Common Dreams xenophobia

[Charles Brown <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

*       From: paul phillips

The issue of anti-immigration and labour in historical perspective is
somewhat more complex that  just  racism, though obviously that played a
part.  I think one has to look at the material basis of this
anti-immigration sentiment in the late 19th century.  Anti-orientalism
played a significant part in the early organization of labour in British
Columbia but it was tied to the use of Chinese as strike breakers, low wage
competition, and willingness to work under unsafe conditions which
endangered the lives of European workers.  The following is a selection from
my book on BC labour "No Power Greater" (1967).

^^^^^

CB; I want to agree with your post. But I want to point out that racism is
almost never "just racism" but almost always exactly as it is here - racism
as division of the working class based on that racism , whereby the colored
workers are used to lower white workers wages. African slaves lowered the
wages of white workers in the U.S. Black workers were used by Henry Ford to
undercut white workers' wages in auto. The union was won at Ford when the
Black workers were convinced to join.  Vincent Chin , Chinese American was
killed because an autoworker thought he was Japanese in the era of
Japan-bashing because of their auto sales. There is very little racism
independent of the type of situation you describe in your post.

It is not an exaggeration to say that racism originates as the main strategy
by which the capitalists prevent the workers of the world from uniting.