The Conversation We Need to Have

In a recent episode of PBS Newshour, Judy Woodruff interviewed Dr. Ted Johnson. Johnson is a retired Navy commander, senior adviser at the center-left think tank New America, and columnist at the Washington Post. Johnson writes on issues of race and politics.

Woodruff asked Johnson to explain how white Americans are currently responding to our nation’s social and demographic changes. I linked to that segment here:

I liked Johnson’s comments. It is a three-part argument:

1. Many White Americans have a narrative about themselves: they are the descendants of people who built a great country. In other words, White Americans see themselves at the center of the American story.
2. Non-white people are now asserting that they were also a part of building that country. Along with the push to be a part of the national narrative, non-white people are also gaining positions of authority and influence that were once the reserve of White Americans. In other words, White Americans are being decentered.
3. This decentering is felt as a status loss. Johnson predicts that White Americans will act to maintain that status. Although he didn’t say as much, January 6th may have been an instance of this.