Reading the rec list this morning, at the top of the list I saw a diary entitled Arianna Huffington, White Privilege, Nihilism & Health Reform.
Two statements by the author caught my attention:
After over twenty years of organizing, it has become clear to me that many white progressives and progressives of color will be unable to work together on a sustained basis to build power. Our realities are not the same and it seems unlikely that they ever will be.
And this:
Finally, I am sick and tired of listening to Arianna Huffington speak on TV. She is uninformed and ahistorical. I expected the song "Barack the Magic Negro" to blare out after she was done with her latest rant.
More, after the fold.
The diary brought up important points I think we need to discuss civily: are opponents of the senate bill racists? Is Howard Dean a racist? Is Markos? Am I? Are we all just acting out of white privilege? (I know Markos is hispanic, but he's not African American and hispanics are on both sides of a black/white divide.) And is it impossible for white progressives and progressives of color to work together on a sustained basis?
I want to be clear upfront. I am white and male. I grew up poor and working class. As a child I received free lunches in Chicago (1960), but later grew up in a suburb. My father was an autoworker, a member of the UAW.
I am a white leftist and have been since at least 1970. I am on the left wing of the Democratic Party. A times in my life I have been a Marxist, although now I am pretty much a democratic socialist who supports reform capitalists on humanitarian and pragmatic grounds.
In college, I studied African history, learned an African language, and planned to go on and get a Ph.D. in African history, but went to law school instead after my daughter was born (to feed my child). I considered myself an anti-racist, but anyone can study a subject, so I probably give myself way too much credit for that.
I have worked on issues such as lead poisoning in the inner city and tutored high school students in the inner city in the late 1980s. But again, maybe I am just deluding myself. White guilt, whatever.
I now am middle class or upper middle class economically.
I agree with Markos and Howard Dean that the bill should be killed unless mandates are removed. That puts me into opposition to President Barack Obama, who identifies as an African American. If this were a white President, I am certain I would oppose him on this bill.
I am not black and have not experienced discrimination based on being black. I have white skin privilege, although I also have class privilege now too based on my profession and income. I did not grow up in the inner city or in rural poverty.
I have tried much of my life to build a better world, to help others, to be politically active, but that's just being a human being. Wanting to do the right thing may merely make my privileged role in society more acceptable to me.
I may be a "white progressive" that this diariest is talking about. I hope not.
many white progressives and progressives of color will be unable to work together on a sustained basis to build power
The author appearrs to suggest that we epistemically privilege the view point of certain African Americans, such as herself, on the health care insurance issue and refrain from opposing the senate bill because such opposition reflects our white privileged role in society. Race and class.
Then I look at icebergslim, who I personally met at 2007 Ykos. She also identifes as African American and fought like hell for the nomination and then election of Barack Obama. She wants to "kill the bill" also.
More data. Not all African Americans agree. If I privilege an opinion based on race and class, how do I determine which one to privilege over my own?
I think this is the wrong way:
After over twenty years of organizing, it has become clear to me that many white progressives and progressives of color will be unable to work together on a sustained basis to build power. Our realities are not the same and it seems unlikely that they ever will be
But I am white. I understand the history and I care.
I fundamentally disagree with the diarist on this statement. I think this is a mean, cruel, and harmful thing to say.
I expected the song "Barack the Magic Negro" to blare out after she was done with her latest rant.
I don't think Arriana Huffington is racist. I just thinks she disagrees with President Obama on this issue. But she can defend herself.
There is a bigger issue here. Are many white and black progressives incapable of allying?
If so, what should be done about it?
The election of Barack Obama suggests that the answer is "No" but maybe not. Male African American unemployment approaches 30% and there have not been a lot of diaries about it here. I wrote about African American unemployment in general in a diary a few weeks ago, but there have not been many diaries:
NAACP, La Raza, and AFL-CIO Call on Obama to Create More Jobs
African-American leaders say it makes sense to pressure the president on jobs because the unemployment rate for blacks has jumped to 15.7 percent, from 8.9 percent when the recession started 23 months ago. That compares with 13.1 percent for Hispanics and 9.5 percent for whites.
The black unemployment rate has climbed above 20 percent in several states, reaching 23.9 percent in Michigan and 20.4 percent in South Carolina.
I will add a poll. Please be civil in your discussion. While I disagree with the diarist, it IS a real issue. We are different genders, ethnicities, class origins, current class, life experiences, etc.
I think African American and white progressives can and should work together.