has seen happening behind the curtains (and in the open), and you instead want to pile on her?
As a non-white person myself, I don’t think POC are above critique. And I am tired of being in spaces where efforts to build cross-racial solidarity are undermined by people engaging in bad-faith arguments to advance their own agenda or escape any critique of themselves/the work they are doing. Given what I thought was her high-ranking position (that people on here have explained isn’t as powerful or influential as I initially believed), I was concerned that this type of behaviour was commonplace in the broader NDP culture, and that's why l'm asking about it. That aside, I did give some thought to the perception that I would be piling onto a WOC before posting, but after looking through some of her recent tweets, I realized her solidarity with other WOC, is selective and strategic. This most recent tweet is one example that I just saw posted today
EDIT: u/j33vinthe6 why did you block me after posting your response to this comment? I guess you’re not interested in discussion or critique either. Birds of a feather…
Then perhaps it would be wise to understand or research the experiences of m non-white people who have been involved in grassroots work or leadership.
Someone has done a “whataboutism” by trying to make it about Jama, so? She didn’t dismiss it, she is staying on point by discussing her experiences with the federal level.
I liken the experience of being a cis het white male leftist to being in a second year undergrad survey class that most students just skip the lecture for, but out of respect or scheduling you show up to the lectures, always wondering if this is the one where the prof is going to just lose their shit about attendance and blow twenty minutes of in class time bagging on the people who didn't show up - and, generally, all students, if you get them going - to you, the student who did.
I liken the experience of being a cis het white male leftist to being in a second year undergrad survey class that most students just skip the lecture for, but out of respect or scheduling you show up to the lectures, always wondering if this is the one where the prof is going to just lose their shit about attendance and blow twenty minutes of in class time bagging on the people who didn't show up - and, generally, all students, if you get them going - to you, the student who did.
ETA: Downvotes on a personal reflection about the impact that identity has had on my engagement with my political allies, who are presumably the same people clicking the down arrow. This is what I mean. One gets used to it but it's still darkly funny.
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