Re: Fukuyama's racism

[Francis N Nesbitt <fnn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Following Chris' suggeston here are my objections to the excerpt:

>
> > Brimelow's fundamental mistake, it seems to me, is his assumption
> > that  non-European immigrants will end up like African-Americans -- hard
> > to  assimilate and therefore angry, resentful, and demanding of special
> > entitlements and set-asides. The truth of the matter, however, is that of
> > America's different racial and ethnic minorities, blacks are the only
> > group  that has not assimilated successfully. All the others will succeed
> > much like the Irish and Italians before them, provided they do not follow
> > the post -  civil-rights pattern of seeking socio-economic advancement
> > primarily through  political and legal action.
>

True to his "death of history" thesis, Fukuyama's drivel about
"assimilation" totally erases the history of slavery and racism.
Assimilation has, of course, become a buzz word is some academic circles
but is highly problematic when applied to Afro-Americans and other
blacks in America. Are we to believe, for instance, that it is
because "blacks are hard to assimilate" that scores of black churches
in the south have been torched in 1996? Or is christianity not part of
the culture that we are supposed to assimilate into? If not chritianity, then
maybe he is talking about the popular culture that we hear so much about.
However, the last time I looked, popular culture icons in the United
States seem to have black faces. Have michael jordan, janet jackson,
oprah winfrey, woopi goldberg, dennis rodman failed to assimilate? As for
the work culture, has the growing black middle class, the soldiers
(powell?), journalists, news anchors (gumbel), etc failed to assimilate?

Leaving aside for the moment the fact that racism makes nonsense of the
notion of assimilation, it is clear the Fukuyama is making the "model
minority" argument by suggesting that "other" immigrants, like Asians,
I imagine, will manage to become "white" like
the Irish and Italians. However, this argument too is pathetic. How
assimilated, for instance, are the poor and working class Irish
communities in Boston? Or, for that matter, the "white" working poor as a
whole?

On the issue of "anger" and "resentment" I suggest that Fukuyama visit a
gun show in the rural west and try to assimilate with the militias, KKK
freemen, or white power movement.

On the so called entitlements and set asides, I thought that the majority
of people on welfare were white women and their children? Isn't it white
women who benefitted most from affirmative action? and what about
corporate welfare?

It seems, therefore, that Fukuyama has appropriated the
discourse of racism in the hope that it will help him and his group get
ahead.

peace









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