One hundred and sixty-three years after the South tried to secede from the Union, starting a war that killed more Americans than all other U.S. wars combined, it is troubling to hear Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene propose a “national divorce” of red states from blue states. In the wake of Jan. 6, we know that talk of insurrection is more than mere rhetoric for a minority of Americans who’ve been radicalized by the lies of right-wing extremism. But Greene’s call for secession depends on a lie that’s far more widespread than the propaganda of insurrectionists. From leaders who bemoan that we’re “more divided than ever” to political operatives who insist that Democrats simply can’t win in the deep South or the Midwest, far too many Americans accept the premise that we are a country divided between red states and blue states.
This dichotomy is a myth. We are not a nation divided by political ideology. We are, instead, a people who have been pitted against one another by politicians who depend on the poorest among us not showing up to the polls.
We are not a nation divided by political ideology.
Even with record turnout in the 2020 presidential election, 80 million eligible voters did not vote, more than those who backed former President Donald Trump, and only slightly less than those who turned out for President Biden. Lower-income voters were three times more likely to sit out the election than higher-income voters.
Maps that show “red” counties and “blue” counties are representations of election results that have important implications for our government’s capacity to pass legislation that would benefit the American people. But we know from survey data and experience that those maps do not represent most Americans. They are a myth in the truest sense — a story told to us in order to reinforce the values of the storytellers.
The political strategy we are seeing from Greene to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war on…
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