The approach you raise below has been debated often. The quick response is the Black people are not oppressed and discriminated against as individuals , but as a group. So, you can't turn around in the solution and claim that the treatment of Blacks is on an individual basis. On the different classes within the Black race or nationally oppressed group, it is well and often been demonstrated that all class levels of Black people suffer discrimination by their race. On a group level, petit bougeois Black people have lower incomes, etc, etc than peitit bourgeois white people. In the plants, Blacks in general get dirtier jobs etc. Also, there are no Blacks in the actual big bourgeoisie, the ruling class.
The terminology "white" and " Black" originates with white people. Black people are using the terms dealt them and coping with the oppression by formulating the names within liberation theories a certain way. So that for example, before 1968 or so "Black" was a derogatory term within the "Negro" community. But then with the Black pride and beauty movement the whole race renamed itself. This was good because it was the institutionalization of anti-skin color prejudice. a problem even within the Negro community.
This is a brief response to what you, say so, let me know if I am clear.
Charles Brown
Detroit.
>>> Brett Knowlton <brettk at unica-usa.com> 11/17 6:35 PM >>>
Perhaps this is nitpicking, but there really isn't such a thing as an
oppressed black race. There are lots of individuals who are oppressed that
happen to be black, many because of the color of their skin. But there are
also wealthy blacks who oppress poor whites, other blacks, etc. The fact
that this is the rare exception to the usual pattern is cold comfort to the
victims.
Also, this whole discussion of "black" and "white" bothers me. Even when used to describe patterns of thought and behavior, it puts an uncomfortable label on these things - people will invariably make disturbing associations that perhaps can't be strictly logically justified, but will nonetheless take place. Why don't we just call things by their real names, i.e. economic exploitation and racial hatred and/or prejudice, as opposed to "white" or "black"?
Brett
At 04:49 PM 11/17/98 -0500, you wrote:
>I'm not sure what the response
>is to me in this, but I am not running
>a contest on "oppressed peoples".
>A poster with the name Snitgrrl
>tried to argue that my pro-Black
>argument ignored other oppressed
>groups beside Black people. I
>responded that not only are
>pro-Black arguments not in
>conflict with pro-Mexican
>and other groups other struggles
>, but that I am
>the member of more than one
>oppressed group. I said that to
>give the poster a hint that I am
>in solidarity with the whole
>range of oppressed peoples.
>
>
>Charles Brown