You are absolutely right that white kids have been involved in prison issues. In California, where I gather you are, the student movement against the prison boom is pretty multi-racial and I'm actually discussing it in my piece as one of the exceptions to the whiteness of the std anti-corp movement, along with the campaigns against tuition increases, which you also mention. [Robin Templeton discusses the California youth movement against Prop 21 in this week's Nation] So we agree. However, on the East Coast, the student anti-prison movement is only just heating up, and isn't anywhere near what it is in California -- nor is it nearly as widespread as the whiter movements (No Sweat, anti-WTO, etc). Students for a Sensible Drug POlicy, which is based in DC,is gearing up for what may be an interesting campaign against Sodexho-Marriott, which operates a lot of campus dining halls and is the largest investor in US private prisons
Liza
----------
>From: John Gulick <jlgulick at sfo.com>
>To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>Subject: Re: IMF/WB overhaul; US tax breaks violate trade rules; post-N30
middle class anarchists
>Date: Sun, Feb 27, 2000, 1:14 AM
>
>Liza,
>
>Interesting research; great and telling points. I look forward to seeing
>the finished article in _The Nation_. I'm curious about the "cultural
>politics" dimension (which overlaps w/black students' reservations about
>being put at risk by super-militant tactics of white anarchists) -- did
>any interviewees specifically express sort of a distaste for the cliquish,
>hermetic, more radical-than-thou aspects of white anarchists (see my post
>on same issue, not grounded in anything close to serious research like
>your post)? It does seem to me though that a lot of white middle class
>anarchist or otherwise radical activists have gotten involved w/certain
>issues of central concern to black folks in general, namely the
>prison-industrial complex and police brutality stuff (maybe the blask
>students feel like their movement is being defined and taken over by
>white activists ?).
>
>John Gulick
>
>>I'm working on an article for the Nation on student anti-corporate activism,
>>and have been interviewing students extensively on these very questions. I
>>just talked to a student at North Carolina Central, a historically black and
>>working-class college, who has organizing some WTO/IMF education at his
>>school; he said Seattle looked to a lot of black students like a big
>>confrontation with the cops, and that may have tarred the movement for some.
>>Black students have a lot more to fear from cops; he said, "If we had been
>>there, they would have used real bullets, not rubber bullets." Middle-class
>>white students might feel a certain pride in getting tear-gassed or even
>>roughed up by cops; black kids might for obvious reasons experience it quite
>>differently. Not only more violently, but as a personal failure; the NCC guy
>>said "I'm going to law school, I'm not getting arrested." I'd add that
>>mainstream media obsession with "violence" and left media's fixation on
>>police excesses in Seattle might have contributed to the perception that
>>that's what the anti-WTO movement is all about. Other students -- black,
>>white and Asian -- agreed that a lot of middle-class American "students of
>>color" do want a piece of the capitalist pie and aren't particularly
>>radical. a friend of mine was disappointed to join her school's Black
>>Student Movement only to find that the members were obsessed with electing a
>>black Homecoming Queen. Many may (accurately) think their middle-class
>>status is a lot more precarious than that of many white students, and that
>>it's riskier for them to opt out of the system for a little while, and
>>harder to opt back in. Others pointed out that students of color are facing
>>so much backlash -- dismantling of affirmative action, generally hostile
>>climate on a lot of campuses,etc. -- that those who are activists tend to
>>have their energies taken up by those v. important issues. And yes, a lot of
>>Third World solidarity in this country is fueled by white guilt; more white
>>people feel bad that they're living comfortably off the sweat and blood of
>>the people of the South because, um, more white people *are* living
>>comfortably off the sweat and blood of the people of the South. (there's
>>also a teeny bit of romanticization and exoticization underlying some 3rd
>>world solidarity which also strikes me as a white thing) There's also, among
>>some African-AMerican students, a suspicion that white progressives find it
>>easier to worry about people of the South than to deal with inequality at
>>home. there's also also a resentment among black activist students -- at
>>least re: the mostly anti-sweatshop kids -- that the white kids movements
>>are treated with much more respect -- by administration, media -- and get
>>more attention that anti-racist actions by students of color do. And also,
>>while I doubt that white anti-WTO activists conspicuously "working on their
>>racism" is going to change *anything*, a number of white student activists
>>did point out that the only way to build coalitions with people is to show
>>up when they need you and white students don't tend to show up when the
>>issue is racism, so why would students of color show up when a white-led
>>group has a WTO event. Finally, it's difficult in racist America for black
>>people and white people to work together on anything and always has been;
>>students of all races seemed far from defeatist, but daunted by the
>>challenge.
>>
>>oh and, in re: black students non-radicalism, I should also say that of
>>course most white students aren't at *all* radical either, and that there
>>are not nearly as many black students on American campuses, radical or
>>otherwise, as there should be. the fact that there aren't that many black
>>anti-WTO activists on campus, is of course partly a function of black kids
>>dismal lack of access to higher ed. One might also say there should be more
>>black English majors, and fewer young black men in jail.
>>
>>
>>
>>>I've been wondering about this. Much of the Northern anti-WTO
>>>movement is based on solidarity with the people of the South - who
>>>are, after all, "people of color." Why is there so little affinity
>>>for this movement among "people of color" in the U.S.? Doesn't it
>>>call into question the whole category, the assumption of common
>>>interests among non-Caucasians?
>>>
>>>Since a lot of the U.S. anti-WTO movement is campus based, why is
>>>there so little interest among black and Latino students in it? I
>>>wonder if a lot of "minority" students are more interested in getting
>>>a piece of the capitalist action than they are in challenging it
>>>systemically? I'm pretty out of touch with campus life, which is why
>>>I'm phrasing these as questions.
>>>
>>>Doug
>>
>>
>