[lbo-talk] zimmerman not guilty

Wojtek S wsoko52 at gmail.com
Mon Jul 15 11:38:29 PDT 2013


Marv: "Why is racism, for you, a sufficient explanation of the distortions in the US criminal justice system, but "does not explain why guys like Martin have it difficult to find a decent job"?"

[WS:] As I and others said times and again on this list, the reasons why people do not get good jobs have everything to do with the credentialing system in hiring and obstacles to obtaining those credentials - which has everything to do with shitty labor laws, shitty school curricula, shitty public services, effects of poverty, property ownership - to name a few. Therefore, if some people do not get a job because they do not have proper qualifications or credentials regardless of the color of their skin, you cannot use skin color as an explanation. You need to look why that person does not have those required qualifications and credentials. Talking about skin color in this context just because it is statistically correlated and because it makes a good story obfuscates the issue, and thus it is counterproductive.

Criminal justice system is a very different story - it deals with individual acts and popular perceptions of those acts that affect jury decisions. Here is where racial prejudice held by individuals affect the outcome of a single case, e.g. Zimmerman's trial. You would need to show that the same prejudice is at play every time a person applies for jobs - which you will almost certainly fail to do because many Blacks and Hispanics who do have proper credentials manage to obtain good jobs.

In any case - I feel that this discussion is becoming repetitive, so it is time for me to stop. Over and out.

-- Wojtek

"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list