Christopher Nurse: The party of pragmatic idealism — a love letter to the Democrats who forgot us

I still remember my first Democratic fundraiser in Tampa.

The room glittered with promise — rainbow pins on tailored lapels, alcohol flowing like the Hillsborough River below us, allies reciting Audre Lorde between passed hors d’oeuvres.

As a newly arrived Jamaican immigrant, I felt seen. Finally, I thought, these are my people.

Almost a decade later, I’ve learned a harder truth: Democrats love marginalized communities the way museums love artifacts — behind glass, safely curated, and stripped of vitality.

Take my last job interview with a nonprofit. The director praised my work protecting exploited children through bipartisan legislation. “Remarkable impact,” she murmured — until I mentioned collaborating with Republican lawmakers (as any Democrat worth their salt has to do in Tallahassee). Her smile froze.

“We prefer purer advocacy here,” she said, as if principle were measured by political celibacy.

The Democratic Party’s ironies lie in its profound contradictions. You champion immigrants yet refuse to acknowledge that the very act of crossing oceans taught us the necessity of building bridges. You platform LGBTQ voices but silence our admission that survival sometimes requires negotiating with bigots. You mourn systemic racism while actively participating in the gentrification that transforms Black neighborhoods into landscapes of (tasteless) artisanal cupcake boutiques.

I’ve watched you applaud diversity trainings led by consultants charging $500/hour or more to teach “anti-racism” to corporations bankrolling private detention centers. I’ve seen you tweet some of the most absurd things to sitting lawmakers while decrying the very bipartisan work they do to fight for Democratic values against a Republican supermajority.

Your performative empathy, in reality, demands our complicity. You urge us to “Share your trauma!” – but only after sterilizing it for palatable donor presentations. You instruct us to “Lead with authenticity!” – unless that authenticity involves questioning why our supposed “allies” accept (insert special interest du jour) money. You claim, “We need lived experience!” – only to silence staff members who dare to cite that very experience when critiquing your neoliberal policies.

To my fellow immigrants trapped within this hollow theater, I ask: Haven’t we seen this script before?

It echoes the British colonizers who praised Jamaicans as “noble savages” while auctioning off our forefathers’ land. It mirrors Corporate American managers who find our accents “exotic” yet deny promotions, citing “poor communication skills.”

And now, it manifests itself in the Democratic elites who tokenize our pain for political gain, only for no actual change to take place. The masks change, but the exploitation remains.

This isn’t solidarity.

Democrats, I believe in the ideals you claim: justice, equity, and the common good. I believe that every Floridian should have the freedom to be healthy, prosperous, and safe. But your execution has become a parody of its former self.

When did “progress” become policing language? When did “inclusion” become demanding that marginalized people shrink to fit your ideological cages?

There’s a better way:

— Trade performance for pragmatism. We need more Democratic legislators who prioritize passing bills and bringing money home for their communities over making noise on social media.

— Embrace ideological humility. Real change requires allies in unexpected places — and yes, sometimes that means Republicans.

— Give us policy and action, not platitudes. Get rid of the consultants who consistently “fail upward.”

I haven’t given up on you, Democrats. But something has to give. I’ll work with anyone — conservatives, libertarians, even Martians — to pass laws that help Floridians become freer, more prosperous, healthier and safer. I’ll be here.

The door is open when you’re ready to join me outside the museum.

___

Christopher Nurse is a Jamaican-born political consultant and dog-lover focused on child protection, AI, domestic violence reform, and cross-partisan advocacy. His work has centered on amplifying marginalized voices while navigating America’s cultural and political complexities firsthand. He can be reached at [email protected].