Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Social formations

Some of the commentators have been talking about subconscious or implicit racism in the nypd and in Brooklyn. One person called it "white supremacist 2.0", because even some minorities have adopted this mind frame. I received an email from a reader who pointed me to a white anti-racist group called racetraitor.org. On their web page under the "what we believe" label it says that they believe that:

"
The white race is a historically constructed social formation. It consists of all those who partake of the privileges of the white skin in this society. Its most wretched members share a status higher, in certain respects, than that of the most exalted persons excluded from it, in return for which they give their support to a system that degrades them. "

They went on to say that

"
The key to solving the social problems of our age is to abolish the white race, which means no more and no less than abolishing the privileges of the white skin. Until that task is accomplished, even partial reform will prove elusive, because white influence permeates every issue, domestic and foreign, in US society. The existence of the white race depends on the willingness of those assigned to it to place their racial interests above class, gender, or any other interests they hold. The defection of enough of its members to make it unreliable as a predictor of behavior will lead to its collapse. RACE TRAITOR aims to serve as an intellectual center for those seeking to abolish the white race. It will encourage dissent from the conformity that maintains it and popularize examples of defection from its ranks, analyze the forces that hold it together and those that promise to tear it apart. Part of its task will be to promote debate among abolitionists. When possible, it will support practical measures, guided by the principle, Treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity."

This sounds highly controversial. So much so that they got an email from a 17 year girl that read

"
Dear Race Traitor:
I read your statement "What We Believe." I am a sixteen-year-old white girl and so far as I know I have never done anything wrong to any person of another color. Why do you hate me simply because I have white skin? You say you want to abolish the white race. You people are as bad as the Ku Klux Klan.
A reader"

They responding by saying

"
Thank you for writing. You have misunderstood our meaning. We do not hate you or anyone else for the color of her skin. What we hate is a system that confers privileges (and burdens) on people because of their color. It is not fair skin that makes people white; it is fair skin in a certain kind of society, one that attaches social importance to skin color. When we say we want to abolish the white race, we do not mean we want to exterminate people with fair skin. We mean that we want to do away with the social meaning of skin color, thereby abolishing the white race as a social category. Consider this parallel: To be against royalty does not mean wanting to kill the king. It means wanting to do away with crowns, thrones, titles, and the privileges attached to them. In our view, whiteness has a lot in common with royalty: they are both social formations that carry unearned advantages."

Her response was
"
Thank you for your explanation. I see what you mean, and I am sorry I jumped to conclusions."

What do you guys think?

12 comments:

Carol said...

This is why Glen Beck had a hard time defining what the white culture is without sounding like a racist. I don't think society wants to deal with that issue. They would rather sweep it under the rug. It is true. There is no scientific basis for the racial categories. It's a socially base structure with plenty of players who sees no problem with the status quo.

Kwame said...

Just look at the police practices and you can see that the system was created to serv and protect white power structure. Think about this. The stop and frisk policy of the nypd. If I were to tell you on any given Saturday night you go down to Williamsburg stop 100 hipsters randomly. What would be the percentage of them carying some type of contraband. Now do the same for black youth in bed stuy like the nypd has been doing. I'll bet any amount of money, my life savings that the percentage of hipsters found with drugs would be higher than 100 random black youth. Now if there was really a so called war on drugs and the nypd really did want to take drugs of the streets. Why are they not stopping random hipsters of the streets of Williamsburg?

Ohpleeeas said...

I don't believe that hipsters are part of the white power structure. So there goes your theory

Kwame said...

Hipsters are very much part of the white power structure. So much so that they are being used as an anchor for gentrification. Are there hipsters who are anti-establishment who want nothing to do with this white power structure? Yes. I'm sure there are. At the same time I think most hipsters enjoy their white priviledge they just won't admit it. As a matter of fact I think most white people are like hipsters, just like a hipster would never admit to actually being a hipster. Most white people would never admit to benefit from a white supremacist power structure. It's suppose to be unspoken.

loydgrew said...

One thing I should add is that they don't consider themselves to be "white anti-racist" They don't believe that there is such a thing called the "white race" so they don't refer to themselves as white. We have Irish, Jews, Italians, Greeks etc. It was not until they moved to America that they became "white". I read through the whole website and I think they called themselves New Abolitionist.

sade said...

As far as I'm concern, this is one of the main reason if not the main reason black/white marriages and dating are still very much taboo. A white person man or woman will be look upon as a defector and traitor for dating a black person. Most Black people have very strong pride in the u.s and has never adopted the latin american model. (Marrying white to better the race.). Contrary to what the media is portraying, most African Americans are not checking for a white mate. If you look at NBA wives website the majority of the NBA players are married to black women. But in Latin America even Hugo Chavez was married to a white woman. Bettering themselves and being the conscience of America is a much stronger concept within the African America Community. Most know the whole concept of implicit white supremacy is bullshit and want no part of it. African Americans are not in the business of kissing ass. They tell it like it is. The women are often said to have an attitude. The men will look at a racist and tell him to step of. While some in other minorities are fighting to be white by proxy or enter into the white club, Most African Americans are still fighting to stand on their own and will have it no other way. They want to be respected as human beings with no exceptions or proxies. The irony in all this is that without the hard work of African Americans during the civil rights era and till this day, the Asians, Indians, Hispanics, Africans and Caribbean Blacks who look down upon African Americans wouldn't even be here.

Anonymous said...

Most Black people have very strong pride in the u.s and has never adopted the latin american model. (Marrying white to better the race.).

No disrespect, but this is BS. The only reason Blacks in the U.S. are not marrying out of their race at the same rates as their Latin American brethren is because of the anti-miscegenation laws that existed in the U.S. for decades, laws that were BRUTALLY enforced by whites.

They couldn't practice "marrying white to better the race" because whites here didn't want us to. In Latin America, not only were blacks allowed to marry outside the race, it was ENCOURAGED by both races. At the same time here in the US, Black men were hung from trees with their testicles cut off for being with a white woman.

Black Americans have the same color issues as all blacks the diaspora. They are only recently (literally) catching up when it comes to interracial dating, and it's only going to be grow.

Kwame said...

If I'm not mistaken theseanti-miscegenation have been of the books for almost 50 years. African Americans are still not marrying white at the same rate as Asians or Hispanics. The reasons for it are very complex. The main reason I think is that African Americans see what white supremacism is- tottal and complet bullsheet. The notion of marrying white to better la raza is not something the African American community cares about . Why would they want to keep a system, based on a myth of the superiorty of a made up social structure that was created to oppress and enslave them. A black male who marries a white woman is not look upon as a credit to the African American community. That's just a fact . It's not a credit . It's very much a liabilty. I would even say that a black male who marries a white woman has essentialy commited political suicide if his aspirations were for public life. Look at the president. Do you honestly believe that he would have gotten the same support from the black community if he had married a blonde hair blue eye woman? The facts are that black people are a direct threat to white supracism. That's why they have the one drop rule and lynchings of black men during the Jim crow days. A white women who dates a black man will automatically be look upon as a race traitor.

Anonymous said...

Being a race traitor is not all that bad. Treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity. At one time Greeks, Italians, the Irish and Jews were not white. They became white in return for their support of the white power structure. White is not a race. It's was created in America for the sole purpose of oppression.

Sade said...

If Barack Obama was married to a white woman it would be president John McCain or Hilary Clinton. Let's not kid ourselves here. The message and image would be too strong for too many African Americans. At the same time would it also be fair to say that if bush or bill Clinton were married to black women would they also have been president? Not very likely either.

Lester said...

An African American who dates a white person will have to go out of their way to prove that they are not loyal to the white supramacist structure. They will have to prove that they don't want to be white by proxy or trying to be an honory white. To call an African American an honory white is an insult. But if you refer to an Asian or Hispanics as a model minority or honory white some will take it as a compliment. Notice the many times African Americans complain about being said to be "articulate" and "not like all the other blacks" that is the biggest insult aside from using the n-word that you can say to a black person

Anonymous said...

I don't think true intergration is possible as long as there is a white race. It's an oxymoron. In the past the concept of the white race was created in order to keep certain people out(blacks,Jews, Italians, Greeks etc) and certain people could get in (Greeks, Italians, Irish etc) as long as they prove their loyalty to the system. Now we also have people who are not considered white (Asians, Latinos, Indians etc) who may in the future become white as long as they show loyalty to the white supremacist culture. The only way to truely break that cycle is in fact to abolish the concept of the white race.