You are absolutely correct on all points, Pamela. Racism and white supremacy are genetically entrenched in capitalism and so-called democracy. An under-reported side effect of this is the fact that ameriKKKa incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world, and Black and Brown people are appallingly over-represented in this carceral abuse. And as you said, working class organizers MUST address this reality immediately!
Leon, the sad reality is that the folks I know who believe they can educate folks into a working class revolution do not seem able to consider that their strategy may not be working. They believe that the "identities" that divide us would not, if folks could only be educated into a class based solidarity. I'm an outlier and a skeptic - both that we can organize that way and also that even if we could that the end result will be better for Black people.
SEIU, which MLK called his favorite union, is a strong backer of democratic candidates who didn’t have a higher minimum wage or living wage on the platform in 2024. Trump’s executive orders especially the ones that stick through the Supreme Court “are a long-term blueprint to entrench racial capitalism and white democracy into law, economy, and digital governance... form a transnational strategy to sustain white rule.” I think white democracy is a long term trend since reconstruction to eviscerate the Fourteenth starting with corporate personhood. Good article and recommendations for a resistance that is strategic, structural, and global; the latter two components are visible on the campuses and in the axis of resistance especially the Houthis, the only ones upholding the Geneva Conventions which even the Swiss abandoned this week.
Pam, yes! Wow this piece really brought so much food for thought. Thank you for developing a context for this information that begins the project of narrative development. Having personally participated in a good number of movements from Antiwar to antiracism to resisting the huge impact of debt on mostly POC and other marginalized peoples. And I’ll tell ya what, I have always had a subliminal sense that what you write about here is in fact the case.
One last comment; your question had me reflecting on Isabel Wilkerson’ masterpiece Warmth of Other Suns where, in one chapter she dives into the northward immigration of Blacks to Chicago. At first the Polish immigrants who had been there for some time, mostly as laborers, initially worked and lived side by side with their new neighbors. As Wilkerson points out, it isn’t due to any divides, including race, that eventually has the Polish community turn on the Black community, but rather the industrial capitalists “bosses” who drive the wedge and create the eventual and brutal divisions that took place in that city.
So with that, I’d have to say that I believe that it’s the capitalist system that”intentionally” created the division.
I think they exploited a natural divide by making it visible. Someone has to be at the bottom. This is a visualized caste system. Possibly where she gets the idea for her book, Caste.
You are absolutely correct on all points, Pamela. Racism and white supremacy are genetically entrenched in capitalism and so-called democracy. An under-reported side effect of this is the fact that ameriKKKa incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world, and Black and Brown people are appallingly over-represented in this carceral abuse. And as you said, working class organizers MUST address this reality immediately!
Leon, the sad reality is that the folks I know who believe they can educate folks into a working class revolution do not seem able to consider that their strategy may not be working. They believe that the "identities" that divide us would not, if folks could only be educated into a class based solidarity. I'm an outlier and a skeptic - both that we can organize that way and also that even if we could that the end result will be better for Black people.
Apparently I’m a fan of your writing. Yes yes and yes
Thanks, Peter!
SEIU, which MLK called his favorite union, is a strong backer of democratic candidates who didn’t have a higher minimum wage or living wage on the platform in 2024. Trump’s executive orders especially the ones that stick through the Supreme Court “are a long-term blueprint to entrench racial capitalism and white democracy into law, economy, and digital governance... form a transnational strategy to sustain white rule.” I think white democracy is a long term trend since reconstruction to eviscerate the Fourteenth starting with corporate personhood. Good article and recommendations for a resistance that is strategic, structural, and global; the latter two components are visible on the campuses and in the axis of resistance especially the Houthis, the only ones upholding the Geneva Conventions which even the Swiss abandoned this week.
Yes, Gladwyn, it's going to be a long battle - not just 4 years...
Pam, yes! Wow this piece really brought so much food for thought. Thank you for developing a context for this information that begins the project of narrative development. Having personally participated in a good number of movements from Antiwar to antiracism to resisting the huge impact of debt on mostly POC and other marginalized peoples. And I’ll tell ya what, I have always had a subliminal sense that what you write about here is in fact the case.
One last comment; your question had me reflecting on Isabel Wilkerson’ masterpiece Warmth of Other Suns where, in one chapter she dives into the northward immigration of Blacks to Chicago. At first the Polish immigrants who had been there for some time, mostly as laborers, initially worked and lived side by side with their new neighbors. As Wilkerson points out, it isn’t due to any divides, including race, that eventually has the Polish community turn on the Black community, but rather the industrial capitalists “bosses” who drive the wedge and create the eventual and brutal divisions that took place in that city.
So with that, I’d have to say that I believe that it’s the capitalist system that”intentionally” created the division.
I think they exploited a natural divide by making it visible. Someone has to be at the bottom. This is a visualized caste system. Possibly where she gets the idea for her book, Caste.