Me, West, NOI, relativism, & other dead horses

[Carrol Cox]

I remember Rakesh's incontinent responses to the least flicker of black
independence or autonomy (in the debate last summer on the BRC) and
consequently have trouble in accepting his good faith in this debate
over Malcolm. I keep wondering if he believes that his attempted point
scoring in reference to the life of Malcolm serves to buttress a
critique of the right and need for black autonomy.

I agree with Henry that Louis is correct in his response to Malcolm,
Rakesh wrong, regardless of the details of Malcolm's biography. Rakesh
(and all too many others) seems to have not the slightest imaginative
understanding of the incredible conflict of forces that come to bear on
the participants in any resistance struggle, no matter how rudimentary
the development of that struggle. The participants in the struggles of
the 60s, leaders or followers, those who stayed the course and those who
finked out, were caught up in such turmoil, and to see them in the
textbook terms Rakesh brings to bear is a profound distortion of the
period and of the actors in it -- and an equally profound threat to
future resistance activity in the U.S.

And Louis, if he continues this debate, should beware of lending
credence to Rakesh's obsession with details by meeting him only or
mostly on such grounds.

Carrol