DU can move beyond either/or: "The inseparable twin of racial injustice is economic injustice." M.L.K (1958)

Last edited Mon Jun 1, 2015, 05:51 PM - Edit history (1)

From the Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project:
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol4/1-Sept-1958_MyPilgrimageToNonviolence.pdf

“My Pilgrimage to Nonviolence” (1 September 1958 New York, N.Y.) by MLK

"I had also learned that the inseparable twin of racial injustice was economic injustice. . . . Here I saw economic injustice first- hand, and realized that the poor white was exploited just as much as the Negro. Through these early experiences I grew up deeply conscious of the varieties of injustice in our society."


I see the lively discussions here on DU from various primary candidate supporters about the "intersectionality" (Patricia Williams' term) of racial, gender, sexual, ablest, ageist and economic injustices, and how those are playing out in our primary, as a VITAL OPPORTUNITY TO REFRAME AND RECLAIM the concept of JUSTICE FOR ALL.

Corporatist powers in Republican and Democratic circles have intentionally or unintentionally gravitated toward aligning with certain identity politics over the past 30 years as a way of avoiding accountability for practices that are grossly economically unjust and harmful.

Today, it's far less expensive to stockholders for a major transnational corporation to throw out an ad or a philanthropic campaign supporting LGBT rights, supposedly fighting sexual harassment in the workplace, or recruiting more minorities into STEM careers, than to actually oppose highly profitable policies that outsource real jobs for all qualified persons to exploited workers overseas. See, that's "economic science," over which those poor innocent companies have no responsibility. See how good they are though with their philanthropic PR?

I think the greater economic opportunities in the 1950s were only tolerable to the powers that be _because_ they were disproportionately withheld from certain groups (women, minorities, openly gay people). You let more groups in, you've got to erode the opportunities. Divide and conquer.

If DU can figure out how to best make the argument for people, today, that social and economic injustice are intimately intertwined as structurally disempowering the OTHER, we help our candidates do it too. We continue to move this conversation to the national stage.

I'll support whoever wins our Primary. I hope their economic policies are consistent with Elizabeth Warren's and many of those of Scandinavian democracies, and our candidates (all of whom have strong track records on social issues) continue to fight for social justice as well.