{"id":375038,"date":"2018-08-27T05:35:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T04:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/beware-the-race-reductionist\/"},"modified":"2018-08-27T05:35:27","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T04:35:27","slug":"beware-the-race-reductionist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/beware-the-race-reductionist\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware the Race Reductionist"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

A hostage situation has emerged on the left. And progressive policies like Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, free public education, a Green New Deal, and even <\/span>net neutrality<\/span><\/a>, are the captives. <\/span><\/p>\n

The captors? Bad faith claims of bigotry. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to an increasingly popular narrative among the center-left, a dispiriting\u00a0plurality of progressives are\u00a0\u201cclass reductionists\u201d \u2014\u00a0people who believe that economic equality is a cure-all for societal\u00a0ills, and who, as a result, would neglect\u00a0policy prescriptions which seek to remedy identity-based disparities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, race and class are so interwoven that\u00a0any political project\u00a0that aims to resolve one while ignoring the other does a <\/span>disservice<\/span> to both. As Senator Bernie Sanders I-VT,\u00a0presumptive leader of the progressive movement,\u00a0<\/span>put it this spring<\/span><\/a> when I asked him about the never-ending race versus class debates: \u201cIt\u2019s not either or. It\u2019s never either or. It\u2019s both.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

From the full piece: “Ending racism is a necessary, critical goal. But that goal should be pursued in tandem with efforts to address the <\/span>effects<\/span><\/em> of racism. The wage gap, the health care gap, the education gap, the debt gap \u2014 all these disparities would be narrowed by progressive, intersectional economic programs. As popular opinion coalesces around\u00a0these policies, it\u2019s crucial that we not let our best impulses be weaponized against our interests, any more than conservatives weaponize the worst impulses of their constituents against theirs.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fear that identity-based issues\u00a0might be \u201cthrown under the bus\u201d in favor of more populist, \u201cuniversal\u201d policies is legitimate: The Democratic Party has certainly done as much in the recent past<\/a>\u00a0for causes less noble than class equality.\u00a0<\/span>But the irony is that\u00a0anxiety over class reductionism has led some to defensively embrace an equally unproductive and regressive ideology: Race reductionism. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re #online, like I am, you\u2019re probably already familiar with the main argument. It goes something like this: If a policy doesn\u2019t resolve racism \u201cfirst,\u201d it\u2019s at worst racist, and at best, not worth pursuing.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to one popular iteration of this theme, Medicare For All is presumptively racist and\/or sexist\u00a0<\/span>because it won\u2019t eliminate discriminatory point-of-service care, or fully address women\u2019s reproductive needs if it\u2019s not thoughtfully designed. Perhaps you remember Rep. James Clyburn\u2019s claim that a free college and university plan would \u201c<\/span>destroy<\/span><\/a>\u201d historically black colleges and universities. Maybe you\u2019ve heard that the minimum wage is \u201cracist\u201d because it \u201c<\/span>Kills Jobs and Doesn\u2019t Help The Poor<\/a>,<\/span>\u201d\u00a0or that it\u2019s\u00a0an act of <\/span>privilege<\/span><\/a> to care about Wall Street corruption, because only the wealthy could possibly mind what the banks do with the mortgages and pensions of millions of Americans. Perchance you\u2019ve even been pitched on the incredible notion that rooftop solar panels <\/span>hurt minority communities<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Libertarian journalist Conor Friedersdorf recently entered the\u00a0<\/span>fray<\/span><\/a> with a piece titled, \u201cDemocratic Socialism Threatens Minorities.\u201d His argument? That \u201ctop down socialism\u201d (which progressives want just about as badly as they want top down capitalism) would create a tyranny of the majority and put minorities at risk. Completely ignoring the market failures of our current system, and eliding the widespread prejudice and violence black Americans face under capitalism, he concern-trolls by imagining a world in which black women struggle to find suitable hair products. Of course, this is a world <\/span>we already live in<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Friedersdorf, though, was merely building an addition on a house of cards<\/span> first constructed <\/span><\/a>by Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential primary campaign: <\/span>\u201cIf we broke up the big banks tomorrow,\u201d she famously asked, \u201cwould that end racism? Would that end sexism? Would that end discrimination against the LGBT community? Would that make people feel more welcoming to immigrants overnight?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a daring and adroit deception:\u00a0<\/span>Ignore this structural <\/span><\/em>salve<\/span><\/em>\u00a0that would upset the status quo, <\/span><\/em>she implied<\/span>, because it won\u2019t resolve\u00a0that more personal, more visceral issue which goes straight to the heart of your identity.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Notice that\u00a0this trick\u00a0is aimed at policies\u00a0which would threaten significant corporate or entrenched interests: The insurance industry, the banking industry, the energy sector, lenders. As Berkeley Law professor and leading scholar on race Ian Haney-L<\/span>\u00f3pez observed as we discussed the motives behind this framing, mainstream Democrats, like Republicans, \u201care funded by large donors. Of course they\u2019re concerned about the interests of the top 1 percent.\u201d It\u2019s almost as if the real agenda here isn\u2019t ending racism, but deterring well-meaning liberals from policies that would upset the Democratic Party\u2019s financial base. <\/span><\/p>\n

Read the full article at The Intercept<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n