Charles
>>> Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> 01/10 4:09 PM >>>
Doug wrote:
>Let me see if I can put what I think is the essential political matter in a
>sentence or two. If race is a social construct, not a biological one, and a
>construct we'd like to destabilize or undo, then doesn't racial nationalism
>contribute to the reification of race? I really don't know the answer to
>that, which is why I'm not ready to say "enough" to the discussion itself,
>but only to the personal insults.
(1) What if we consider racism as thesis and anti-racist black nationalism as antithesis? Isn't there a sort of dialectical necessity for the latter as long as the former is in existence?
(2) In the United States, the most pernicious nationalism to be fought against is Americanism, the idea that all Americans have shared interests, that they must defend this "nation" from aliens and alien ideologies (or foreign enemies and domestic subversives + traitors), that they must deploy military power all over the world to protect their "national interest," that they must curtail open discussion of foreign policy--not to mention dissent--so that "national security" shall not be compromised, and so forth. Anti-racist black nationalism tends to have an effect of undermining Americanism, at least fracturing the social construct called "America." Furthermore, the most progressive variety of black nationalism often has a pan-Africanist orientation and even a seed for solidarity with all the wretched of the earth. This internationalist dimension is most often missing from the organic common sense of the white working class in America (which is a curious mix of individualism and small-holder populist mentality). In this regard, if we see again a rise of anti-racist black nationalist consciousness, it is something to be welcomed in the USA.
(3) The disappearance of race as social construct can't be a part of political program of the left. It can be only hoped that it will result as an _effect_ of destruction of class society, racism, and imperialism. That said, social reality of race will somewhat diminish in significance even under capitalism if we achieve the following: (a) the end of war on drug; (b) the end of "tough on crime" policy; (c) adequate income support for the unemployed and the precariously employed; and (d) strong enforcement of affirmative action in school and at work. The point here is to stop the real and ideological criminalization of black people (especially men), to end the worst material deprivation, and to integrate the working class racially at least in public space. _Actual_ racial disparity in criminalization, employment, housing, etc. (which then ideologically gets inflated, for instance, to make poverty seem "a black problem") helps to maintain race and racism. So, for the latter to disappear, the former must go first.
Yoshie