In the October issue of Monthly Review, I have a review of two books: Roger Horowitz's "'Negro and White, Unite and Fight'," about the packinghouse workers' union and "Blacks and Reds" by Earl Hutchinson. In commenting on the Communist Party's debate about race, I mentioned various black "nationalist" movements. Note that I put the word "nationalist" in quotation marks. A friend of mine criticized me for this, suggesting that the implication is that black nationalist groups do not have the same legitimacy in my eyes as other nationalisms. My idea in using quotes was to suggest tht the word is ambiguous in its meaning when used to refer to balck nationalism in the U.S. But in thinking about this, I am inclined to agree with my friend. I would be interested to hear from list members about this.
michael yates