This PAC Asks Straight White Men Running For Office, 'Can You Not?'

It was "started by white men, for white men."
Can You Not PAC is dedicated to letting straight white dudes know they're not always the best candidates to run for office.
Can You Not PAC is dedicated to letting straight white dudes know they're not always the best candidates to run for office.
Daniel Hurst Photography via Getty Images

A new political action committee has three simple words for "people in positions of privilege, specifically straight white men" running for office: "Can you not?"

Can You Not PAC was started "by white men, for white men" and is dedicated to letting straight white dudes know that they're not always the best candidates to run for office, especially in "progressive, urban districts."

"We challenge brogressives and others to reject any notion that they are uniquely qualified or positioned to seek political office in districts that don’t need them," the PAC's site reads. "As well-represented white dudes, we feel it is our obligation to know when to shut up and Not."

Started by Kyle Huelsman and Jack Teter, who are both white, the PAC is based in Colorado and started out as a joke, according to MSNBC. Now, Huelsman and Teter are completely serious and are organizing an advisory board made up of women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community that will go over potential endorsements.

Of course, the PAC has received some backlash (as can be seen on its Facebook page) about not being inclusive. According to MSNBC, some of the worst feedback has focused on Teter's identity as a transgender man.

“People are accusing me of becoming a man to blow up the white male stratosphere,” Teter told MSNBC.

That absurd (and hateful) rhetoric aside, Huelsman clarified to The Daily Dot that the group's mission is not to rid politics of straight white men. It's more about making sure that other groups' voices are also represented.

“We’re not telling white men to stop working in politics,” he said. “We’re asking them to stop assuming that they’re the best voice to represent their communities."

In a nod to the backlash Huelsman and Teter undoubtedly predicted they would receive, the PAC's site includes a Q&A section of sample questions people might ask. One of the most comical questions is, "Why do you hate America?" Huelsman and Teter's response is perfect: "Shut up, comrade. You are not the hero that Gotham needs."

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