Seth writes: I'm white, and I'd like to say that many white people don't think twice about the meaning of being white, socially or individually. Which validates, in my view, the truism that propaganda works best when people don't know that it's happening. That said, I'm not sure that, as Stan writes, "White workers must (1) expereince the full weight of the crisis of the system before they are shaken from their ideological inertia," is necessarily the only means for them to address the rot of white racism. An economic downturn can just as easily strengthen white racism, no? At any rate, white racism is very complex and powerful, a mixture of hatred and envy, and much more. Thanks for your contributions, Charles and Stan. Regards, Seth From: Charles Brown Subject: [CrashList] Struggle against racism in the U.S. Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 09:33:03 -0800 [EMAIL PROTECTED] know. I know. When I was a member of the CP I constantly reinforced, reiterated, restated... what white and black workers had in common. Unity and all that. But I papered over differences in the process, and that was dishonest of me. We were oversimplifying a historical development and and existing reality in order to make it conform more closely to an oversimplified orthodoxy. For reasons that would take far too much space in this reply, I have come more and more to believe that the struggle for African-Americans is not one of unity with white workers--which is holding African-Americans back in many respects--but for self-determination. Yes, black folk have a common enemy with white workers, etc. But the majority of white workers--now--are collaborating with the enemy, so to speak, in the oppression of blacks, and my own experience tells me there's no end in sight of that. White workers must (1) expereince the full weight of the crisis of the system before they are shaken from their ideological inertia, and (2) will only make equal alliances with black folk when black folk have enough political power to hold them accountable. So, for me, the struggle, the central struggle in the USA, is the fight for black political power--first. And I believe this struggle has much of the character of a nationalist struggle. (((((((((((( CB: I think Stan ,as a white comrade, makes a very good statement here. It is very uniting for a white person to affirm Black power. Many and most white people are afraid of Black power, so Stan's affirmation of that alone is an important political example to follow. Also, honesty and frankness is very important in working out these issues. I do think that Stan and whites like Stan, with his advanced thinking on racism, are important in the struggle with other whites to give up their racism. So, after some rest from that struggle, I hope Stan will consider going back into that fray, as impossible as it may seem to succeed in ending racism and collaborationism among white workers. _______________________________________________ Crashlist website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com _______________________________________________ Crashlist website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
