John Thornton wrote:
>
> >
> > Julio wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > But the strongest reason in favor of Obama is, IMHO, that race largely
> > intersects with class in the U.S. and in large swaths of the world. Blacks in
> > the U.S. are the most oppressed sector of the U.S. working class.
>
> Are they?
> How do you define oppressed?
> The 2000 census shows the African American poverty rate was 23.6 percent
> while the Native American poverty rate was 25.7 percent.
Debates over who is "most oppressed" are obscurantist. The oppression of African Americans _is_ politically central, but it has nothing to do with whether they are or are not the "most oppressed." (In any case, oppression is _experienced_ individually not collectively, and for that reason also the argument is politically disruptive.) Racism (in its many different guises) is grounded in the oppression of the black community, and it is _that_, not the degree of suffering or injustice which makes the fight against white racism (a redundant expression) of central concern in the building of a left movemeent in the u.s.
But all this has nothing to do with voting or not voting for Obama. _If_ a black movement existed at this time, and _if_ that movement committed itself to electing Obama, that would be another matter. But such is not the case.
I do have a positive suggestion. Let's not discuss the fucking election so much!
Carrol Carrol