Joel Olson has posted a problematic piece entitled "Whiteness and the 99%." You can read that piece here. Problematic as the piece is, it raises some good questions which I have excerpted below. They seem relevant given today's news from around the US and the Occupy struggles and in relation to the sinking feeling I have that portions of the Occupy movement will either have to be saved from themselves or collapse under the weight of anarchism, police repression and police provocations.
Do speakers urge us “get beyond” race? Are they defensive and dismissive of demands for racial justice?
If speakers urge developing “close working relationships with the police,” do they consider how police terrorize Black, Latino, Native, and undocumented communities? Do they consider how police have attacked occupation encampments?
If speakers urge us to hold banks accountable, do they encourage us to focus on redlining, predatory lending, and subprime mortgages, which have decimated Black and Latino neighborhoods?
If speakers urge the cancellation of debts, do they mean for things like electric and heating bills as well as home mortgages and college loans?
If speakers urge the halting of foreclosures, do they acknowledge that they take place primarily in segregated neighborhoods, and do they propose to start there?
If speakers urge the creation of more jobs, do they acknowledge that many communities of color have already been in chronic “recessions” for decades, and do they propose to start from there?
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