Many who bring up wedge culture war issues do so because framing is the single most powerful tool for persuasion. Likewise, fear mongering, false equivalence and dog whistles are the weapons of those who want to reinforce a sense of white identity under attack. Let’s ask ourselves what is left out of the conversation when we allow public discourse to focus on hyped-up terms like cancel culture or backlash against calls for police accountability. One of our two major political parties has descended into authoritarianism. Black families have one eighth the wealth of white families in America. The climate crisis poses an existential threat in our lifetimes. White wealthy suburbia isn’t under attack. Our democracy, people of color and the habitability of our planet are. — Reid McCollum, Hinsdale
