[Marxism] (fwd) Obama v Palin : A Story Of Two Americas

[Ruthless Critic of All that Exists]

On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 8:34 AM, Les Schaffer <schaffer at optonline.net> wrote:
> [forwarded for Einde]

> I thought a long time before I posted that message precisely because of
> my doubts about my interpretation of teh articloe. I do know that a
> Black person has to be so much better qualified than a White person to
> be even considered for a position at any level.

For a counterargument to this type of reasoning, see:


WALTER BENN MICHAELS


New Left Review 52, July-August 2008

<http://www.newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2731>

"[...].After half a century of anti-racism and feminism, the us today
is a less equal society than was the racist, sexist society of Jim
Crow. Furthermore, virtually all the growth in inequality has taken
place since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965—which means
not only that the successes of the struggle against discrimination
have failed to alleviate inequality, but that they have been
compatible with a radical expansion of it. Indeed, they have helped to
enable the increasing gulf between rich and poor.

"Why? Because it is exploitation, not discrimination, that is the
primary producer of inequality today. It is neoliberalism, not racism
or sexism (or homophobia or ageism) that creates the inequalities that
matter most in American society; racism and sexism are just sorting
devices. In fact, one of the great discoveries of neoliberalism is
that they are not very efficient sorting devices, economically
speaking. If, for example, you are looking to promote someone as Head
of Sales in your company and you are choosing between a straight white
male and a black lesbian, and the latter is in fact a better
salesperson than the former, racism, sexism and homophobia may tell
you to choose the straight white male but capitalism tells you to go
with the black lesbian. Which is to say that, even though some
capitalists may be racist, sexist and homophobic, capitalism itself is
not.

"This is also why the real (albeit very partial) victories over racism
and sexism represented by the Clinton and Obama campaigns are not
victories over neoliberalism but victories for neoliberalism:
victories for a commitment to justice that has no argument with
inequality as long as its beneficiaries are as racially and sexually
diverse as its victims." [...]

Full: <http://www.newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2731>