How White Liberals Became ‘Woke,’ Radically Changing Their Outlook On Race

Jeromy Brown (right), 46, poses for a photo with Sen. Warren. Brown, like many progressive voters, thinks 2020 presidential candidates should “not equivocate” in calling Trump a white supremacist.

Asma Khalid / Asma Khalid

Jeromy Brown, a 46-year-old teacher in Iowa, considers President Trump a white supremacist.

“If the shoe fits, then say it, and the shoe fits him,” Brown said, while waiting in a “selfie line” at an Elizabeth Warren rally in August. “Why should he be excused from that label?”

Brown, like many white liberal voters, appreciates that some Democratic presidential candidates have begun explicitly referring to Trump as a white supremacist. His top choice, Warren, told The NPR Politics Podcast in August that “when the white supremacists call Donald Trump one of their own, I tend to believe them.”