Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 12:12:18 -0500
From: Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol-AT-jhu.edu>
Subject: Re: M-FEM: Re: Capitalist "Intentions" and Racism


At 05:01 PM 1/16/98 -0600, Carrol wrote:
>I don't think WS and I are as far apart as might seem. My remarks were
>narrowly focused within the framework of the passage on "eliminationist
>programs" quoted above. As I would understand it, "eliminationist" *does*
>imply intent, and my further arguments tried to bring out what such an
>"intention" would imply. Beyond that, I would mostly agree with WS's
>denial of "conspiracy" or "deliberate effort," and his causal explanation
>seems reasonable.


Thanks for clarifying that point.  The only think I would like to add, that
the popularity of the "race debate" on the US Left suggests to me that the
US Left has lost any sense of direction ans seems utterly confused.  The
analysis of the material factors (i.e. the organizations of the economy)
underlying a particular socila order was the hallmark of the left, as
opposed to moralizang and psychologizing myths of the bourgeoisie.  It
ain't so anyomore.

The 'racism debate' seems to me like the ultimate substituttion of
materialist explantion of social relations with the psychological one.  In
essence the "racism" arguments boils down to the following: some people
hold bad attitudes toward people of different skin color; ergo, those
attitudes explain the existence of economic relations that are are
unfavourable to the people of different skin color.

To claim that "racism" is responsible for the position of Blacks in the US
society is to claim that individual psychology matters more than systemic
features of the economy and social institutions. 


>Again, this is best understood in the context of a hypothetical
>"eliminationist program" aimed at the black underclass. Frankly, I can't
>imagine such to be the case, but *if* it were, I argue, it would require a


I reckon we are talking about purely hypothetical situations here, but it
still would make sense to distinguish between two very different form of
what might be perceived as 'eliminationist program:'  (a) a physical
elimination of Blacks along the lines of the WWI Holocaust, or (b) the
elimination of "Black culture" or "Black identity" say, by
commercialization or by dispersion of Black neighborhoods (aking to
Stalin's policies of dealing with 'problem' ethnic minorities.

While the second option would undoubtedly cause a lot of personal anguish,
it would not necessarily be a bad thing for a number of reasons akin to
those claimed by Marx in his discussion of the effects of the colonial rule
in the Third World. In short, it would eliminate the social-cultural
barriers to the formation of truly capitalist institutions that ara a
necessary pre-condition for further social progress.

I sincerely doubt that the US ruling class would like to have an open race
war. Such a war might destabilize the current financial-political system
that, as Doug Henwood convincingly argues in his _Wall Street_, works for
the elites just fine. 

I see the recent resurgence of racist attitudes in the public discourse as
a result of opportunism on the part of moral entrepreneurs (underemployed
disc-jockeys, college professors, entertainers, and other intellectuals)
trying to get an audinece by any means necessary.

regards,

wojtek sokolowski 
institute for policy studies
johns hopkins university
baltimore, md 21218
sokol-AT-jhu.edu
voice: (410) 516-4056
fax:   (410) 516-8233