Senator Raphael Warnock’s re-election in Georgia this November was a massive and cathartic victory that demonstrated what working people can accomplish when we coalesce around a common goal. The race also showed how deeply hostile and condescending the Republican Party is when it comes to the values, needs and aspirations of Black people in our country.
With control of the Senate at stake, I was so proud to witness dozens of members of my union, 1199SEIU, head down south and spend weeks away from their families to knock on doors and speak to voters about the important issues in this election. The grassroots infrastructure that local activists and pioneering leaders such as Stacey Abrams have built in Georgia was remarkable to witness, and I know will yield positive results for years to come.
The pride I have for what Georgians accomplished is nearly matched by the disgust I feel for how the Republican Party regarded Black voters when deciding to run Herschel Walker as their candidate. It’s an incredible insult that the GOP thought it appropriate to elevate someone so obviously unfit and unqualified to hold public office in a shameless attempt to appeal to the Black community. Did they really think that we would vote for Walker simply because of the color of his skin? The fact that 90% of Black voters cast their ballots for Sen. Warnock in the general election shows how we are far more politically astute than the Republican leadership takes us to be, when they shamelessly used racial tokenism to try to split our vote.
As someone who grew up under segregation and still carries with me the memories and scars of Jim Crow, the fact that Warnock—inheritor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church and a lifelong racial justice activist—has been re-elected senator is incredibly significant. It speaks to the progress we have made over the decades and the hopeful future yet to come.
But of course, at the same time, we must also recognize that a large majority of white, Christian voters in Georgia tried to oust Warnock—choosing instead a plainly awful candidate whose lack of qualifications and hypocrisy on issues like abortion seemed not to matter as long as he would toe the GOP line. The election results show just how deeply entrenched political divides have become, often along racial lines.
We are living at a time when the advancement of racial equality is facing immense headwinds. Stacked courts, extreme gerrymandering and partisan voter suppression laws are diluting our vote and our power at the ballot box. As newer and younger voters increasingly identify with and vote for progressive causes and candidates, the Republicans are in a race against time to strip away peoples’ rights and lock in permanent authoritarian rule. It becomes clearer every voting cycle how free and fair elections are an existential threat to the backward, broadly unpopular worldview of the far-right, so they are doing everything in their power to undermine them.
Warnock’s victory, alongside other key races across the country that broke favorably for Democrats, helped secure our democracy. But we must now immediately prepare for two years of total GOP obstructionism in the House of Representatives, where they will hold a tiny majority of seats. Once-fringe figures like Representatives Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had previously lost their committee seats for their outrageous and racist behavior, will have newfound power. As of this writing, Republican leaders are indicating a desire to cause a government shutdown over the spending bill, which would cause great distress to millions of Americans as we enter the new year.
There is no time to rest. What we do between elections is just as important as, if not more than, what we do during election season. Now is the time to build a multiracial, cross-generational coalition of working class people who are fully engaged in struggles for civil, labor and human rights.
We will not let the right-wing outmaneuver the majority of American who believe in a diverse, inclusive and just society. Senator Warnock’s victory shows once again that when we articulate a vision of hope, unity and love for each other, we can overcome the hate and division that seeks to turn our country backward.
George Gresham is president of 1199SEIU, the nation’s largest healthcare union, representing 450,000 members in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida and the District of Columbia.
