[lbo-talk] White Supremacy (was Tim Wise)

Wojtek S wsoko52 at gmail.com
Thu Jul 11 11:17:23 PDT 2013


CB: Old lefties and I don't sing such a song. Where did you get that ?

Do you think I think I'm a traitor to my race ? ( giggles)

[WS:] I have been watching this thread for a while and all that is water under the bridge to me. Some claim that Blacks are moving into the middle class, others (including you) say that not fast enough. This discussion had relevance some 70 to 50 years ago, but it is becoming irrelevant today.

The reason is that mechanisms by which this happens have changed. In the past - it was barriers to employment, housing, etc defined by race and thus uniquely pertaining to Blacks. Today, it is credentialism that applies not just to Blacks but to any other group - Whites, Latinos, Asians and so on.

The fact that Blacks are not moving to professional ranks fast enough is not because of their race - as it was the case some 50 or 70 years ago - but because of the system of credentials.

In this context, fighting racism is beating a dead horse - even Republicans do it, which clearly indicates it is a non-issue anymore. Those (including myself) who want Blacks moving faster to the professional ranks should not call for fighting racism but for fighting credentialism. To use a medical comparison - while TB used to be an endemic disease of the urban poor, it is not anymore (which is not to say that it has been completely eradicated), and lung cancer is more prevalent. It therefore makes no sense to continue calling for fighting TB where one should be fighting lung cancer.

-- Wojtek

"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list