Outlawing Fascistic Racist Speech: Biblio-fetishism

[Russell Grinker]

>CB: Yes, a whole lot of people are very influencable by racism. "Stupid"and
"gullible" are your words. My observation is the vast majority of people who
become racists and fascist racists do not think it up on their own. They
learn it from someone who teaches it to them, often using books and other
written material.  The fact that some, even most people read that book and
don't become fascistic racists is not a reason to keep the book readily
available. And balancing it off, I would rather have you not get to read
_Mein Kampf_ ( pauvre vous) if that's what it takes to keep those who would
be influenced by it to become fascistic racists.  However, I said you could
read it in the controlled library.

Accepting that your average unsuspecting Joe can be brainwashed by
racist/fascist material (which I don't), this still looks like an admission
from Charles that he doesn't think it possible to win the arguments and
build a movement against reaction.  So instead he suggests we get the
bourgeois state to ban and suppress racist material.  Correct me if I'm
wrong but isn't the very same state usually central to racial opression, or
in the case of fascism, to the smashing of worker orgnaisations and the
scapegoating and oppression of minorities?  It seems to me that in most
countries today, the bulwark of racism is state-imposed immigration controls
and other discriminatory legislation against foreigners - not the loony
right and various crypto-fascist sects.  The latter can of course be a real
danger to life and limb and this demands popular defensive campaigns.
Calling for reliance on the state only mitigates agianst the principle of
self-organisation  and the building of defence against racist attack.  This
is for me the key weakness of Charles' position.

Russell