If there is a union at your workplace his exactly are white and nonwhite workers being pitted against each other? No one's arguing marxism and unionism is by itself going to eliminate racist beliefs or attitudes. But unions are mechanisms where all workers attain equality in how they are treated by employers, with rules in place (grievan…
If there is a union at your workplace his exactly are white and nonwhite workers being pitted against each other? No one's arguing marxism and unionism is by itself going to eliminate racist beliefs or attitudes. But unions are mechanisms where all workers attain equality in how they are treated by employers, with rules in place (grievance procedures) for when those rules are violated. I can hate and disagree with racist beliefs of a fellow worker, but as long as they ARE a fellow worker we are on the same side. In the same boat so to speak, so I will have solidarity with them. Sometimes whether they like it or not! I think this is one of the things that so many liberals, progressives, "leftists", etc cannot wrap their heads around in America. And I think that American individualism and exceptionalism is part of the reason why. I suppose we can TEACH solidarity to Americans. But it sure ain't easy.
A lot of left leaning online folks do not understand racism as having material impact on black workers in particular and as a barrier to solidarity overall. They see it as just a different POV, like wearing white after Labor Day - not to be done, but if you did it they won't be too hard on you.
Labor/Marxist historians like Laurence Levine and David Roediger have documented the centuries of labor history in which the owner class have cut inter-racial solidarity at its knees. And unions can be tools to protect of course, but the proof is always in the application - and the history of labor leadership not delivering regarding equality is loooonnng. This cycle the GOP went after the relatively small legal Haitian immigrants in Ohio, not the 30k legal Ukrainian legal immigrants in Chicago. Owner class know exactly what to do, meanwhile online leftists are sharing similar thoughts to the guys who hate having black people in the workplace.
The online left got caught up in distractions that the owner class threw out - "woke" "DEI" etc, so now they look like the Robin to Chris Rufo's Batman. They have no counter for LBJ's “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket...give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” No path to solidarity.
I don't know what connection you're trying to make about white workers historically or now easily being pitted against their nonwhite fellows. For one, I reject the premise that this is widespread or especially common. Another thing, where is the online left getting caught up in these distractions ? The largest problem as I see with anything considering itself the left, whether online or in real life, is that it almost entirely driven by DEI groupthink. Are you actually saying that there is no path to solidarity within the labor movement? Lifting up ALL workers, even the ones with odious ideas about sex and race, etc, lifts up ALL workers. Period.
While Starbucks, Nike, apple, Amazon, etc having mandatory dei trainings while at the same time spending a fortune to crush unionization efforts has real life negative consequences on the lives of workers. Working class people that is, who as you surely know are disproportionately nonwhite.
Are you saying that Marxist labor historians made up their analysis of labor conditions? Or that the Tesla workers and Amazon complaints are fabricated? The choice is not DEI vs Unions, it’s literally building solidarity among workers in a way that can’t be smashed by owners.
This is why yall won’t be able to create meaningful coalitions, owners in the past and now billionaires have been way too good at creating class divisions - and rather than address this, yall are denying what has been documented for centuries. The online left gets caught up in the right wing shiny object and is not serious at all.
No,.I'm not arguing that labor historians are making up their analysis. I'm saying that owners and billionaires and the corporate world don't largely owe their prominence and power in this country to fostering racial animosity amongst workers. For one thing, they don't need to. There has never been a shortage of it in this country. I am saying that your argument is overstating how much of a role racism plays in dividing workers. The corporate masters have been successful because they have captured the politicians and courts who create the dynamic in which most of us have to labor under. They have no need (at least nowadays ) to incite race hatred as the reason to keep the races apart so as to coopt labor solidarity. What I am saying is that unions, cooperative worker councils, etc are the only way to take (or and least demand) from the masters of industry what belongs to the workers. And there are countless examples of multi racial, multiethnic coalitions that have achieved this. Just look at the Starbucks, Costco, Amazon unionization drives of late. Yes, they haven't all been successful but it is surely because the companies they have stoked the fear of workers losing their livelihoods, or corrupt unions stealing their paym not because of racism.
I don’t know why you’re pushing back tbh. Your point is not counter to mine, I would say that a tool of division is racism, another tool that owners use is their financial/political clout. They have many tools. Leftists don’t have financial power to pushback, or strong political representation and the tools they have for building solidarity are squandered if they align with the likes of Rufo at a social level. They should be fighting the fact that we don’t have inclusion, rather than buy into the nonsense of the right.
*just saw a video of Amazon picketers reject another picketer who used homophobic slurs, because they’re there to fight for all workers. Turns out the slur dude was an infiltrator. So they understand what it takes, too many of the left in their willingness to jettison marginal folks do not.
If there is a union at your workplace his exactly are white and nonwhite workers being pitted against each other? No one's arguing marxism and unionism is by itself going to eliminate racist beliefs or attitudes. But unions are mechanisms where all workers attain equality in how they are treated by employers, with rules in place (grievance procedures) for when those rules are violated. I can hate and disagree with racist beliefs of a fellow worker, but as long as they ARE a fellow worker we are on the same side. In the same boat so to speak, so I will have solidarity with them. Sometimes whether they like it or not! I think this is one of the things that so many liberals, progressives, "leftists", etc cannot wrap their heads around in America. And I think that American individualism and exceptionalism is part of the reason why. I suppose we can TEACH solidarity to Americans. But it sure ain't easy.
A lot of left leaning online folks do not understand racism as having material impact on black workers in particular and as a barrier to solidarity overall. They see it as just a different POV, like wearing white after Labor Day - not to be done, but if you did it they won't be too hard on you.
Labor/Marxist historians like Laurence Levine and David Roediger have documented the centuries of labor history in which the owner class have cut inter-racial solidarity at its knees. And unions can be tools to protect of course, but the proof is always in the application - and the history of labor leadership not delivering regarding equality is loooonnng. This cycle the GOP went after the relatively small legal Haitian immigrants in Ohio, not the 30k legal Ukrainian legal immigrants in Chicago. Owner class know exactly what to do, meanwhile online leftists are sharing similar thoughts to the guys who hate having black people in the workplace.
The online left got caught up in distractions that the owner class threw out - "woke" "DEI" etc, so now they look like the Robin to Chris Rufo's Batman. They have no counter for LBJ's “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket...give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” No path to solidarity.
I don't know what connection you're trying to make about white workers historically or now easily being pitted against their nonwhite fellows. For one, I reject the premise that this is widespread or especially common. Another thing, where is the online left getting caught up in these distractions ? The largest problem as I see with anything considering itself the left, whether online or in real life, is that it almost entirely driven by DEI groupthink. Are you actually saying that there is no path to solidarity within the labor movement? Lifting up ALL workers, even the ones with odious ideas about sex and race, etc, lifts up ALL workers. Period.
While Starbucks, Nike, apple, Amazon, etc having mandatory dei trainings while at the same time spending a fortune to crush unionization efforts has real life negative consequences on the lives of workers. Working class people that is, who as you surely know are disproportionately nonwhite.
Are you saying that Marxist labor historians made up their analysis of labor conditions? Or that the Tesla workers and Amazon complaints are fabricated? The choice is not DEI vs Unions, it’s literally building solidarity among workers in a way that can’t be smashed by owners.
This is why yall won’t be able to create meaningful coalitions, owners in the past and now billionaires have been way too good at creating class divisions - and rather than address this, yall are denying what has been documented for centuries. The online left gets caught up in the right wing shiny object and is not serious at all.
No,.I'm not arguing that labor historians are making up their analysis. I'm saying that owners and billionaires and the corporate world don't largely owe their prominence and power in this country to fostering racial animosity amongst workers. For one thing, they don't need to. There has never been a shortage of it in this country. I am saying that your argument is overstating how much of a role racism plays in dividing workers. The corporate masters have been successful because they have captured the politicians and courts who create the dynamic in which most of us have to labor under. They have no need (at least nowadays ) to incite race hatred as the reason to keep the races apart so as to coopt labor solidarity. What I am saying is that unions, cooperative worker councils, etc are the only way to take (or and least demand) from the masters of industry what belongs to the workers. And there are countless examples of multi racial, multiethnic coalitions that have achieved this. Just look at the Starbucks, Costco, Amazon unionization drives of late. Yes, they haven't all been successful but it is surely because the companies they have stoked the fear of workers losing their livelihoods, or corrupt unions stealing their paym not because of racism.
I don’t know why you’re pushing back tbh. Your point is not counter to mine, I would say that a tool of division is racism, another tool that owners use is their financial/political clout. They have many tools. Leftists don’t have financial power to pushback, or strong political representation and the tools they have for building solidarity are squandered if they align with the likes of Rufo at a social level. They should be fighting the fact that we don’t have inclusion, rather than buy into the nonsense of the right.
*just saw a video of Amazon picketers reject another picketer who used homophobic slurs, because they’re there to fight for all workers. Turns out the slur dude was an infiltrator. So they understand what it takes, too many of the left in their willingness to jettison marginal folks do not.