Crux: Jim Crow

TW40

There are a lot of fair critiques in this section. Some points that resonated with me:

  • People using the label of “socialism” to dismiss valid concerns of a group (especially BLM). While you know I have my own personal concerns with socialism, there are definitely people who try to discredit any good faith criticism of American racial history by calling it “socialist” or “Marxist” instead of trying to work through these difficult racial issues that honestly can overlap with being suspicious of the government
  • The point about whiteness being a “blankness” in America is true, I agree with that

Some points to consider:

  • I think American “whiteness” is unique because it tries to have that absence of identity / memory (sense America is theoretically a nation of immigrants). Europeans (those actually from Europe like my family) view it differently because there is often a culture and ethnic memory for those groups. Eastern Europeans definitely do not view themselves as “blank” and we definitely have a heritage / memory. It informs a lot of my beliefs. The terrible treatment at the hands of the USSR telling my family that what the military police were doing (like jailing my father without trial) is good for the country and good for the working people, that informs many of our views. My suspicion of government isn’t paranoia, its the group memory that the USSR killed more Eastern Europeans than the Nazis. This may be addressed later but I do think that American whiteness is it’s own unique bird. I remember reading about slavery and the Jim Crow South as a young child and earnestly thinking to myself “these white people were crazy” like it was an entirely different racial / ethnic group.

TW46

I want to push back on the line that progressives always want progress (especially when it comes to race). I think that is sometimes true, but not always. While many on the left now want progress, abundance, and thriving lives for all, that wasn’t always the case. Expansive government power (with the government’s monopoly of violence enforcing it) was something that Southern Democrats loved in order to enforce Jim Crow and enforce racial hierarchies. That Southern Democratic coalition wanted to use the force of the state to keep minorities “in line.” In modern times, I agree that the racists fled Democrats and prefer conservatives, but I think that just shows that racists don’t actually care about the size of government, they just care about whatever group will give them the political power to enforce racial hierarchies. The fact the Trump is improving Republican votes with Black and Hispanic voters further muddies this whole picture.