On 2013-07-09, at 4:36 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
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> On Jul 9, 2013, at 4:32 PM, Marv Gandall <marvgand2 at gmail.com> wrote:
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>> But it does argue against the notion that race has been an outdated concept since 1957 or thereabouts
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> Actual context:
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>> I'm reading Shamus Khan's excellent book on St Paul's School, Privilege. The school, once a major institution of the old WASP establishment, has "diversified" itself enormously over the last generation. Khan, the son of upwardly mobile immigrants from Pakistan, went there and taught there for a while. They are extremely fucking serious about diversity. A third of the student body is on aid. The old WASP legacies are now a small minority within the school and a bit of a joke. This notion of white supremacy is way way out of date - which, of course, doesn't stop people from robotically reciting it as if nothing has changed since 1957.
Sorry if you think I was being unfair. I understood the context, and replied that "overt expressions of racism are no longer acceptable, particularly among urban liberal professionals. But though the culture is now more tolerant and opportunities have opened up for educated blacks, the economic disparities between blacks and whites, characteristic of the class system since slavery, not only persist, but seem to have markedly widened since the purported end of white supremacy." The discrediting of boorish country club racism and efforts at diversity are positive developments, but have also served to obscure the continuing deeper structural manifestations of racism in the economy and in politics. I was reacting to that, and particularly to the scornful and mocking barbs directed at Charles for suggesting as much.