Claudia Jones--"Complete emancipation of women is possible only under Socialism."

[socialist_n_TN]

8. Well, I'm not sure I would have phrased it that way.........

. However, they ARE social issues in that they aren't the primary focus (as always, IMO), in Marxist thought. So in a meta sense, it is along the lines of a social issue, an issue that would be solved with a socialist system where no one had the power to oppress anyone else by having control over the livelihood of the oppressed. As I said in the above post, if the economic power were taken away, any chauvanism or racism would be in the nature of a personal bias and without any consequence other than the emotional (he/she doesn't like me because I'm a woman, black, Latino, etc.)

All that said, we don't always live in the meta. And in the here and now and day to day, there IS "extra" bias against women, people of color, and most especially, minority women. So to me, as a socialist, that needs to be addressed. As long as you continue to keep the meta context in mind, I don't think that there's any problem putting extra emphasis on that "extra" bias. As a tactic and even a strategy, it's important for Marxists to be seen as being one the side of the oppressed.

One thing I've taken away from Trotsky's tendency and writings through the years is his emphasis on being on the side of the oppressed. If you're on the side of the oppressed, it would be just logical to acknowledge the MOST oppressed and their special problems in the day to day.