[Peace-discuss] Universalism and Particularity: The Occupy Movement and Race

[C. G. ESTABROOK]

David--

Why are you participating in this "identity-politics" diversion?

Forty years ago, when it looked like issues of economics and  
inequality might actually penetrate the limits of allowable debate in  
American politics, liberals (and the Democrats - always a business  
party) hastily substituted diversity for equality as their announced  
goal.

Not that diversity isn't a good thing. But the US political  
establishment was using it to take the place of demands for economic  
equality. (And in the meantime they launched neoliberalism, which  
enforced economic inequality at a rapid and accelerating rate - that's  
what the Occupy movement opposes.)

In subsequent years, we heard much about the "trinity of oppression" -  
class, race, and gender.  But class is not like the other two.  
Conflicts of race and gender can in principle be solved by  
reconciliation, if not easily. But conflict between exploiter and  
exploited cannot - one or the other must be liquidated (the social  
role, if not the physical persons).

We all of course oppose racism, for political and personal reasons.  
But it's a great error to use that opposition to undercut the Occupy  
Movement.

Regards, Carl


Begin forwarded message:
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:03:20 -0600
> From: Karen Medina <kmedina67 at gmail.com>
> To: Peace List <peace at lists.chambana.net>
> Subject: [Peace] Universalism and Particularity: The Occupy Movement
> 	and Race / Tuesday, December 6, 2011 7-9:30 P.M. Department of  
> African
> 	American Studies 1201 West Nevada Street, Urbana, Illinois
> Message-ID:
> 	<CA+0uwiaf2p5ap5Z+RHEm0=Tc2zFEzJLCbpL9Nu=EH9FXVsrsTQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Universalism and Particularity: The Occupy Movement and Race
> Over the last 90 days the Occupy Movement has focused attention on the
> capitalist class? 40 year
> devastation of the working and middle classes. In the 1960s, corporate
> executives made 26 times workers,
> by 1980 it rose to 32 times; and in 2009 it was 263 times. Led by
> young largely white college graduates
> Occupy is part of a worldwide movement that is challenging global
> class disparities. Yet, as inspiring as the
> Occupy movement has been, like previous U.S. radical movements it
> seems mired on the rocky shores of
> race. Is the Occupy movement doomed to repeat the errors of the past?
> Can it move beyond seemingly
> universal ?colorblind? reformist proposals and engage the
> particularities of racialized oppression and chart
> a genuine struggle for a multiracial democracy?
> Tuesday, December 6, 2011
> 7-9:30 P.M.
> Department of African American Studies
> 1201 West Nevada Street, Urbana, Illinois
>
> Chair: Helen Neville, Departments of African American Studies &
> Educational Policy Studies
> Panelists: * Abdul Alkalimat, African American Studies and Graduate
> Program in Library and Information Sciences
> * Gene Vanderport, CU Socialist Forum and Illinois Educational  
> Association
> * Jermaine Light, Socialist Forum
> * David Johnson, Labor Notes and Vice President of the United  
> Electrical Workers
>

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