BK on Identity

Gordon Fitch gcf at panix.com
Wed Feb 28 18:43:26 PST 2001


Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>>>>To repeat, our argument should be racism is *not* in the interest
>>>>of white workers, sexism is *not* in the interest of male workers,
>>>>and so on.

Doug:
>>>Well maybe it is. Why are you so sure?

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>> I've already explained why, theoretically and empirically.

Carrol Cox:
> There is a huge enough literature on this that the burden of proof is on
> anyone who wants to claim that white workers _as a group_ benefit from
> racism.
>
> Equally, of course, large numbers, perhaps a majority, of white workers
> believe (or act as though they believe) that whites as whites benefit
> from racism. This is another case where Doug's penchant for asking
> questions in a vacuum at least resembles a conscious effort to _prevent_
> the raising of politically or theoretically pertinent questions.
>
> There are crucial questions here and Doug's frivolity on this thread
> seems designed to block articulation of those questions.

Not to defend Doug or anything, but it seems to me there is a huge amount of theory (rhetoric) going the other way as well which cannot be lightly dismissed. We are not -- if we are reading around, at least -- in a vacuum.

Probably, some of the issue turns on what we mean by "benefit".



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