I hope I was clear with the bit of post-election hypothesizing about trends
in black communities. No one was endorsing Ben Chavis conversions. I
simply pointed out that this is a trend growing out of frustration.
Moralizing about it doesn't seem very helpful, and in fact falls into the
trap I see capturing many academic leftists and sectarian "marxists," who
demonstrate an unwillingness to acknowledge unpleasant realities--especially
if those realities complicate their mechanical, often simplisitic, often
manipulative premises ( a general critique, not directed at anyone here).
This is precisely the predisposition, seems to me, that leads to the error
of moving from the theortetical assumption to the concrete conslusion,
instead of dialectically relating the concrete to the theoretical.
Marxists, especially--given that we have laid claim to the title scientific
socialists--should actively resist the ossification of theory into dogma,
and continually subject our tentative generalizations to critical scrutiny
based on actual--and changing--conditions.
Some first impressions of CONDITIONS here in the hegemon:
Black communities are politically bound to Democrats because the only real
option at this juncture is to risk exclusion from the political arena
altogether.
Black communities still suffer from the same kinds of problems other
neo-colonial communities do--dependence, poor infrastructure, domination by
colonial surrogates and opportunists, poor educational systems, crime, etc
etc. By and large, the functional core of black communities is still
religiously centered, and in many ways very socially conservative.
Democrats need black voters but they also must take them for granted,
because the "center" they have to target for campaign activity is steeped in
the ideology of white supremacy.
The crisis in black communities is getting steadily worse, and anger is
growing faster than consciousness. The cowardly sell-out of those
communities by the Clinton Justice Department when Florida re-introduced
elements of Jim Crow during the election has fanned the flames of that anger
and led many to question--yet again--their connection to the Democrats.
The NOI and others are at least articulating that anger through the message
of nationalism.
With all the obvious problems of the NOI, nationalism is rooted in
the--legitimate, I think--perception that the situation of African-Americans
is analogous, in many ways, to that of a colonized people.
With the voices of the black left still weak, and often extremely academic
and "intellectual", it is difficult to connect pan-Africanism, socialism,
and other progressive perspectives to the masses.
Black progressives have worked very hard to build multi-racial alliances
with white progressives, who themselves often manifest the symptoms of white
supremacy and reflect the power structures of a white supremacist society,
especially in their refusal to give up aspirations to "lead" blacks and
these "coalitions."
Every bit of time, energy, and resources devoted by black progressives to
these black-white coalitions--a very resource and time intensive
activity--has taken away from direct contact with the communities in crisis.
That's the void that the NOI stands to fill, and is filling in many cases.
These are not judgements, but assessments.
The Republicans, who have taken power, have their own contradictions to deal
with... they are a coalition of factions, some theocratic, some
petit-bourgeois, some libertarian ideologues, some corporate, and some
fascist-like. Their popular appeal and their electoral strategies, ever
since Nixon's initiation of the southern strategy, has been an appeal to and
fueling of white resentment of perceived loss of privilege at the hands of
blacks. The centrality of racist ideology gives the proto-fascist elements
in the RP a special influence, partiularly in the realm of policymaking.
But if Democrats lose the loyalty of significant sectors of black voters,
and Republicans--while in power--can manage to hold together, this will have
very real and very devastating consequences. Just as we talk about how to
manage and organize when the inevitable crashes happen, we need to factor
these very likely IMHO political developments--unpalatable as they may
seem--into our organizng strategies.
Given the inordinate amount of influence the US government and US economic
establishment exercises over the rest of the world, this has implications
for everyone.
That's all I was saying.
Stan Goff
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