Race – Green Social Thought

Exploitation and Expropriation, or Why Capitalism Must be Attacked with Equal Force on Every Front

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 15:21:28 +0000

by Michael D. Yates

Richard Seymour points out that “To me, it’s straightforward. Class is a social relationship that is structured by race, gender, sexuality, nationality, and a whole range of other determinations. Race is the modality in which millions of people inhabit their class experience. Their “identity politics” will often be the precise way in which they fight a class struggle.”

I think that Seymour is correct.

It’s Not Just Class: The Fight for Racial Justice Is Inseparable from Overcoming Capitalism

Thu, 03 Aug 2017 14:53:49 +0000

by David Roediger

David Roediger reminds us that overcoming class oppression involves overcoming racial oppression

Review: Black Subjugation in America

Sat, 22 Apr 2017 16:01:31 +0000

by Kim Scipes

Review of three books on black subjugation, slavery and white supremacy, and argues these three things need to be placed at the center of the Americqn experience.

January 1948: Tragic death of immigrant workers inspires a song of solidarity

Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:07:20 +0000

by Chris Mahin

The fire began over Los Gatos Canyon. It started in the left engine-driven fuel pump. The plane crashed 20 miles west of Coalinga, California, on January 28, 1948. It came down into hills which, as one commentator noted, at that time of year are “a beautiful green, splendid with wildflowers … a place of breathtaking beauty.”

There were 32 people on board that day, but the names of only four were recorded for history. The newspaper articles about the crash written at the time describe an accident involving a Douglas DC-3 carrying immigrant workers from Oakland, California to the El Centro, California Deportation Center. Those accounts give the name of the plane’s pilot (Frank Atkinson), and co-pilot (Marion Ewing). They mention the name of the stewardess (Bobbi Atkinson) and the guard (Frank E. Chapin). However, the newspaper stories did not include the names of any of the 27 men or of the one woman who were passengers on that flight, victims who were buried in a mass grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fresno, California. Those reports simply dismissed them as “deportees.”

What Does Black Lives Matter Want?

Sat, 03 Sep 2016 16:03:37 +0000

by Robin D. G. Kelley

Robin D.G. Kelley reports on the publication of a document expressing the guiding vision of the Black Lives Matter movement.