Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Enduring Solidarity of Whiteness
The Atlantic ^ | February 8, 2016 | Ta-Nehisi Coates

Posted on 02/08/2016 4:08:01 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Black poverty is fundamentally distinct from white poverty--and so cannot be addressed without grappling with racism.

There have been a number of useful entries in the weeks since Senator Bernie Sanders declared himself against reparations. Perhaps the most clarifying comes from Cedric Johnson in a piece entitled, "An Open Letter To Ta-Nehisi Coates And The Liberals Who Love Him." Johnson's essay offers those of us interested in the problem of white supremacy and the question of economic class the chance to tease out how, and where, these two problems intersect. In Johnson's rendition, racism, in and of itself, holds limited explanatory power when looking at the socio-economic problems which beset African Americans. "We continue to reach for old modes of analysis in the face of a changed world," writes Johnson. "One where blackness is still derogated but anti-black racism is not the principal determinant of material conditions and economic mobility for many African Americans."

Johnson goes on to classify racism among other varieties of -isms whose primary purpose is "to advance exploitation on terms that are most favorable to investor class interests." From this perspective, the absence of specific anti-racist solutions from Bernie Sanders, as well as his rejection of reparations, make sense. By Johnson's lights, racism is a secondary concern, and to the extent that it is a concern at all, it is weapon deployed to advance the interest of a plutocratic minority....

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: blacks; economy; poverty; reparations; thugculture
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-67 last
To: Travis McGee

Well, Whites have committed mass suicide in the form of Economic Suicide: It’s called diversity and racial quotas.

These will be the death of the West, and with it the deaths of morality, competence, science, etc.


61 posted on 02/09/2016 8:58:07 AM PST by T-Bone Texan (The economic collapse is imminent. Buy staple food and OTC meds now, before prices skyrocket.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: trisham

No doubt, however, if everyone raised in such an environment was given a platform to spew their perspective on race, we’d be in an even bigger mess. Jmho.


62 posted on 02/09/2016 11:04:49 AM PST by AllAmericanGirl44
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: AllAmericanGirl44

I hear you.


63 posted on 02/09/2016 11:07:37 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

White people: the un-racists.

Not doing something stupid with race beats out doing something stupid with race, all hollow.


64 posted on 02/11/2016 8:13:41 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

The demon rats have made a very lucrative business out of poverty beginning with lyndon johnson and it continues today and is a monster sucking at the trough of the AMERICAN TAXPAYER. They have even created a black plantation owners society to over see this criminal op. The message is continue to blame the white population for not doing enough and being racist to this day no matter how much money we siphon from them


65 posted on 02/27/2016 3:23:05 AM PST by ronnie raygun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: riri

Of course they’ll move there and then say, “ya know, the only problem here is that everyone’s too conservative” and then they’ll start voting in liberals.


66 posted on 03/06/2016 9:09:24 AM PST by TradicalRC (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Black poverty is fundamentally distinct from white poverty

No.

It's not.

And Ta-Nehisi Coates is a bitter, twisted racist for saying it is.

67 posted on 03/06/2016 9:11:20 AM PST by Lazamataz (I'm an Islamophobe??? Well, good. When it comes to Islam, there's plenty to Phobe about.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-67 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson