Race and Class (pt 1)

Okay, I didn't really expect this blog to be all about race, culture and class, but I seem to be on a roll here, so might as follow up with my reflections on race and class, a thread I expect to pick up repeatedly.

So, I'll probably reviewing Eight Hours for What We Will tomorrow and will get into the dynamics of class (and comment on my frustration with the lack of an analysis of race) in the failure of the progressive impulse in America at the turn of the 20th century.

For now, let me comment on the interplay of race and class.

Essentially, the culture of the United States has long been defined by race.  America has been defined as "white", in part by defining itself as not "black".  Black, fearless reader, is not just the new black, but is, in fact, what white America is not.  (Perhaps not incidentally, there are some indications that this is beginning to change - for now, since the process is far from complete, I will assume that the "other" for America is still "Black.")  America, the home of the free, of course, is therefore also the home of the other - the not so free.

And given that we love capitalism - we believe in the power of free markets; we believe that those who deserve, get it; and those who don't . . . well, fuck those who don't (the not so free; the "other" . . . you see where I'm going with this, don't you?)

Okay - so for all y'all who want to argue with W.E.B.; that don't think that race matters in America anymore; that want to believe it is all about class, and race isn't an issue . . . hmm.  Race is class.  It doesn't matter if there are Black people in the middle class . . . the class that America most worries about is the Black working-class.  The White working-class, hell - they're practically bourgeois.  The Black working-class - they're practically criminal . . .

And this is what destroys the dream (and it is my dream) of a working-class revolution to remake the American economic system along lines more consistent with old-fashioned American values like justice and equality.  Perhaps the dream can be reborn; that a real movement of people in solidarity with each other - regardless of race - can be fashioned to challenge the system that keeps us all divided.  But we would need to create a common culture, crafted outside of, yet inclusive of, the cultures that we've been promised are ours.  Unfortunately, we seem to be too attached to our parochial interests to make that happen.