With the proviso that it might be nonsense, Hakki proposes
>I buy Art's story that blacks feel like the rest of the worlds' dispossessed
>about S11, which can't be said about any other group. As blacks seem to be
>the only radical force left at a time when the US is in danger of turning
>fascist - for real, this time - is anyone in the left doing anything to
>awaken the political consciousness that is buried under their nihilistic
>hatred?
Like Nathan, I take issue with this (which is probably unfair given Hakki's cautious proviso). Principally, it seems to me to mirror an attitude that longs for a barbarian invasion to sweep away the decadent metropolis - which is itself an effete fantasy, and a stereotyping of a race (no other word for it) that is not necessarily uniform in its attitudes, nor even especially radical.
In fact Black Americans' poll quite conservatively. In 1986, 83 per cent of blacks favoured school prayers, 43 per cent favoured outlawing abortions, 60 per cent 'oppose letting homosexuals teach in public schools', and surprisingly 77 per cent opposed quotas , quoted in Manning Marable, 'The Contradictory Contours of Black Political Culture', The Year Left 2: An America Socialist Yearbook (eds, Davis, et al), London: Verso, 1987, p7) (according to Gallup in 1996, 53 per cent of American blacks wanted to see more affirmative action) . Commenting on these findings, Manning Marable was blunt about 'the persistence of conservative cultural values among most working class and low-income blacks'. 'Profoundly religious in their outlook and civic socialization, the majority of Afro-American working people have no difficulty accepting legislation to permit prayer in public schools'. 'Undoubtedly, most blacks outside of the middle class would probably oppose abortion rights and legislation to protect the civil rights of homosexuals, and would not support federally-mandated school desegregation'. 'A majority of Afro-Americans support the death penalty, despite its systemic racist application against Black prisoners' (Manning Marable, 'The Contradictory Contours of Black Political Culture', The Year Left 2: An America Socialist Yearbook, p8). Marable's view of the social conservatism of black Americans is born out by a poll of black Christians. 'The views of black Christians reflect the mixed liberal/conservative agenda of their clergy. On the one hand, they express less support for the death penalty and more support for helping the poor than do other Christians. On the other hand, they oppose gay marriages and on balance take a pro-life position.' (Pew Charitable Trust, 'The Diminishing Divide ... American Churches, American Politics', June 25, 1996)
I don't have numbers to hand, but I think I am right in saying that black Americans are over-represented in the armed forces, relative to their number in the population as a whole. That poses an interesting dilemma for proponents of the 'black vanguard' thesis: Black Americans are playing a disproportionate role in the slaughter of Aghans, and other victims of US imperialism.
I don't make these points to say that black people are worse than white people. On the contrary, I take the view that all people, regardless of race, have a potential for reactionary or progressive contributions to events.
-- James Heartfield