White Antiracist.org - White Antiracists and Capitalism

White Antiracists and Capitalism
As stated elsewhere, being a white antiracist means more than simply addressing racism when it occurs between individuals. The most effective white antiracists also examine the larger forces that permit racism to exist and go unchecked. White antiracists have historically spoken about the way oppressions such as racism, sexism, and classism intersect. They have contextualized their critique against the backdrop of an economic system that allows racism to live and often rewards those who engage in racist behavior. Below are a selection of quotes and excerpts from white antiracists - some of whom are profiled in these pages - who have incorporated an analysis of capitalism in their antiracist work. Virginia Durr: During the Depression, much of society blamed the poor for their own plight. “Durr blamed the northern corporations for not paying their workers better” (Brown, 2002, p.32). Durr wanted “an alternative economic system, because she felt that capitalism did not work. She wanted a just, democratic economic system, which she knew might be asking too much…she believed that corporations had to be controlled somehow; she didn't know what the solution was going to be” (Brown, 2002, p. 47). Herbert Kohl: Speaking about Berkeley , CA in 1977: “…most radical analysis that I've seen doesn't really understand this community. That is, it doesn't take the community as a whole. It either looks solely at the University or at oppressed parts of the community. To look at the whole community is to see America again. It brings up the very persistent thought that solutions will emerge only through a redistribution of the wealth of the community” (Brown, 2002, p. 128-129). And in 2000: “Kohl's criticism of capitalism remains as thoroughgoing as ever…He cannot understand or tolerate that people can live in a world where their comfort comes at the cost of other people's discomfort, and not care that this is so. Particularly, he does not understand the deep psychology of greed, of people's need to make more money than they can use and their willingness to consume lavishly, never saying, ‘I have enough.'” (Brown, 2002, p. 136). Mab Segrest: “…we cannot understand racism if we do not understand the anti-human virulence of capitalism” (1994, p. 230). We need a “less lonely society, where we think collectively about resources for the common good, rather than struggling individually against each other for material and psychic survival. What I mean is a more humane society, where our driving motive is abundant life for all rather than increasing extravagance for a few and suffering for many more. Nor do I think there is presently any complete blueprint for how this political and economic democracy would occur in the United States. We are called on to invent it, as the ‘New Left' set out to do thirty years ago” (1994, p. 242). Marilyn Buck: “This is different than people who think that everybody has the right to be equal in society but that doesn't necessarily require major social change. I don't think you can be a very good antiracist and stay there because it is limited. It doesn't take on capitalist society” (Thompson, 2001, p. 130). On antiracist trainings: “I think a lot of folks who do antiracist organizing, the racial sensitization, I think that is good. I know that it includes a lot of Black folks and Latinos. And it is absolutely legitimate. But it is not anticapitalist. It is not anti-imperialist. It assumes everything can work in the system” (Thomson, 2001, p. 319). Christine E. Sleeter: “I believe that we screen out what people of color try to tell us about white supremacy and our own role in reproducing it, because we fear losing material and psychological advantages that we enjoy. For 500 years, Europeans and their descendants have taken huge amounts of land, wealth, labor, and other resources from peoples of color around the world. With the exceptions of small, sporadic attempts at restitution…white Americans have never seriously questioned, returned, or repaid what we have taken…Further, we have not yet collectively created a compelling self-identity and sense of meaning that does not entail ravenous materialism and acquisition of power over others” (Sleeter, 1996, p. 258-259). “Breaking with whiteness would mean learning to share, listen, and learn from people who are not of European descent, with the aim of construction (or rediscovering) ways of life that are healthy and sustainable for everyone. Practically speaking, this can mean putting more energy into connecting with people than acquiring things, refusing to move to the suburbs, refusing to climb the corporate ladder of success, and supporting policies and actions that would redistribute social resources more equally. And practically speaking, this is highly political work, since it means challenging systems that support vested interests” (Sleeter, 1996, p. 264). The Chicago Surrealist Group: "The struggle for wilderness is inseparable from the struggle for a new society, which is inseparable from the struggle against racism, whiteness, and imperialism, which is inseparable from the struggle for the liberation of women, which is inseparable from the struggle for sexual freedom, which is inseparable from the struggle to emancipate labor and abolish work, which is inseparable from the struggle against war, which is inseparable from the struggle to live poetic lives and, more generally, to do as we please" (The Chicago Surrealist Group, 1996, p. 120). References Brown, Cynthia Stokes. (2002). Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights. New York: Teachers College Press. The Chicago Surrealist Group. (1996). "Three Days that Shook the New World Order the los angeles rebellion of 1992" in Ignatiev and Garvey (Eds.), Race Traitor, (p.103-121 ). New York, New York: Routledge. Segrest, Mab. (1994). Memoir of a Race Traitor. Boston: South End Press. Sleeter, Christine E. (1996). “White Silence, White Solidarity” in Ignatiev and Garvey (Eds.), Race Traitor, (p.257-265). New York , New York: Routledge. Thompson, Becky. (2001). A Promise and a Way of Life: White Antiracist Activism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

As stated elsewhere, being a white antiracist means more than simply addressing racism when it occurs between individuals. The most effective white antiracists also examine the larger forces that permit racism to exist and go unchecked. White antiracists have historically spoken about the way oppressions such as racism, sexism, and classism intersect. They have contextualized their critique against the backdrop of an economic system that allows racism to live and often rewards those who engage in racist behavior.

Below are a selection of quotes and excerpts from white antiracists - some of whom are profiled in these pages - who have incorporated an analysis of capitalism in their antiracist work.

Virginia Durr:

During the Depression, much of society blamed the poor for their own plight. “Durr blamed the northern corporations for not paying their workers better” (Brown, 2002, p.32). Durr wanted “an alternative economic system, because she felt that capitalism did not work. She wanted a just, democratic economic system, which she knew might be asking too much…she believed that corporations had to be controlled somehow; she didn't know what the solution was going to be” (Brown, 2002, p. 47).

Herbert Kohl:

Speaking about Berkeley , CA in 1977:

“…most radical analysis that I've seen doesn't really understand this community. That is, it doesn't take the community as a whole. It either looks solely at the University or at oppressed parts of the community. To look at the whole community is to see America again. It brings up the very persistent thought that solutions will emerge only through a redistribution of the wealth of the community” (Brown, 2002, p. 128-129).

And in 2000:

“Kohl's criticism of capitalism remains as thoroughgoing as ever…He cannot understand or tolerate that people can live in a world where their comfort comes at the cost of other people's discomfort, and not care that this is so. Particularly, he does not understand the deep psychology of greed, of people's need to make more money than they can use and their willingness to consume lavishly, never saying, ‘I have enough.'” (Brown, 2002, p. 136).

Mab Segrest:

“…we cannot understand racism if we do not understand the anti-human virulence of capitalism” (1994, p. 230). We need a “less lonely society, where we think collectively about resources for the common good, rather than struggling individually against each other for material and psychic survival. What I mean is a more humane society, where our driving motive is abundant life for all rather than increasing extravagance for a few and suffering for many more. Nor do I think there is presently any complete blueprint for how this political and economic democracy would occur in the United States. We are called on to invent it, as the ‘New Left' set out to do thirty years ago” (1994, p. 242).

Marilyn Buck:

“This is different than people who think that everybody has the right to be equal in society but that doesn't necessarily require major social change. I don't think you can be a very good antiracist and stay there because it is limited. It doesn't take on capitalist society” (Thompson, 2001, p. 130).

On antiracist trainings:

“I think a lot of folks who do antiracist organizing, the racial sensitization, I think that is good. I know that it includes a lot of Black folks and Latinos. And it is absolutely legitimate. But it is not anticapitalist. It is not anti-imperialist. It assumes everything can work in the system” (Thomson, 2001, p. 319).

Christine E. Sleeter:

“I believe that we screen out what people of color try to tell us about white supremacy and our own role in reproducing it, because we fear losing material and psychological advantages that we enjoy. For 500 years, Europeans and their descendants have taken huge amounts of land, wealth, labor, and other resources from peoples of color around the world. With the exceptions of small, sporadic attempts at restitution…white Americans have never seriously questioned, returned, or repaid what we have taken…Further, we have not yet collectively created a compelling self-identity and sense of meaning that does not entail ravenous materialism and acquisition of power over others” (Sleeter, 1996, p. 258-259).

“Breaking with whiteness would mean learning to share, listen, and learn from people who are not of European descent, with the aim of construction (or rediscovering) ways of life that are healthy and sustainable for everyone. Practically speaking, this can mean putting more energy into connecting with people than acquiring things, refusing to move to the suburbs, refusing to climb the corporate ladder of success, and supporting policies and actions that would redistribute social resources more equally. And practically speaking, this is highly political work, since it means challenging systems that support vested interests” (Sleeter, 1996, p. 264).

The Chicago Surrealist Group:

"The struggle for wilderness is inseparable from the struggle for a new society, which is inseparable from the struggle against racism, whiteness, and imperialism, which is inseparable from the struggle for the liberation of women, which is inseparable from the struggle for sexual freedom, which is inseparable from the struggle to emancipate labor and abolish work, which is inseparable from the struggle against war, which is inseparable from the struggle to live poetic lives and, more generally, to do as we please" (The Chicago Surrealist Group, 1996, p. 120).

References

Brown, Cynthia Stokes. (2002). Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights. New York: Teachers College Press.

The Chicago Surrealist Group. (1996). "Three Days that Shook the New World Order the los angeles rebellion of 1992" in Ignatiev and Garvey (Eds.), Race Traitor, (p.103-121 ). New York, New York: Routledge.

Segrest, Mab. (1994). Memoir of a Race Traitor. Boston: South End Press.

Sleeter, Christine E. (1996). “White Silence, White Solidarity” in Ignatiev and Garvey (Eds.), Race Traitor, (p.257-265). New York , New York: Routledge.

Thompson, Becky. (2001). A Promise and a Way of Life: White Antiracist Activism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.