About the Race Class Narrative

The Race Class Narrative is an empirically-tested narrative on race and class that neutralizes the use of dog-whistle racism to win on the issues we care about. It has been used across the United States and internationally to win policy and electoral victories. 

Our opposition regularly uses racial fear as a tool to exploit economic anxieties and turn people against one another, even when their economic interests are aligned, and turn them against a government that works for all. In doing so, they regularly scapegoat communities of color for problems that have been created by self-interested politicians and their greedy corporate donors. The Race Class Narrative messaging architecture fights back at these attacks to build cross-racial solidarity and support for issues.

Research for the Race Class Narrative began in 2017 through collaboration between Heather McGhee,  Anat Shenker-Osorio, Ian Haney López, Lake Research Partners, Brilliant Corners, SEIU and Demos with the goal of developing a narrative on race and class that neutralizes the use of dog-whistle racism, resonates with our base, especially people of color, and brings along the largest possible group of white people on our economic and racial justice policy solutions.

In 2020, the Race Class Narrative Action Project carried this research through a full implementation program focusing on the Midwest (MI, MN, MO, OH, PA, and WI).  That work successfully provided our state partners with high-quality, state-specific narrative and messaging research to inform their strategies. With regular bi-monthly virtual meetups, a Slack channel with over 150 active partners, and frequent research briefings, we built community and kept states readied with cutting edge messaging insights on everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to policing and protests. This project laid the groundwork for new RCN informed working groups on climate and racial justice. Those groups were led by state partner leaders, artists, and organizers.

What we have learned from successful experimentation over the years is being carried out by various efforts such as, Project Juntos, Race-Class Academy, deep canvassing by People’s Action, and by our many partners.

To learn more about how groups are winning with the Race Class Narrative, please read this memo.

Explore the Resources

Building off of the foundational RCN research, we've partnered with organizations, labor unions, faith groups, and more to uncover the best ways of speaking persuasively on the issues people care about. 

Over the years, We Make the Future has developed dozens of resources made available open-source to our partners, including digital toolkits, messaging memos, video content, social media graphics, and other grassroots organizing tools. Our resources cover issues ranging from education, voting rights, reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ equality, public safety, and more. You can explore our library of resources here.

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