socialism won't solve for all forms of oppression, and that's ok
Stuart Hall is meh, race and class don't always align
This is going to be another post that I might expand on later. But I still wanted to share my thoughts about the academic and scholarly “debate”/discussion over race, class and gender, the connections between capitalism and socialism.
I think these debates are needed. Debates are always necessary and scholarly research has been core to socialist and Marxist and radical movements throughout history. Anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant of this or dangerous.
The topic of race, gender and capitalism and socialism has been an ongoing debate since the Russian Revolution and just prior. The “woman question” had been something of concern for socialists in Germany, prior to even the eruption of the 20th century. Race and racism and the experience of colonized peoples has been a focal point for leaders like Lenin and Luxemburg, although they disagreed on a socialist response to national movements for liberation. Nevertheless, there is a long tradition here that we can always turn to, and of course, update, given the changes to the global economy and the fact that countries, at least formally, are independent now of explicit European domination, etc.
Now, I do not think it matters as much as some might think to have the perfect theory of how race and class align, etc. For instance, the Stuart Hall quest, in which he says race is the modality through which is lived , has been a useful line and in some ways it does work. After all, African Americans, even when they’re middle class, are viewed by white people as less than in a way than the bourgeoisie views the Other as also less than and beneath them. This is why satanists such as Reagan tried to correlate so-called welfare fraud with the “inner city”, although there are more whites on welfare, and I’m sure based on a higher number, more whites committing welfare frauds (not to mention white collar corporate malfeasance). But for whites who were working class too, this was a reinforcing of how they think about black Americans as lesser, as somehow all poor, etc.
That being said, Hall’s understanding of race and class is not exactly always true either. And those who want to argue for socialism by repeating his lines and the lines of others that believe in him are weirdly confusing the matter. So, here are some more points, cause I do love summarizing cause you know, I’m busy:
Race and class don’t always align. Despite what the white people think of us, we do have people of color who are wealthier, well connected, and who may own or have control over the means of production, i.e. businesses and banks, etc. Despite what they think of us, some of us do struggle more so than others based on our jobs, our relation to the means of production. Most of us don’t own anything apart from clutter in our rooms, and sweatpants. So, no, Hall is wrong on this.
At the same time, race is not just something that was invented by capitalism. Capitalism reinforced it, as others have noted, such as Vijay Prashad and even Cornel West who’s essays on race and class are useful. But all being said, race and of course, gender oppression precede capitalism and will remain, even under socialism, as forces that shape peoples’ lives. Difference is: under socialism, racism and sexism will be diminished to a person-to-person level, since under socialism, redistribution of power and resources shall occur, which will vastly improve the lives of racially oppressed peoples and those oppressed due to their gender-identity. Ex. with a system that provides housing and healthcare to all, women won’t feel tied to their partners if they hope to lead a life of dignity and true security, which is not the case under capitalism.
Socialism won’t solve racism and sexism at the personal level, and that’s ok. Instead, it will at the very least be a superior system compared to capitalism in reckoning with racism and sexism, etc. No longer will white supremacists thrive, as they do now, since they have the money and resources to be “heard” in mainstream politics. No longer will land be concentrated with a few. No longer will the U.S. maintain its military bases abroad. In the end, socialism will still require people transforming themselves over time but even in the immediate sense, is a far more humane and just system in dealing with racial oppressions and marginalization.
The eradication of all forms of racism and oppression won’t happen under socialism, but that doesn’t negate the superiority of Marxism and socialism to other systems of economic and political power.