Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 20:11:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Louis N Proyect <lnp3-AT-columbia.edu>
To: James Miller <jamiller-AT-igc.apc.org>
cc: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu
Subject: Class consciousness and racism


On Sat, 16 Mar 1996, James Miller wrote:

> 
>    Note that I said nothing in my argument about "nationalism"
> or "feminism." I only mentioned gains of unity across racial
> and sex barriers within the working class. Louis said nothing
> about these phenomena. Once again, Louis has not really exposed
> any difference between us.
> 

Louis: Stop making mushy formulations like this and you won't be open to 
misinterpretation.

> working-class unity. Louis refers to "civil rights leaders."
> As far as I know, the civil rights movement ended nearly
> thirty years ago. And I haven't noticed it being resurrected.
> Perhaps Louis knows something I don't.

Louis: Jim, the NAACP is generally referred to as a civil rights 
organization. That's what I was speaking of, groups and individuals who 
were associated with the historic civil rights movement.

>    It is true that some Black people tend toward racial
> separatism. But why not also mention that there are many
> who do not? Why only mention the negative aspects of the
> situation, and ignore the positive? It is as though Louis
> is devoting himself to the proposition that revolution is
> impossible.

Louis: I was not speaking of separatism. I was speaking of the simple 
phenomenon that black Americans tend to identify their interests as being 
black above all else. The Nation of Islam is separatist, but the millions of 
blacks who vote at rates of up to 90 percent for Jesse Jackson and David 
Dinkins are placing race/national identity above class consciousness, not 
demonstrating separatist wishes. Isn't that obvious?

> and white workers closer together. Not only did people of
> different races get to know each other (often for the first
> time), but there was also a growing feeling of mutual
> respect which had previously been unachievable on any large
> scale.

Louis: Marxists must describe things as they are, not as they'd like them 
to be. The racism in New York City is palpable. Rudolph Giuliani, the 
race-hating, labor-hating Republican Party candidate in a traditionally 
Democratic Party city (not that this makes much difference in class 
terms) made a blatant racist appeal and won enough white and union votes 
to get elected. Reagan drew upon white racism, including that of white 
workers, to consolidate his two term reactionary assault. 

White racism is alive and well in this country. This does not mean burning 
crosses or calling people nigger. It means voting for candidates and 
supporting policies that overturn "preferences" toward blacks and Latinos. 
The whole anti-affirmative action thrust supported by the two capitalist 
parties is a symptom of the inability of white workers to champion black 
rights. The capitalist politicians know that this will win them votes. 



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