Essay: On Whiteness, Identity Politics & the Pig Empire Left (Link)

NinaIllingworth December 24, 2020November 5, 2022 analysis, anti-racism, antifa, Assata Shakur, Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter, BLM, Can't You Read, class, class war, coalition building, critical race theory, democratic socialism, Denise DaSilva, diverse coalitions, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Emma Goldman, Essays, FA1, identity politics, JA5, James Baldwin, labor class, leftism, Malcolm X, marginalized leftists, Michelle Alexander, MLK, MP6, Nell Irvin Painter, neofeudalism, neoliberal identity politics, neoliberal multiculturalism, neoliberalism, non white leftists, Offsite Writing, Op-Ed, Opinion, organizing, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Social Justice, Socialism, ST2, The Black Panthers, the Invention of the White Race, the labor class left, the Sanders left, Theodore Allen, Theory, WD7, weaponized identity politics, WEB Du Bois, whiteness

Editor’s note: so as I mentioned the other day on my Facebook Journal, I’m essentially winding down for a very boring little Christmas break but I figured that before I left, I’d make a bunch of crypto-reactionaries mad at me one last time with this essay over on Can’t You Read.

I should also mention that the article I’m going to link to today is at least somewhat thematically related to several other articles I’ve written recently; all of which focus on getting some things that have been bothering me off my chest. These include failed theories of left wing political organizing, crypto-reactionaries “on the left” gaslighting people about fascism and why being a woman writer online isn’t worth the hassle; clearly, I’ve been settling a lot of family debts before the new year, but this one might be my most honest discussion yet this season.

Finally, if this is the last time I write to you before the holidays, please accept my warm wishes for you and your family in what is no doubt going to be a trying holiday season.

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If my Twitter notifications bar is any indication, it has recently become fashionable again in the twitchier portions of the online left to rage against any discussion of anti-racism, anti-misogyny or the need to purge reactionary thought in our communities, as toxic “identity politics” – the problem is, not only is this wrong and disturbingly white-centric, but the simple truth is I don’t think most of the people making it really have any damn idea what identity politics means. It’s high time the left started the necessary process of mental decolonization on the path the socialism; begin your journey by learning more about whiteness, identity politics and the diverse future of the labor class left in my latest essay on Can’t You Read. To check it out, click on the header or the image below: