Re: African American History Month

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4. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH: NEW RACISM BASED ON CLASS, NOT
COLOR

By Nelson Peery

African American History Month, 2002 is celebrated in the midst of
economic, social and political changes that are reshaping our
world. The African Americans, along with the rest of the American
people, are facing new conditions and new problems as a result.

When fundamental things change, everything dependent upon them
must also change. This does not imply that results of change are
direct or immediate. However, scientific thinking demands that we
find the motivation for change, place such changes in their proper
context and make some estimate of their consequences.

The African American question has undergone great change since the
end of World War II. Few people today even attempt to describe the
question. Historically this description has been a question of
caste, a special question of class because of the color question,
a national question or a national-colonial question. Most
political activists assume that there has been no change in the
dynamics, and organizations continue to be formed around these
various conceptions.

These descriptions were based on observation over a long period of
time. What were some of these observations? The first was that
since the color line was the dominant factor, all African
Americans regardless of education or wealth were subjected to the
same oppression, segregation and discrimination. Secondly, that
segregation had produced the essential elements of a distinct
culture expressing an "African American people." The conclusion by
the Left was that racial discrimination could not be overcome
except by the destruction of the capitalist system and the
reconstruction of society on a socialist basis.

Four elements have intervened to change this situation. First and
foremost was the determined and militant struggle of the African
Americans themselves. Seldom in history has such a small group --
around 12 percent of the population -- carried out such a heroic
struggle against such a pervasive social ideology and against such
a brutal state apparatus of oppression. Without this element, none
of the other elements could have brought about change. The second
element was the mechanization of southern agriculture. That was
the basis of the freedom struggle. Third, the Cold War was the
context for the totality of the final stage of that struggle. The
struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States opened
doors that would have remained shut. The Soviets constantly used
African American oppression as one of their most effective
propaganda weapons in the struggle for allies in the "Third
World." Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson -- all were forced
by the State Department to take steps in dismantling legal
segregation. The fourth element was the introduction of
electronics in production and communications and the subsequent
globalization of the commodity and labor market.

Today, we must describe the African American question within this
context.

The end of one stage of the struggle came with the African
Americans using their newly won political power -- often in
alliance with progressive whites -- to elect their representatives
into the various organs of government. An example of this was the
situation around Carl Stokes who in 1967 had been elected the
first African American mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Black kids
walking through their changing neighborhood were attacked by
whites with baseball bats and one of the whites was stabbed to
death. (The stabber was eventually acquitted on self defense.) A
white mob prepared to storm the mayor's mansion. When white police
said they could not stop the mob, the black police who had
organized themselves to protect the mayor warned the white police
that they would open up with automatic weapons if the mob crossed
the last street between them and the mansion. Black police were
defending the black representative of the black community. Or take
the case of Harold Washington, former mayor of Chicago. With his
election, all the white council members save one formed a solid
bloc of opposition that practically stopped the city from carrying
on its business. The African Americans who won or were appointed
to important offices during this period were, essentially,
representatives of the African American community. They
represented "Black power."

It is clear that such outstanding persons as Colin Powell or
Condolezza Rice do not represent the African American community,
nor do they symbolize "Black power."

Profound economic and political changes consolidated America's
economic, political and military position as the world's sole
super power. For this superpower's government, racial
discrimination became a profitless, politically embarrassing
anachronism. Business organizations such as Denny's restaurants
learned by paying out millions of dollars that the government
would not defend nor tolerate blatant racial discrimination where
they were involved.

The Clinton administration is a case in point. No one can say
Clinton is a racist, and he is immensely popular amongst the
African Americans. Yet, he did more to damage the economic and
social stability of the African Americans masses than did most of
his blatantly racist predecessors. In order to stabilize the
declining profits of the rich, he was forced to transfer money
from the poor in the form of the welfare "reform" bill. The
African American masses are not simply Black, they are poor.
Clinton showed that poverty is a class rather than a color
question.

Why wasn't there a greater outcry from the African Americans as
the welfare bill went through the House and Senate? The African
American intellectual elite, the traditional spokespersons for the
community, was well on the road of integration into the ruling
class or at least secure in the military, governmental or business
bureaucracy that served the ruling class. They had no reason to
oppose such legislation. The so-called revolutionary movements
were too often led by highly paid professors who knew which side
of the bread the butter was on. They drove their Mercedes down to
the ghetto only on special occasions and had no reason to mobilize
the poor.

A selective "cultural" integration is taking place. If an African
American will think, talk, act and have the same motivations as
members of the ruling class, the doors are opening to them. The
scores of black generals, admirals and CEOs of big corporations,
the black politicians and governmental bureaucrats all testify to
this. Below them, a growing layer of black professionals have
practically no connection to the strivings and aspirations of the
vast mass of African Americans. As this elite -- the talented
tenth-- deserted the masses, there could be no effective
resistance.

The days of the "representative of the African American community"
and consequently of "Black power" are numbered. In the ghetto, the
leaders of the black masses cannot raise one single demand that is
not in the interests of the poor of all colors, and against the
interests of the wealthy no matter their color.

Does this indicate that racism is on the decline? Not at all. It
indicates that racism is changing its form. We must never forget
that the brutality of racism is and was not always directed solely
by color differences. The racist nationalism of the fascist
Japanese government against the peoples of Asia, or the slaughter
and enslavement of the Slavic peoples by fascist Germany are only
recent examples. In history we see racism in a religious garb as
well. The thing that is clear is that racism, no matter its
veneer, facilitates exploitation and is an integral part of
capitalism. Therefore, as the needs of capitalism change, the
forms of racism will change to accommodate it.

There is plenty of old-fashioned racism around and it will
continue. The thing revolutionaries must grasp is that a new form
of racism is developing. Change in social motion is difficult to
grasp because the content begins to change before its form. This
new racism is directed against the "ghetto Blacks" the "illegal
immigrant" and the white, so-called "trailer trash." In other
words, the class and cultural differences with the ruling class,
not color, is emerging as the ideological basis for the savage
economic assault against the poor.

The art of revolution lies in recognizing what is new and growing
and dealing with that, rather than remaining stuck with old ideas
and formulas even though they still appear strong and stable.

The most important contribution we can make for African American
History Month is to carefully examine the direction of our mass
work and our propaganda in relation to this new political
development.