The Trouble with Unity

For me, the only upside of the pandemic lockdown was that it finally gave me time to finish my book on migrant violence and Herrenvolk democracy. Turns out, the apocalypse can double as a super-scary writing retreat. Who knew? 

The book—Cruelty as Citizenship: How Migrant Suffering Sustains White Democracy—is forthcoming with the University of Minnesota Press’s Forerunners series. The press assures me that the book will be out by October. Just in time for the election! .  . . though given the rise in white nationalism, I suspect this topic will have relevance long after Trump is gone.

In the wake of the Nevada caucus, I had the chance to chat with Amy Goodman in the Democracy Now! studio about Bernie Sanders' victory and more. Check out the clip! And here there's a transcript and everything.

The torrent of news has not slowed, and that means more opportunities to offer opinions to MSNBC's viewers, particularly those up at dawn on weekends! Over the past few months, have had the chance to be on the air with some terrific people on All in with Chris Hayes, The Last Word with Ali Velshi, and several times on Up with David Gura.

Happy to chat with Raul Reyes for his NBC article about Ed Morales's provocative work! “Latinx definitely carries a political connotation, just as the word ‘feminist’ likewise signals a kind of political awareness. Using Latinx is a signal that you’re a progressive ally. On the other hand, it is not a very Spanish term, which for some people is a bummer. It refuses to obey the gender rules of Spanish.”

By unexpectedly unseating a longtime incumbent in a New York Democratic primary, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became an instant national figure, with politics-watchers speculating on the meaning of her victory, as a young working-class Latina identifying as a democratic socialist. Was pleased to be quoted in Ed Morales's June 29 Washington Post article exploring some of the intersectional issues Ocasio-Cortez raises.

For a long, long time, I've been meaning to write more op-ed-length essays, and finally had time to condense a few thoughts into a piece that ran on NBC's new Think website, under the headline "Marginalizing minority voters is right-wing populism in a nutshell." Check it out!

"We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies." Congressman Steve King isn't even concealing his white nationalism anymore, which makes it easy to talk about, and great to have the opportunity to discuss on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on March 13. Was a quick segment, just four minutes, but managed to squeeze in a few points, and being on the air on a weeknight in prime time brought an unexpected (and welcome) flurry of new Twitter followers and website visits. Plus, I got to chat up Rachel Maddow in the makeup room before the show!

At Columbia University, got to be on a provocative roundtable discussing "What Really Happened? Latinos and the 2016 Elections," convened by Frances Negrón-Muntaner. My remarks begin around 36:00 in.

Looking forward to discussing the Latino vote and more at Columbia University on January 24 . . . and helping to figure out what did really happen.

Honored to be invited to speak at the Chicago Humanities Festival (on the same day as Bonnie Honig and Trevor Noah!) on “Latino Power in Politics.” Just one small hitch: My talk was scheduled for November 12, which turned out to be just FOUR DAYS after #Trumpocalypse . . . demanding a somewhat different talk than I’d planned. Fortunately, I’d been thinking about white racial dominance, Latinos, and the GOP for some time. So despite having our worst fears realized, my colleague Amalia Pallares and I—along with our audience—were able to have a constructive conversation about the dangers ahead as well as our hopes for a more just and democratic future.

Here's the video: