Charles -- You appear to have racism without any racists. In other words, there is an absence of any intentionality in your analysis, and you are using the term "racism" as a mere descriptive terms to describe a social phenomena, regardless of the causation, in which the allocation of economic wealth within a selected unit is not proportional to a selected racial/ethnic category. I suppose you could say that anybody who acquiesces in or accepts such a "racist" society would be a "racist," but what is the point of that? To most people, the words "racism" and "racist" are emotionally laden words with little applicablity to your use of the words.
David Shemano --- Original Message--- To: lbo-talk <[email protected]>, [email protected] From: c b <[email protected]> Sent: 8/19/2011 8:38AM Subject: [Pen-l] Are Conservatives racist ? >> Abates conclusion, she ponders the future of the conservative movement >> >in relation to the grassroots enthusiasm generated by John McCains choice >> >of Sarah Palin as his running mate during the 2008 presidential campaign. >> >She focuses attention on the racists drawn to Palins campaign stopsand >> >also on the racism of those who have shown a high degree of antipathy >> >towards Obama since his election. This is too typical. Whereas it should >> >come as no surprise that liberal pundits emphasize racism as the central >> >animating factor in the modern American conservative movementthey are, >> >after all, drawn to the sensationalthat serious scholars spend so much time >> >analyzing the racism of the conservative movement is unfortunate. Race is >> >only one of many factors that bind the modern American conservative movement >> >together, and not the most important such factor. >> Race is >> >only one of many factors that bind the modern American conservative movement >> >together, and not the most important such factor. >> >> ^^^^^ >> CB: The last sentence above articulates well a fundamentally wrong >> proposition. It is the basis for racism on the Left today. White >> supremacy is the >> linchpin or most important factor animating the right in the US , >> along with anti-socialism. Fomenting racism remains the main method by >> which the bourgeoisie divide the working class. Retaining the >> traditional American racial hierarchy of "Light at the top and Dark at >> the bottom" in a continuum is the first principle of American reaction >> today still. Left >> radicals who accommodate conservative racism in failing to oppose >> vigorously it Including as directed against Obama ( the Tea Party >> being >> only the most blatantly racist section of conservatives) practice left >> racism. It amounts to a theory of post-racial society on the left. >> The fact that Obama espouses post-racial society theory does not >> relieve white radicals from political responsibility to defend racist >> "attacks" on Obama. >> >> Racism is not in this context "personal" dislike of Mexicans or Black >> people or Arabs. It is the institutionalized and trans-generational >> economic, political and social advantages of white people in general >> over people of color. That there is a larger "middle class"/ poor >> divide among Black people does not abate the general advantage of >> white over Black. It is a non sequitur to say that because there is a >> larger Black middle class that espouses petit bourgeois politics does >> not change the overall sociological fact of people of color having >> average lower conditions of life than whites in virtually every >> measure of the quantity and quality of life, income, wealth, >> morbidity, mortality, education, employment et al. Obama being >> President or espousing post-racialism does not change this overarching >> social fact. Nor does it excuse authentic radicals, white radicals in >> the first place, from the political responsibility to lead the fight >> to overcome this fact. Liberals won't do it. A major lesson of the >> "60's" that this issue differentiated white radicals from white >> liberals. Tom Hayden demonstrates a "60's" radical's wisdom on this >> issue in the article below. >> >> The fact that Obama is a Democratic does not change this conclusion. >> Elevating opposition to the Democratic Party above the struggle >> against white supremacy poisons the white radical ideology today. >> >> >> >> In Decrying Obama's Centrism, Drew Westen Ignores Role of Race >> >> Tom Hayden >> August 9, 2011 >> http://www.thenation.com/article/162642/decrying-obamas-centrism-drew-westen-igno >> res-role-race >> >> Drew Westen's brilliant--and strategically placed--essay >> "What Happened to Obama?" which appeared in the New York >> Times on Sunday, leaves out an all-important factor in >> discussing the president's disappointing centrism: race. >> >> When I asked Westen about this omission, he replied in an >> e-mail today that it was "mostly space" that caused him to >> ignore a "great question." Westen, a white professor at >> Emory University, helped Obama with the renowned speech on >> race he delivered as candidate in Philadelphia in 2008. >> Westen is the author of The Political Brain, an extremely >> influential text on how emotions color voter thinking and >> behavior. >> >> In my own thinking and writing, race always has been the >> primary prism through which to understand Obama. He became >> the first African-American president, with 95 percent of >> the African-American vote and support from the vast >> majority of people of color, young voters and white >> liberals. But he did so by claiming that America was >> entering a "post-racial" era as well as a post-partisan >> one. This theme carried enormous appeal and proved >> critical to his victory--but it was never completely true. >> And it prevented Obama from fully identifying with the >> civil rights movement's spirit and legacy. In becoming a >> centrist, Obama forfeited the ability to identify in a >> full-throated way with the progressive liberalism that >> contributed to making his presidency possible. The tragedy >> is that the only way Obama could become the first black >> president was by distancing himself from race (in the same >> way, I would argue, that Hillary Clinton was under >> pressure to adapt to supposedly white male standards by >> heartily drinking shots of liquor and projecting her >> hawkishness). >> >> Westen disagrees, but only partly. He writes "I'm not >> convinced by the 'I don't want to be the angry black man >> argument.' I think this conflict aversion runs much >> deeper. He's not afraid of looking angry at the left >> because he knows that they won't fight back." But Westen >> also ultimately agreed on the salience of race: "I think >> what the Philadelphia speech showed is just what every >> study cited in my book and every electoral study I've done >> since has shown, which you may be alluding to, namely that >> by not talking about race, we get into a lot more trouble >> than by acknowledging the elephant in the room, on a host >> of issues." >> >> To take a current example of the elephant in the room, >> Obama's judicial appointments are more diverse than any >> other president. Nearly half his ninety-seven confirmed >> nominees, according to the New York Times, are women, >> compared to 23 percent under Bush and 29 percent under >> Clinton; 21 percent are African American compared to 7 >> percent under Bush and 16 percent under Clinton; 11 >> percent are Latino, compared 9 percent under Bush and 7 >> percent under Clinton; and 7 percent are Asian American, >> compared to only 1 percent under both Bush and Clinton. >> Obama has appointed two women to the US Supreme Court, >> including the first Latina, and the first openly gay man >> to the federal bench in the Southern New York district. >> But the Obama administration rarely advertises that his >> record on these issues is more progressive than any >> previous president. His advocates commonly stress the >> competence of the nominees while avoiding rhetoric that >> might sound like the president favors affirmative action >> quotas. But the Republican and conservative opposition >> fiercely stresses its coded racial objections. The >> director of Committee for Justice, the conservative legal >> lobby on judicial appointments, Curt Levey, says that >> "other races, to some degree, are getting stiffed" and >> judicial standards are being lowered. As a result of GOP >> Senate opposition, only ninety-sevcen of Obama's nominees >> have been confirmed, a pace well behind that of Bush or >> Clinton. >> >> Obama's most vociferous opponents have been able to launch >> outrageous racially charged attacks with little worry that >> they will be called racist, because that would violate the >> "post-racial" spirit of the times. About half the >> Republican Party (and many Democrats) claim he's an >> African intruder who wasn't even born here, the original >> Illegal Alien. A Washington pundit commented that it was >> strange for him to vacation in Hawaii instead of the >> Hamptons. When Obama said the Cambridge police "acted >> stupidly" for arresting a Harvard African-American >> professor in his own home, a national uproar ensued. >> Dinesh D'Souza claimed Obama's roots were in African and >> socialist anti-colonialism, a charge repeated by Newt >> Gingrich. Michelle Obama became a Black Panther in the >> minds of many. >> >> Most of the media and many Democrats were tongue-tied in >> response either because they accepted the "post-racial" >> model, or were too timid to call these charges by their >> right name, which was racist. When the NAACP issued a >> statement accusing the Tea Party of harboring racists, >> there was a torrent of outrage from the virtually >> all-white organization. When the Department of Homeland >> Security's 2009 report predicting an increase in >> right-wing violence precisely because of the election of >> an African-American president coupled with economic >> recession met with ferocious right-wing criticism, >> Secretary Janet Napolitano meekly withdrew the report. How >> many spoke out in defense of the report's conclusions? >> >> I believe the existence of deep racist currents in America >> explain much of Obama's caution--and his success. This is >> the source of his political centrism and what Westen >> describes as his "risk-aversion." We are at a demographic >> tipping-point in our inevitable evolution into a >> multi-racial, multicultural, multi-lingual society. If >> Obama survives eight years in office, he will preside over >> much of this troubled transition. Ironically, he will be >> the magnet of hatred for his opposition while being >> derided as too moderate by his support base. The parallels >> may be with Abraham Lincoln. >> >> I once thought that racism was a declining vestige of an >> old order in a new America--that was in 1961, when I was a >> Freedom Rider and journalist in places like Georgia and >> Mississippi. Today I am no longer sure. I wish that Drew >> Westen had not ignored these questions for "space >> reasons." I find it impossible to discuss "what happened >> to Obama" without their inclusion. >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >>
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