In these last three weeks after the 2024 presidential election, there has been a lot of analysis, opinions, and hot takes. From our recent “Coffee with Crossroads” sessions to workshops with our long-term partners, and even at the “Facing Race” conference we attended last week, our Crossroads team has been talking a lot about the election results. We’ve been reflecting on what we can learn from it and what we expect in 2025 and beyond.
We believe that the simply saying “it’s the economy, stupid” or “people are racist” does not sufficiently explain why the extreme ideas championed by the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement appealed to 75 million people. Polls show that many working-class voters actually preferred the economic policies that Kamala Harris and the Democrats proposed during the election, according to sources like The Washington Post and The London Economic.
Instead, we believe the election results show how deeply the ideas and values rooted in white supremacy are still a part of the ways of being and thinking of the United States. Noticeably among these are anti-Black racism and a history of discrimination against women of color. Despite 40 years of economic policies that many think are “liberal and modern,” the U.S. is still influenced by ideas and values that support the ideology of white supremacy. Let’s look at some of the values that showed up in this election cycle:
- Rugged Individualism: This is the belief that people should focus only on their own rights and needs, ignoring how their actions affect others. It shows up in ideas like “states’ rights” or “it doesn’t impact me,” and leads people to not vote or ignore others’ struggles when they vote. It provides people with justification for how they act and with cover from the impact of their decisions.
- Righteous Perfectionism: This is when people, while creating strategies for change, use measurements and make demands that ignore the circumstances on the ground, as well as the larger political, cultural, economic, and social reality.
- Disrespecting Expertise: This is when people ignore facts, historical data, and science because it’s easier to live in a fantasy world. They might trust influencers or media personalities instead of experts and avoid uncomfortable truths that challenge what they believe about themselves, the United States, and the world.
- Heteropatriarchy: This is the belief that men—especially white, Christian, heterosexual men— and their thriving are more important and as a result should have power over others, especially women and LGBTQ+ people. It allows toxic ideas about the role men should have in communities to thrive, while promoting legislation that impacts the bodily autonomy of others.
- Dominance-Over and Comfort: This value encourages the exploitation of workers and the planet for profit. It supports the idea that having cheap products and living in luxury is more important than caring for the environment or creating a fair society.
These values are just a few examples of what we saw in the election. But more than these specific ideas, it’s the logic behind them that needs our attention. These ways of thinking allow us all to manage the disconnects between what we claim to believe and value about each other and what we do through our vote, how we act when our comfort is pushed, what we support through our silences and inaction, and what we prioritize as the critical concerns we must address.
The logic behind the MAGA movement have taken hold in many parts of U.S. society because the values most of us were trained into facilitate it. Just like in 2016 and 2020, most White voters supported the MAGA movement in 2024. There has been a lot of discussion about why portions of some People of Color groups increased for this movement in this election cycle. We believe this is rooted in hundreds of years of U.S. and European colonial messaging that have misshaped how people think and trained them to use the values outlined earlier in making decisions about who they support.
In so many ways, this election reflected the values that the United States has promoted and conditioned within us, through vehicles of assimilation, imposition, military force, and Christianity. This is “who we are.” These values, which are often packaged has “good, democratic, and liberal”, have never brought collective freedom and liberation. So, why did people vote the way they did? The logic guiding their decisions often didn’t focus on democracy, the needs of vulnerable people, or the importance of working together. It was more about protecting personal comfort, discounting the suffering of others, and maintaining the power structures that have been in place for centuries.
What Should We Do Now?
After the election, there’s been a lot of blaming and finger-pointing happening. But we believe that focusing on blame won’t help us move forward. The system of white supremacy thrives when people are divided-and-conquered. Instead, we need to take a deep breath. Some of us may need to step away because the wounds inflicted by this election are deep. Some of us may be eager to jump into action – however, we should take stock of the tactics and strategies that we have used to build our work. It will be a mistake to start strategizing without some self-assessment.
For those of us focused on racial justice, we need to reflect on how we are contributing to harmful behaviors like “cancel culture”. We need to deepen our analysis. We need to ask ourselves if we’re truly working together, or if we’re getting caught up in performative acts that don’t create real change. We also need to think about how the professionalization of our work has shifted our accountability relationships to funders and away from the communities whose liberation we claim to be working for.
At Crossroads, and in the work we do with others, we’ve been talking about the importance of building strong, local relationships. Change doesn’t come from big speeches or nationwide campaigns—it comes from small, community-level actions that bring people together. Here are two things to keep in mind:
- Voter turnout: 90 million eligible voters didn’t vote this year. This figure reinforces that too many people are not engaged with politics. But local groups and grassroots organizing can help change that.
- Local relationships: Building relationships on a local level can help break through the “echo chambers” created by social media and the divide in how people get their news. When people feel connected to their communities, they are more likely to act.
Now more than ever, our work is needed. The values that have shaped this country need to be challenged. We need to create spaces where people can imagine a new future, build a shared analysis, work together to form strategies, and hold each other accountable. These spaces are essential for creating real change, and we must focus on making them stronger. This work will not be easy. At Crossroads we still believe we can change the world. It’s hard to see that right now, but that’s always been the purpose of our efforts. All our lives and the sustainability of our planet depend on it.
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