[Marxism] Black Nationalism / BPP / etc.

[Adam <cleon42@xxxxxxxxx>]

First, apologies for the small post I made yesterday; I don't think I
got my point across, which shows the dangers of posting before my
morning caffeine kicks in.

Second, I really do have a problem with white people sitting around and
discussing whether Blacks are a nation or not with little-to-no Black
participation. To me, this seems a contradiction of even the most basic
concepts of self-determination. (This is principally why I made the
comment about it being like Jewish pacifists whining about the
Intifada.) I really wish Melvin was here, as I think his input would be
helpful. (If a little insulting at times. ;) )

The problem with this discussion--as it is every time it comes up, in
every group--is the binary thinking involved. Blacks are an oppressed
nation OR they are a specially oppressed sector of the overall working
class. We need to eliminate that kind of either/or thinking if we're
going to make any progress in evaluating the rather complex state of
affairs in the US.

One of the problems involved in evaluating whether Blacks are a nation
or not is the question of what defines a "nation." Some comrades are
discussing that now; however, the fact remains that the concept of a
"nation" is rather vague. As specific as we want to get--and I agree
that Stalin's pamphlet tries to be very specific--the reality is, much
of that evaluation is left up to judgement call. This is rather
obvious, judging by the disagreement on this list over the question.

I think the Black community can be accurately referred to as a nation.
I think we can ALSO accurately refer to Blacks as a specially oppressed
sector of the overall working class. I don't see these as being
mutually exclusive. I tend to agree with L. Proyect that any
revolutionary movement that takes power will have to include white,
Black, Latino, and other workers. In other words, it will by necessity
have to be multinational, multiracial, multigendered, etc.

This is why I find formulations like "race is central to EVERYTHING"
(as a Soli comrade put it recently) so problematic. They ignore the
complexity of the American situation and downplay issues of commonality
and class; of course, those who dismiss evaluations of Black
nationalism as "drooling over Blacks" make the same mistake, 180
degrees in the other direction. The difference being that one mistake
is merely an error in analysis, whereas the other is an adaptation to
racism. (Note: I am not accusing Josh of being a racist, but I do think
his position *is* an adaptation to a racist society that does not lead
to liberation for anyone. Lou Paulsen evaluated it fairly well, in my
opinion, so I won't pontificate over it too much.)

The issue of Black liberation is not the same as the Iraqis trying to
liberate themselves from American occupation. Iraqis can liberate
themselves nationally by expelling US forces; getting white cops out of
the ghetto won't liberate the Black nation in any meaningful way. The
Black nation in the US *cannot* be liberated without liberation from
capitalism for the *entire* working class.

Capital, in the United States, arose on the backs of slaves; as
capitalism developed, so developed the Black nation in the US. As a
result, the issue of race and national oppression of the Black
community is *inexorably* linked with the class struggle. To divide the
two, or to reduce political questions to one or the other, is to make a
dialectical error.

Getting back to my earlier point, we white folks sitting around trying
to "objectively" determine whether Blacks are a nation only gets us so
far. Ultimately, we have to recognize that the most advanced,
class-conscious, anti-capitalist layers of the Black community *are*
nationalists. This goes for everyone from Malcolm X to the Panthers to
the AAPRP, BWFJ, LRNA, etc. We *can't* ignore that--there is a
*subjective* factor to this nationality business as well; specifically,
the factor of self-determination.

Adam


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