| | I realize this is going to be a pretty damn controversial post, but I feel compelled to speak on the subject. I sometimes become concerned that classism becomes too easily conflated with racism in our world.
There's many draws to calling a certain policy racist: | | | 3. This system has only strengthened despite what may appear to be “incredible progress.” Kipp wants to help, but I mentioned to him, similar to comments made by Prashant and Rumbi, that it is necessary that he understands his “white privilege” and how he is subconsciously affected by it. In addition, as Meagan pointed out, we also cannot let ourselves, no matter our color or gender, continue to strengthen the system by doing nothing at all except following conventional norms. If a friend is bragging about how he “runs” things at home and his wife does not speak unless spoken to, you should condemn those actions. If private conversations are occurring blaming a “minority” for taking someone’s job or spot at a school, you should condemn those actions.
4. As soon as we find a common cause and work together (e.g. with the Trayvon Martin case), governmental social control will be powerless against the will of the people. It may mean risking one’s life, since the system is so entrenched and those in power will stop at anything to keep it that way. However, this is the harsh reality. We also have to ask ourselves do we really want to fight this battle. Really helping these communities, as I told Kipp, will also result in a reduction of “white privilege,” which is a privilege that is not always visible but one that some will do anything to keep intact. I want to work with Kipp and anyone else who really wants to confront these issues. However, law school works to keep the system intact and justifies it. Most people who graduate from CLS will do nothing to change it due to individual gain. But anyone who really wants to work at this, please let me know. We can make law school work for us (i.e. classes, events, meetings, collaborations, etc.) and take it from there. I’m all in and want to know if anyone else wants to go all in too. | |
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> | -WilliamDavidWilliams
I ran through this entire thread and found it truly compelling, enlightening and thought-provoking. From the first day of classes, I've been incredibly impressed with the sheer intelligence of my classmates, and everything said here has only bolstered that feeling.
As Gechi astutely pointed out, I think that the real thrust behind this debate of alienation versus inclusiveness is a discussion of how we best tackle this "system of White (Male) Supremacy" that we see as the cause of so many problems for blacks, other minorities and, more generally, society. I honestly don't know what the answer to that question is. As Kipp and others have said, it doesn't seem to make sense to lambast all whites as a group and risk alienating those who are on the side of racial equality and justice, since integration seems to be so key to solving many of these problems. But as Gechi also pointed out, alienation inevitably comes from ANY sort of discussion in this realm; perhaps the focus is best put on achieving unity within the oppressed group(s).
I think my problem in figuring out what the best answer to this question is comes from the fact that we talk in these grand, vague terms of a "system of White Supremacy." William David discussed how powerful white men created this system through the propagation of slavery and other methods in order to achieve and maintain power. The vestiges of slavery are obviously real and incredibly destructive, leading to an underclass made up mostly of minorities who have little hope of climbing up the ladder (or, at the very least, have a lot farther up to climb than do most whites). I believe all of this is true. But when we blame the "system of White Supremacy," I'm not really sure what exactly this means. And because I'm not sure what exactly it means, I don't really know how to fight it. We've talked about discussing things in terms of what they DO instead of what they ARE, so instead of blaming this amorphous "system", why don't we start to discuss how this system actually operates so that we can fight it? In my mind, it operates by incarcerating minorities excessively and disproportionately, in the process tearing apart families, putting them deeper into poverty, and removing role models from the family. It also operates by refusing to give equal education to poor and rich, depriving poor (mostly minorities) of so many opportunities. These are just two ways, but I know there are countless others.
I know this veers a little bit from the original subject, but I just wanted to express some of the frustration I feel with discussions like this and some of the ones we've had in class, a frustration that comes from the fact that talking about the existence of this system seems rather meaningless to me. William David, you said that you feel that the "system has only strengthened despite what might appear to be incredible progress." What do you mean by this? Why do you think this? What exactly is the system DOING and in what ways exactly is it acting that has led you to this conclusion? In my mind, we need to first be asking and answering these questions; otherwise, the questions about how to tackle the "system of White Supremacy" more generally just become rather pointless.
PS William David, I would love to make law school work for us in the ways that you're talking about. What do you have in mind?
-- JaredMiller - 17 Apr 2012 | | |
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