I actually agree with Art's general point that there are multiple movements out there and failure to see certain groups in one area (say the WTO protests) does not mean they are not out fighting in others where they personally put a higher priority, without necessarily meaning they don't have sympathy with the other movements.
That said, there is a certain odd opposition of "labor" and "people of color", since blacks as one example are percentage-wise more likely to be in unions than whites. And this showed at A9 - the World Bank debt relief rally and human chain on Sunday. When I showed up to volunteer for peacekeeping duty - marshall in labor slang - at 9am, the two largest contingents recruited for volunteer activity where the Boilermakers and the Seafarers, with full racial diversity of activists primed to go for the day. The crowd that eventually showed up was whiter than the activists who setup the rally, but there was still a pretty diverse group, although this crowd was also pulling the religious communities as well.
We will see what the crowds look like on Wednesday for the anti-China deal protests.
-- Nathan Newman
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Art McGee
> Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2000 5:11 AM
> To: marxism at lists.panix.com; lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: WSJ on A16
>
>
> Here's a message about the WSJ article that I posted on
> another list, in response to a "white" comrade who was
> more insightful than most:
>
> Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 04:53:31 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Art McGee <artmcgee at igc.apc.org>
> Subject: Re: [nyc-dan] WSJ - A16 "diversity" problem
>
> Hi Folks,
>
> Thank the Lawd! Someone who gets it (it makes sense that it
> would be a TAO comrade):
>
> >Hey folks. Just read the Wall Street Journal Article.
> >
> >Let's get it straight here, he's right on one point,
> >movements of people of color do often have priorities that
> >are different from the globalization struggle. When folks
> >are being shot daily on the streets it is hard to
> >prioritize a trip to washington to fight the IMF.
>
> Small clarification, it's not that our overall priorities
> or goals are different (as in "the big picture"), but our
> immediate *needs* may be different, especially when, as was
> pointed out, we are being gunned down in the streets on a
> regular basis, for doing nothing more than breathing.
>
> Right now, without question, the thing that has most Black
> people and other people of color animated is Police Brutality.
>
> >1. The problem is not solved by Outreach. It is not a
> >question of the right flyer or argument, nor is one of
> >education of people of color.
>
> Amen on the Outreach issue. People of color don't need to be
> recruited as an afterthought or have stuff shoved in their
> faces.
>
> On the issue of education, I would disagree. While people
> of color don't need to be educated about the effects of
> globalization, since we were suffering from it long before
> the rest of you folks had a clue (i.e., Atlantic Slave
> Trade, etc.), in the modern context, there does need to be
> some education as to how corporate globalization in it's
> current form is/will make things worse.
>
> You see, when you've been shit on for 500 years, another
> pile of shit doesn't seem to make that much difference.
> Black people may often *appear* to be less concerned about
> stuff like this, because they're fatigued from having to
> deal with all sorts of crap, long before the WTO/IMB/WB even
> existed. White folks and some others however, who thought
> that White Supremacy would protect them, and who were
> previously class UNconscious, are now waking up to the
> nightmare that their interests are being threatened.
>
> So, people of color, who already "get it", need to see how
> corporate globalization will dehumanize them even more than
> their own national governments have, which is a tough sell.
>
> I mean, think about it. The U.S. government doesn't give a
> damn about us, our local governments send out paramilitary
> police squads to butcher us in the streets, and now we're
> supposed to worry about the IMF? Sorry, but most folks are
> either too tired from fighting other battles or simply
> relieved that the IMF isn't a direct weapons supplier for
> the NYPD. Anything is better than the shit they've been
> going through.
>
> >2. Ours is not the only, nor the primary movement in this
> >country. We have to learn to be a little more humble than
> >Seattle. When we characterize our movement as the main one
> >in the country, (and sometimes the only) we do diservice to
> >movements of people of color such as the police brutality
> >movement, the immigration movement, the affirmative action
> >movement etc.
>
> Amen. I would like to point out that the above mentioned
> movements are not exclusively composed of or led by people
> of color, but the issues involved disproportionately affect
> them.
>
> My goodness, if DAN is made up of folks as intelligent as
> you (i.e., activists with a clue), I may seriously need to
> consider joining.
>
> >3. The onus is on us to support these movements. There are
> >valid reasons that people of color are suspicious of white
> >led movements at times. The way I believe, to counter this
> >is to do solid shit work in supporting movements of color,
> >and to not take leadership at times.
>
> Wow. Once again, just plain, common sense brilliance (so
> rare these days on the "Left"). [Applause]
>
> >That all said. let's kick some ass in washington, let's
> >make DAN a truly anti-racist movement by supporting on the
> >ground movements of people of color and let's not let that
> >asshole in the pit of capitalism (the Wall Street Journal)
> >shake up what we are doing.
>
> Yes, I agree that if you're going to pay any attention to
> criticism, it should be from progressive/radical people of
> color, and not from the bourgeois capitalist press. They
> have no moral authority to critique anything you do, and the
> WSJ in particular is simply a tool of "the devil."
>
>
> Art McGee
> Member, TAO Anarchist Federation
> National Cyber-Organizer, Black Radical Congress
> Content Coordinator, Institute for Global Communications
>