President Biden’s approval ratings are incredibly low. Not only are they at the lowest they’ve been since the start of his presidency, they’re amongst the lowest of any presidency in American history. (He’s just barely beating Donald Trump’s historic low of 36% approval.) Even worse, as much as 3 in 4 Democrats don’t want Biden to run again in 2024. Despite this embarrassing perception of his first year in office there are several House districts across the country that backed Biden by wide margins. Many of these districts are reliable Democratic strongholds that have supported the party for decades. Lets dive into these districts to see what we can learn about the future of the Democratic party…

Urbanites Unite: Diverse and Well Educated

The Biden bloc is incredibly urban: almost every single district listed in the table above is anchored by the downtown core of the city it represents. This resembles Biden’s voting patterns across the nation: he managed to win all 38 dense urban congressional districts by wide margins.

Districts where Biden performed the best in the 2020 election are places where many voters have realized the American dream as the list above is mostly comprised of wealthy downtown cores with ample racial diversity. 8 out of the 10 districts are full-on minority majority districts; not only do they beat the national average of nonwhite residents, they squarely place electoral power into nonwhite hands.

These are also places where voters deeply value education and college degrees are common (if not necessary.) Voters here intricately understand the upward mobility that a good education can provide and often prioritize this value within their families.

Will the Biden Bloc Shift Left?

While this bloc of Biden voters makes up the core of today’s Democratic party, they don’t comprise much of the emerging progressive left. Before these districts can embrace progressive policies, many Biden voters will need to give up on their belief in respectability politics as this tired concept often warps the perception of discrimination and inequality in our country.

Respectability politics is the practice of shaming minority cultural ideals, values and behaviors in order to gain status. It breeds an unwillingness to challenge whatever is considered “mainstream” and fosters conformity in an attempt to be seen as “respectable” by wider society. It rests on a belief that minorities of any type have a responsibility to make those in the dominant group comfortable by downplaying their differentness.

In more relatable terms, respectability politics is telling Spanish speakers to speak proper English, without an accent, in order to be considered for a promotion at work. It’s telling Black women that their natural hair looks “unprofessional” and that they should get it styled to earn respect. It’s telling LGBTQ+ people to “tone it down” when discussing their relationships with straight people. It’s the belief that anyone can achieve anything as long as they have an adequate education, a nice suit, and a good attitude. So how does this relate to progressive policy?

Gains For The Few, Detrimental to Us All

Progressive policies rest on the belief that our current system does not adeuqately provide equal opportunity to all Americans. Respectability politics instead gives weight to America’s “post-racial” myth: the reason why minorities are struggling is because they’re simply not “doing the right things.” The reason why they’re struggling is because of their baggy clothes, their sexual promiscuity, their laziness, RAP MUSIC!!

The secret ingredient that undercuts progressivism and allows respectability politics to flourish is the very existence of the Biden bloc, in and of itself. Well educated minorities in these cities often look at their own accomplishments as a product of both hard work and a willingness to conform to what the dominant group requires. In their eyes they “played the game” and they won, so by extension, other minorities who are struggling simply didn’t play the game correctly. Those losers deserve their outcomes because they chose to embrace their minority culture over the dominant culture. They chose to engage in activities and use language that others would deem unworthy of respect. “Just pull your pants up and maybe you’ll be better off.”

The reality is that some people simply can’t erase their accent, their cultural heritage, or their darker skin tone. Discrimination still happens to many who try their hardest to adhere to respectability politics. By the same token, the existence of a wealthy Black person doesn’t provide cover for discrimination against a poor Black person. The sad truth is that many well-educated, minority Democratic voters still view our country through this lens. They view their successes and other’s failures as a product of our own individual choices. They incorrectly assume that because they had ample choice and agency in their life, all other minorities have the same experience. They desperately cling to the idea of American meritocracy because they simply can’t accept the alternative: maybe they just got lucky…?

Bringing it all back, Biden’s moderate liberalism doesn’t force successful minorities to reckon with these thorny issues like progressivism does. Keeping health insurance private ensures that only the hardest workers get the best care; offering universal healthcare would mean the “lazy people” get rewarded for nothing. Keeping college education expensive preserves its exclusivity; offering free college education to everyone would dilute the status boost minorities receive upon graduation. The fact is that the Biden bloc has seen success by working within the current system, so they have little reason to embrace progressive policies that dismantle it.

But for every model minority who’s praised for “making us look good” there are those who must be chastised and excluded for “making us look bad.” Respectability politics is a zero-sum game that only strengthens discriminatory structures. Why prop up a system that is ultimately detrimental to us all?

Learn More About Respectability Politics

• Hear a Black civil rights attorney speak about his own journey wrestling with the benefits and drawbacks of respectability politics.

• Learn about how LGBTQ+ people navigate respectability politics in their everyday lives.

• Read about how Barack Obama’s accomplishment as the first Black president inadvertently contributed to the rise of respectability politics.