Race-Class: Our Progressive Narrative Project Objectives Speak to - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Race-Class: Our Progressive Narrative

Project Objectives

• Speak to and mobilize our base, especially people of color
• Persuade the largest possible group of whites on our

economic and racial justice policy solutions

• Craft a narrative that addresses race as well as class
• Beat Opposition Narrative and Colorblind Economic

Populism

• Apply nationally and in four states, exploring how to

engage base and persuade middle on specific policies

Core Elements of the Rightwing Narrative

Racial Fears Economic Resentment

Economic Resentment

Disgust with Government

From either/or & both/and to intertwined

Racial Justice Economic Populism Racial Justice Economic Populism

Race-Class Inseparable

Race-Class Narratives Core Elements

Cross-Racial Solidarity Government for All Shared Prosperity and Racial Justice

Engage our base

• 23% of respondents
• Think not enough attention is paid to race
• Strong concerns about bias toward Black

people, Latinos, and Muslims

• Believe Black people and Latinos face greater

economic challenges than whites

• Favor government creating opportunity
• Strongly support our policy agenda
• More likely to be women, African American,

Latino, and progressive

Persuade the middle

• 59% of respondents
• Nearly half (48%) favor government action but many

(35%) oppose it

• Split on whether too much (39%) or too little (34%)

attention paid to race

• Concerned both about racism against people of color

and “reverse racism”

• Nearly half (46%) see wealth as product of

circumstance but many (37%) believe in bootstraps

• More likely to be men and under 35

19 21 65 72 Focusing on and talking about race doesn’t fix anything and may even make things worse Focusing on and talking about race is necessary to move forward toward greater equality

Split Sampled

Persuadables

Persuadables unclear whether talking about race is helpful or fruitless, even harmful

Total Agree: 6-10 Strongly Agree: 10

Activate our worldview - use opposition as indicator

• Committed opposition from 18% of respondents

– Think wealthy people achieved success on their own – Oppose our economic and racial justice policy agenda – Hold people of color responsible for their own economic situation – Want government to get out of the way – Believe too much attention is paid to race/racism – More likely over 65, white, and conservative

• Averse reactions from opposition indicate we’re

engaging real issues, activating our worldview

– These moments correspond to greater base enthusiasm

Messaging Dial Testing

• People listened to a

recording of a message.

• While they listened

the moved their cursor to indicate positive or negative reactions.

Opposition

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

Base (54) Opposition (71) Persuadable (66) Advocates (24) Union (65)

Opposition

How convincing did you find this message?

100 – very convincing Total 51-100

32 15 11 14 17 76 62 40 63 2 59 Opposition Persuadable Base Union Advocates All Adults

Colorblind Economic Populism

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Base (68) Opposition (48) Persuadable (64) Advocates (71) Union (65)

Colorblind Economic Populism

How convincing did you find this message?

100 – very convincing Total 51-100

9 18 31 17 16 19 32 65 82 67 85 63 Opposition Persuadable Base Union Advocates All Adults 32 15 11 14 17 76 62 40 63 2 59 Opposition Persuadable Base Union Advocates All Adults

Opposition

Working People

Split Sampled

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

Base (73) Opposition (49) Persuadable (67) Advocates (75) Union (75)

Opposition

Working People

How convincing did you find this message? 10 19 45 18 20 23 36 69 88 74 92 67 Opposition Persuadable Base Union Advocates All Adults

100 – very convincing Total 51-100

32 15 11 14 17 76 62 40 63 2 59 Opposition Persuadable Base Union Advocates All Adults

America’s Strength

Split Sampled

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

Base (74) Opposition (58) Persuadable (70) Advocates (69) Union (69)

Opposition

America’s Strength

How convincing did you find this message? 11 19 36 20 12 21 47 71 84 76 88 69 Opposition Persuadable Base Union Advocates All Adults

100 – very convincing Total 51-100

32 15 11 14 17 76 62 40 63 2 59 Opposition Persuadable Base Union Advocates All Adults

91 66 89 62 8 25 9 29

Base Persuadable Base Persuadable To make life better for working people we need to invest in education, create better paying jobs, and make healthcare more affordable for people struggling to make ends meet To make life better for working people we need to cut taxes, reduce regulations, and get government out of the way of business To make life better for working people we need to invest in education, create better paying jobs, and make healthcare more affordable for white, Black, and brown people struggling to make ends meet

+83 +41 +80 +33

Adding race improves progressive economic populism…

86 48 79 42 11 41 16 45

Base Persuadable Base Persuadable We need elected leaders who will reject the divide and conquer tactics of their

• pponents and put the interests of

working people first We need elected leaders who will keep us safe from terrorists, secure our borders and prevent illegal immigrants from taking advantage of our country We need elected leaders who will reject the divide and conquer tactics of their

• pponents and put the interests of

working people first, whether we’re white, Black or brown

+75 +7 +63

• 3

Calling out divisive tactics with explicit reference to race beats opposition race baiting on immigration…

Increased desire to take action with “people across racial differences,” especially among persuadables.

How excited are you to join together with people across racial differences to take action and bring about change? (0-10 Scale, 0 means not at all excited, 10 means very excited)

79 55 22 12 21 15 2 5 13 1 3 19

Base Persuadable Opposition

Excited initially and after messaging (6-10) Toward excited (More excited after messaging) Toward not excited (Less excited after messaging) Not excited initially and after messaging (0-4)

Split Sampled

Do you favor or oppose each of the following policies:

All Adults

Toward Favor Toward Oppose

Make it easier for people to join together in union to negotiate a fair return on their work

25 5

Overhaul our criminal justice system to eliminate racial and

• ther biases

23 6

Create a fair immigration process that keeps families together and includes a roadmap to citizenship for current immigrants

20 7

End discrimination against people of color in jobs, housing, and education

18 4

Expand Medicare to ensure healthcare for all Americans

17 4

After hearing messages, respondents move toward greater support for our policies