Pittsburgh’s Suburbs Try to De-Karen the 2020 Election
Trump’s presidency sparked a movement to fight racism in southwest Pennsylvania. The white women leading these groups are still learning how it’s done.
A woman signs up for a mailing list in Pennsylvania’s Washington County Democratic office before taking a yard sign for presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Photographer: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
When Voice of Westmoreland met on a recent Zoom call, leader Clare Dooley posed a question to the assembled group of political organizers: What does the election mean to you?
One attendee began talking about fighting the fascism of the Trump administration, and Dooley interrupted to clarify that she was asking how the election would affect him personally. The young man, an African American, pushed back against Dooley, a 53-year-old white woman. It did affect him personally, he said: He had experienced fascism and racism as both a student and resident of Westmoreland, which is 94.7% white.