Letters from Our Readers

Jahan Choudhry Comments Editor

19 Aug 2020

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This week protests in Portland and Racial Capitalism were on your minds. We share your letters for “Dispatch from PDX (Portland, Oregon); Black Lives Matter in a White Utopia” and “‘Racial Capitalism’ is the Kind We’ve Got.”

In “Dispatch from PDX (Portland, Oregon); Black Lives Matter in a White Utopia” Kahlil M. Wall-Johnson discusses the racial dynamics of the Portland protests.

U.L. Morris writes:

“Well, I do wish that the demonstrations in Portland were more Black. I'm also certain that the demonstrations would probably long since been over had there not been that infusion of youthful, white energy. Though at the cost of making the movement ‘inclusive.’ Well, at least a lot of BLM signs are still visible...”

Stacy Adams writes:

“In the words of the S.O.S. Band, ‘Take Love Where You Find It.’ We will overcome and resolve these injustices once and for all and the solutions will be multicultural. The most important thing to remember, in my opinion, is we must first help, stand with and stand up for those who have been the most adversely affected by this racist and unjust nation. And that is, of course, our Brothers and Sisters of color. We will truly not have peace, justice, equality, equity and prosperity until all of these qualities are abundant in all of our communities of color. To quote a sign i saw recently, ‘all lives can't matter until Black Lives Matter.’ Get with the program Amerikkka. We done playin' nice. Believe that!”

“‘Racial Capitalism’ is the Kind We’ve Got” by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò and Liam Kofi Bright respond to Dissent editor Michael Walzer’s critical examination of the concept developed by black academics.

Marc Salomon writes:

“How about Puritan capitalism that enforces the Protestant work ethic under penalty of homelessness, controls sex to preserve property, casts white as good and male with power and demeaning wage labor as dignified, celebrates the objectification of human beings, and uses race, sex and gender together and alone as vectors to enforce that regime and inhibit resistance? Christian privilege, the slave master's church in the US is really the last unexamined privilege.”

Stacy Adams writes:

“When will people wake up? You can not have capitalism without imbalance and exploitation. Capitalism is the personification and economic equivalence of evil. You do not need capitalism to have a fair, just and equitable economy. Capitalism exists for the sole purpose of maintaining the oligarchs’ unjust and racist dominance over our society. The predominantly white power structure knows they can not compete on an equal playing field. They need the horrible imbalances created by capitalism to maintain their unjust and oppressive dominance of our society. Capitalism and all of its immoral and unethical precepts demand large numbers of people to marginalize, oppress and exploit. Traditionally, that has always been indigenous people, poor people and people of color. Do the math, if we unite, we can end not only racism but capitalism as well. We have the numbers and that is what the US colonial, imperial, authoritarian power paradigm and the average ‘white man’ fears. Let us ‘exploit’ and 'capitalize’ off of our superior numbers and dictate to these bigoted, opportunistic, barbaric, fascistic, racist, xenophobic, authoritarian, imperialistic, militaristic capitalists the new direction this nation will now move in. It is time for peace, social justice and equity. Get with the program or get dealt with. Playtime is over.”

The struggle to understand the system we live in continues to be a necessity in our time. A connection to the masses is essential in this work.

Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report. He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA.

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