8-09-04

I was listening to the song Police State by Dead Prez, yet another rap group that blames all Afrian American problems on white people. Being a reasonable white man, sensitive to the plight of the underprivileged, I was a bit insulted. "White people aren't your enemies, man," I thought to myself. "It's the rich people. The rich people just happen to usually be white."

This made me consider the root of racism, and of African Americans' position within our society today. The root of this problem, like so many others, is economic. While racism exists within Europe, it is far less virulently endemic than American racism, and there must be a reason for it. Consider this: hundreds of years ago, when the colonies were first set up in America, the only Africans brought over were slaves. This created a situation in which poor blacks were ruled over by wealthy whites. It was not only blacks, but also Indians and poor whites that were exploited by the wealthy class, the moneyed interests. However, when an entire race is consigned to domination by the wealthy elite, the underprivileged of other races, namely whites, tend to focus on their similarities to the controlling class, rather than their less obvious economic and social similarities to the aforementioned dominated race. In the eyes of rich whites, blacks, as well as poor whites, were contemptible. After a few years, blacks became contemptible in the eyes of poor whites, as the disregard for blacks trickled down into their ranks. The original cause, in this case economic, for the contempt was forgotten, as the poor whites merged economic exploitation with racism. Therefore, blacks and whites have heretofore been ideologically pitted against one another, while the only battle that really matters, the battle between the rich and the poor, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, the haves and the have nots, has been ignored, discredited, and disdained by society at large.

So this is a plea to anyone who feels they have been discriminated against in the past, whether you are black, or a woman, or Jewish, or anything else. Ask yourself whether the source of your problems are because of race, or sex, or religion, or if your real enemy is the moneyed interests, the ones who have everything to gain by maintaining the blatantly unfair status quo, the ones who own the money and the capital and thus control society. Is your family poor because you're black, and the white people are keeping you down? Or are you poor because the rich people, regardless of race, don't want you to take from them their precious money and influence? The rich do not discriminate: they exploit everyone, no matter whether you are black or white, Christian or Muslim, man or woman. We have a common enemy, and it is not the person sitting next to you on the subway; it is the person who owns the plant that built the subway. It won't hurt me if you better your position in life, but it will certainly cut into his power. Who do you think has the most to gain by keeping you poor?

John Owen Skinner