"I don't think Michaels' point is that race and sex aren't important, but that a certain kind of politics - that practiced by some academics, foundation officers, people around Pacifica, the dwindling band of Obama enthusiasts - is interested in addressing only issues of race and sex while leaving class relations totally untouched."
In the interview he did with you, he argued that we are a "post-race" society. There is a kind of dismissal in this that does not square with the lived reality of racism I see every day. Now, while I agree with his (and Zizek's) critique of multi-culturalism, I don't agree that he provides a nuanced discussion of race, gender, and class. The Blain stuff you quote is as disgusting as it is grotesque, but there is much more to the race issue today than Blain.
Joanna