>"Rakesh, black in complexion is politically white"
>
>WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU AS A WHITE PERSON TO DEFINE SOMEONE'S ELSE'S
>ETHNICITY?
>
>Okay, Doug, please kick me for violating my own standards of civility, but
>having a discussion of racism where a bunch of white people tells an
>activist of color that he is some kind of oreo race-traitor makes my skin
>crawl. Rakesh has engaged in heroic civility throughout this abuse but
>this has got to end.
I didn't notice that the first time around. Carrol, that's ugly shit. Who are you, or who is anyone, to pass on the racial/political "authenticity" of anyone else? What kind of racial purity standard is this anyway? What does it mean to be politically white? Tom Metzger? Gloria Steinem? Karl Marx?
Re Carrol's:
>It is worth noting that the three who are most adamant on this -- Ken,
>Lou, and I -- were all involved in actual anti-racist struggles in the 60s
>and 70s (and Ken in the 50s).
On the one hand I have tremendous admiration for people who fought antiracist struggles in the 1950s onwards, and Ken in particular risked his life in the fight. But on the other hand, I can't help but hear an echo of a World War II veteran lecturing a young 60s antiwar radical - "I was there for the big one sonny, and you're really in no position to talk." "Activists" love to pull some kind of authenticity trip on folks they think are cloud-dwellers; activism is admirable, but it's not the whole enchilada.
Doug