On 4/20/07, Yoshie Furuhashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 4/20/07, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> > Looking at what Marx wrote, you
> > can probably find far more negative statements about Judaism in his
> > early writings than in populist literature of Bryan's times, to say
> > nothing of prejudiced remarks (such as "the Jewish nigger") Marx made
> > in his letters.
>
> In one of the appendices of his KARL MARX'S THEORY OF REVOLUTION, Hal
> Draper presents a good analysis of Marx's anti-Semitism that also
> applies to his racism: sure Marx was racist and anti-Semitic, but then
> again so was almost everyone else at the time.
>
> In addition, these attitudes are hardly essential to his thinking: his
> thought becomes more coherent and stronger if you drop these
> disgusting parts of it.
I agree with you about racism and anti-Semitism. Whatever prejudices
Marx had were not only not part of the essentials of his theory but
were contradicted by it.
It's a little more difficult question when it comes to the labor of
women. There's a running thread -- a thin one, to be sure -- about
women workers in Marx's writings that make male workers the center of
proletarian struggles, and women's labor, as well as children's labor,
is presented as an instrument for lowering wages. Unlike racism and
anti-Semitism, rare among leftists today, ideas about women's roles in
society are various among leftists, even feminists, as I mentioned in
another posting, for instance regarding protective legislation.
> BTW, if individuals of the African-American persuasion [ ;-) ] are
> allowed by US society to use the generally banned n-word in
> conversations with each other, why couldn't Marx use anti-Semitic
> terms in conversation with his fellow Jews?
It's not impossible that Marx criticized Judaism thinking of himself
as an insider, as Blacks might use the word "nigger" in rap and the
like. But his father had already converted to Christianity, to the
Lutheran Church, and I don't know if Marx was in touch with Jewish
communities (those who retained their faith and social identity) of
his days at all. One of his daughters, Eleanor, however, was clear
about her Jewish identity: "Eleanor translated Prosper Lissagaray's
history of the Commune, traveled extensively in the United States to
research her study of The Working-Class Movement in America, and
sought, in her brief life, to defend the hope of international
solidarity. She wore a crucifix in honor of Ireland's rebels, but,
unlike her father, never denied her Jewish ancestry: an orator endowed
with the talent of an actress, she once appeared before an audience of
East Enders as a radical 'Jewess'" (Dean Ferguson, "Favorite Color:
Red," <http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/ferguson150407.html>).
Lastly, looking at Franz Mehring's biography of Marx, it seems to me
that thoughts about Jews and Judaism among socialists even in the
early 20th century, after Marx's days, were still quite negative:
<http://www.marxists.org/archive/mehring/1918/marx/ch01.htm>.
--
Yoshie
This is station Yod Heh Vau Heh bringing you 'Jews You Can Use!'
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"This debate around anti-Semitism is a diversion from the main issue
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