Coalitions, Code Words, and Misogynoir in the Texas Democratic Primary

By Reverend Sean Palmer –

Misogynoir was coined by Moya Bailey in 2008 to describe the intersections of race and gender oppression experienced by Black women.

The primary election season, and the antics out of Texas in their vitriol aimed at the colorful and dynamic Jasmine Crockett, have taken center stage across America. As Black women specifically, but Black people more broadly, ask the seminal question: are Black people good enough to lead, or are we continually treated as second-class citizens, even in spaces that claim inclusivity?

To many of us, it feels like we are on repeat, with the Wiz’s Scarecrows afoot as they circle around us singing and yelling, “you can’t win.” Social media is ablaze with talk of James Talarico’s so-called coalition of white, Hispanic, and Asian voters, telling Black people to be quiet and fall in line with the candidate of choice. According to these voices, Crockett’s tone, style of leadership, and moxie are what led to her demise.

But folks, this is coded language. It is the familiar language that has long been used to describe Black leaders as too loud, too aggressive, too ghetto, too lazy—tropes that stretch all the way back to the plantation’s past.

The truth of the matter is that James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett are, on most issues, in lockstep. And the country hasn’t seen a Democrat in that Senate seat since Kay Bailey Hutchison in 1994. This is already a difficult hill to climb. Yet what has been playing out since Crockett faced Talarico in Texas is a reminder that Democrats, like Republicans, still have some racism to work through.

And while Talarico is a star in his own right, he is not Jasmine Crockett.

Crockett has been one of the lone adversarial voices confronting the Republican agenda while many Democrats were still licking their wounds after Kamala Harris’s loss and quietly whispering “I told you so” about a Black woman running for the presidency. Jasmine Crockett is a lawyer adept at understanding power, policy, and legality. She serves on the Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Talarico, by contrast, is a state repre-sentative who remains largely unproven at the national level.

As some have exclaimed online, Jasmine Crockett “lost to a mediocre man,” whose political momentum has, in part, come at the detriment of Black political confidence.

Some have asked why Black voters cannot simply support Talarico, insisting that a rigorous debate should not be a problem for voters whose litmus tests are often shaped by organizations like AIPAC. As one follower on X bluntly told me, “Black people will get in line.”

I find that an interesting assessment from folks who believe they can simply collect Black votes as though they are owed—while simultaneously calling Black leaders names. That is an interesting way to build coalition after people expressed anger simply because Crockett entered the race at a time she deemed necessary.

It is also an interesting way to build coalition while cheering for the disenfranchisement of voters that literally occurred in Harris County—an apparatus that will almost certainly be used again to defeat Democrats in the fall.

And it is an especially curious strategy to tell the most consistent and progressive electorate in the Democratic Party that their votes are not necessary because other groups can do what they have never done before.

There are more than a million potential Black votes in Texas, in a place where barely over 100,000 voters participated in this primary contest. The reality is that Texas Democrats will need every single one of those votes to defeat the disciplined and relentless political force of the Republican Party this fall.

For now, however, the Talarico coalition seems content lecturing Black voters while participating in racialized logic that may ultimately make it difficult for the teacher-seminarian to win, no matter how compelling his message may be.

Perhaps Texas Democrats have forgotten that Kamala Harris’s loss was especially painful for African Americans who were once again reminded that no matter how talented, brilliant, and prepared we are, there remains a glass ceiling on what we can do.

Perhaps they have forgotten that many Black Americans are grieving—not only political losses, but the shrinking sense of possibility in a country where the specter of a new Jim Crow era seems increasingly visible.

And perhaps they have forgotten something else: that ignoring Black voters in Texas is a risky proposition.

After all, these are the same communities that know something about Juneteenth—and therefore something about freedom.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.