When the progressive era first emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, one of the hallmarks was irrepressible racism. The scientific theories of the day supported segregation, racial superiority, and more. A century later, the progressive left has returned to its roots, offering up segregated events and racial superiority.

Supporters of Harris, with the campaign's blessing and encouragement, are running large Zoom calls. The titles of some of these calls: Win With Black Women, Win With Black Men, White Women: Answer the Call, and White Dudes for Harris.

The Harris campaign indicated more of these events were coming: "Harris' campaign said on Thursday that it would build on the success of this week's events by also holding calls related to youth, women, labor, and LGBTQ+ later this year."

One of the TikTok stars on the call for white women put the racial determinism right up front: "BIPOC women have tapped us in as white women to step up, listen and get involved this election season ... If you find yourself talking over or speaking for BIPOC individuals or, God forbid, correcting them, just take a beat. And instead we can put our listening ears on."

It's an inversion of the racial determinism of the past. In classic white versus black racism, whites declared themselves superior purely based on skin color. They used that as the main reason to segregate and enact any other policies.

Here, it's the reverse, it's a white person claiming black is higher, purely based on skin color. It's the definition of a white savior complex run amok. These are the declarations of people seeking moral superiority over everyone else. They yell at everyone to "look to the black people" and then hold their heads even higher, seeking validation.

When Woodrow Wilson segregated the government, he started with the mail service. He and his racist staff sought to reduce "friction" in the workplace. And by friction, he meant any color other than white.

W.E.B. Du Bois, who supported Wilson's election campaign, wrote to him in 1913 after the segregation policies began. He said, "In the Treasury and Post Office Departments colored clerks have been herded to themselves as though they were not human beings. We are told that one colored clerk who could not actually be segregated on account of the nature of his work has consequently had a cage built around him to separate him from his white companions of many years."

Wilson was the quintessential progressive. He constantly told everyone to listen to the experts. He claimed the mantle of science and the leading psychology of the day to drive home his race determinism. As he segregated the government, he also sought to override American democracy and replace it with the expert bureaucratic class.

The seeds of Wilson bear fruit today. The highly educated see racial determinism as everything. Progressivism is taking the same path as modern Marxism. Bernie Sanders is a classic socialist who views the world through a class lens—everyone of every race falls into the class analysis of rich to poor.

The modern socialists replace that analysis with race replacing class. You're supposed to view everyone through a Marxist racial lens that conveys the correct view. Classic progressives used scientific racism as a means to project their superiority. Modern progressives have inverted the goals but are doing the same thing.

Put another way, all we've done is switch the races involved with progressive racism but still seek overtly racist ends. It's a profoundly bizarre thing to witness reappear. The passage of the Civil Rights Act was an attempt to finalize the failures of the Civil War. It was supposed to make everyone, finally, equal under the law.

Wilsonian progressives fought the Civil Rights Act and everything that preceded it. Modern progressives are seeking to undo that by reasserting racial superiority in politics while also asserting a white savior complex. In turn, it puts Black people in a spot of having to serve as the moral compass of white people play-acting their white guilt.

It's a bizarre spectacle all around, and the Harris campaign should discourage these kinds of events. I don't care if Harris wants to do voter outreach or raise hundreds of millions of dollars. That's fine. Encouraging segregated political rallies is the kind of stuff we should leave in the rear-view mirror, not resurrect it for a new generation to believe is the right thing to do.

Whether it's Elizabeth Warren bringing back the "one drop of blood" canard with her alleged Native American ancestry, Democratic Socialists replacing class with race or progressives asserting the new modern racial hierarchy, there's a disturbing trend of racism across the board. And that's not even counting the issue of anti-semitism.

Cleaning up that problem can start with ending segregated Zoom calls. We shouldn't be encouraging people to identify their political stances with their race. Pushing America into the future means pursuing an America for all, not different siloes for the races.