Shiela's point about "racism" being a function of power dynamics,
such that it means ery different things depending upon whether the
person accused of being a "racist" belongs to a privileged group (
oppressor class) or to a group who is oppressed or discriminated against
on account of their perceived "race" is well-taken - but it circumvents
the point Pam was making about the conflicts at WBAI which was, if I
understood it correctly, that the conflicts there are more about a power
struggle than about "race", or even political differences.
For the record; I generally agree with Tim Wise's theses and I
think he is doing a valuable service by speaking all over the country.
My complaint was not that he is making "too much money", but that his
travel schedule prevents him from developing a thorough and nuanced
comprehension of the situation at WBAI.
But here's a twist for you; - something that Tim Wise never
covers in his lectures....
Is it possible for one group of traditionally oppressed people
to harbor racism toward ANOTHER group of traditionally oppressed folks?
Yeeeeooooo BETCHA!
Look at the situation between Haiti and the Dominican Republic,
for example. The Dominican elites are mostly "hispanic" ( perhaps the
ONLY place where that term is entirely accurate). Traditionally,
Dominicans have been divided along CLASS lines with the Dominican ruling
class using racism toward Black Dominicans - and especially toward
Haitians as a tool to divide and disempower the working class. This
dynamic has manifested itself through violence - even massacres, and
through cooperation with U.S. foreign policy interests ( which are
nearly ALWAYS "racist").
Take a look, also at the situation at WBAI. There you have a
faction of African Americans and a few self-interested Caucasian allies
essentially controlling the station for the last several years, and
despite their rhetoric about seeking "racial unity" they have
persistently excluded an entire oppressed constituency ( "hispanics" -
Latino/as) in both programming and governance.
Shiela also echoes the sooth that there is a cabal of white
supremacists who want to "control" WBAI ( funny, isn't it, that in
issuing that caution she cites the alleged cabal's supposed goal of
"firing Bernard White" - a tacit admission, perhaps, that White, indeed,
controls the station currently?). At the same time, however no one
seems to be talking in terms of the COMMUNITY being directly involved in
the governance, programming, and direction of the station.
Shiela asserts that several of the prominent African Americans
associated with Bernard White have standing and stature in their
communities. While that may be true to a degree - and may even be more
true as it applies to those individuals than to the folks on the
opposing slate I doubt very much that between BOTH slates taken in the
aggregate it can be credibly claimed that the candidates, or any sub-set
thereof, come anywhere close to "representing" WBAI's "community" of
listeners, let alone the constituencies WBAI has yet to serve/include.
Evan
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