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Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
79. Before Bernie got in, nobody, to my recollection, was claiming there was a huge chasm
Thu Nov 24, 2016, 11:06 PM
Nov 2016

Last edited Thu Nov 24, 2016, 11:48 PM - Edit history (1)

between "social justice" and "economic justice" activists.

In fact, in the left I grew up in, those were the SAME people about 90% of the time.

There are distinctions between the movements focused on combatting institutional bigotry(which are the series of causes being talked about now as representing "social justice&quot and those challenging extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of the few/extreme concentration of economic power in the hands of the few/the exploitation of working people.

But in the post-1965 left(as opposed to the old CP-based left) there were few, if any situations in which economic justice types saying "shut the hell up about that racism/sexism/homophobia/other bigotry jazz-it'll all be taken care of 'come the revolution'".

There was a clear understanding that, for either justice struggle to prevail, the other had to prevail, too. The rise in backlash politics and grassroots racism was directly proportional to the weakening of unions, the assault on the middle-class standard of living, the sense that there was "less", so people had to "stick with 'our own kind'". The decline in the effectiveness of the various freedom movements, essential as all of the are, was directly connected(in addition to a few other factors) with the loss of a general sense of prosperity

In the Mid-Sixties, some of the New Left was slow to back feminism(a lot of the early second-wave feminists were female New Left types who were sick of being expected to make coffee, clean the office and worse by the MEN in the movement)and didn't back the gay liberation cause until after Stonewall, even then taking their time about it. But they had always been a part of the civil rights and farmworker causes and were backing feminism solidly by 1974 or so, and gay and lesbian rights by about 1978. So, for at least thirty-eight years now, the social and economic justice wings of the change community were at least largely on the same page and worked together in close coordination in both causes. People of all races, genders, and sexual orientations have been strongly represented in economic justice work. White, male economic justice advocates have joined in many, many struggles against social injustice.

So how did we manage to get to the place, in 2015 and 2016, in which it sounded like you could be active for "social justice&quot a range of causes that always had a clear economic component, since it has been clear from the time of Dr. King that you couldn't defeat bigotry without addressing the economic factors that play a major role in keeping it alive) or "economic justice&quot which has been recognized for decades now as requiring a person to be a committed opponent of grassroots AND institutional bigotry), but somehow not BOTH?

Are there people reading this who actually believe that "economic justice" work somehow means being chill with Jim Crow? Or that "social justice" work means seeing the corporate sector as a reliable ally for liberation, and those who want us to come up with an economic model that puts human dignity, worth, and need as enemies?

We are past the 2016 primaries now. Neither Hillary nor Bernie will ever seek the presidency again. We need to move past any feelings have about any of them and find the way back towards the unity of commitment most of the American left had on social AND economic justice, causes that are distinct, yet will always be intersectional and related.

For our own survival, especially for the survival of the most vulnerable communities in this country, communities who have only become MORE vulnerable, we need to get past the notion that this is binary...that you can only support ONE struggle for justice, rather than both.

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Exactly - like we can't have an economic message AND fight racism?? realmirage Nov 2016 #1
A lot of people portlander23 Nov 2016 #2
Corrupt Trump was better. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #3
Donald Trump is full of shit portlander23 Nov 2016 #4
Everyone knows... yallerdawg Nov 2016 #6
I blame the candidate portlander23 Nov 2016 #9
Under that standard, if applied equally... yallerdawg Nov 2016 #10
The guy who told you that people were hurting economically? portlander23 Nov 2016 #11
Excuse me? yallerdawg Nov 2016 #12
People across all demographics didn't come out for Clinton portlander23 Nov 2016 #15
You Do Know Of Course Me. Nov 2016 #42
She can be the president of California and New York portlander23 Nov 2016 #44
So Now Youre Going To Disqualify Majorities Me. Nov 2016 #46
I'm all for electoral reform portlander23 Nov 2016 #47
"GeT Involved" Me. Nov 2016 #64
Not enough people came out for her. Exilednight Nov 2016 #54
Aah, So It Would Seem Me. Nov 2016 #65
I wouldn't believe everyting you read here on DU. Exilednight Nov 2016 #68
Which Is Exactly The Reason Me. Nov 2016 #72
That knife cuts both ways. Exilednight Nov 2016 #97
1 Kathy M Nov 2016 #91
I didn't want to vote for her at all. I felt it more important to repudiated Trump TheKentuckian Nov 2016 #95
Al the condescending "dank memes" from college kids woulda slayed them in the rust belt! bettyellen Nov 2016 #18
What good does it do now portlander23 Nov 2016 #20
Gawd, I sure don't miss this myopic, simpleton approach full of innuendo and attacks R B Garr Nov 2016 #37
Disagree ..... I live in one of those rust belt states and it is not Michigan Kathy M Nov 2016 #92
Not To Mention All The Other Oppo Me. Nov 2016 #98
You know who didn't turnout for Hillary and made all the difference? yallerdawg Nov 2016 #22
I know people who did vote for her- but had already trashed her w RW smears for months bettyellen Nov 2016 #26
Bernie must have had a really wide base if that's the case portlander23 Nov 2016 #27
Uhm perhaps wait until all the votes come up. JHan Nov 2016 #28
Exit polls aren't going to change portlander23 Nov 2016 #32
Can you explain about Clinton being the one to get the economy right? pangaia Nov 2016 #34
Hey pangaia.. JHan Nov 2016 #38
Thanks.. TOO many threads on everything to follow.... pangaia Nov 2016 #39
You have any real numbers for that? Or are you just pondering? Goblinmonger Nov 2016 #66
It's all there if you look. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #71
So you have nothing other than your pondering. Goblinmonger Nov 2016 #85
"I'm a Sanders fan and I voted for Clinton." yallerdawg Nov 2016 #86
You don't understand it? Don't be so coy. Goblinmonger Nov 2016 #90
Look. It should go both ways. He just didn't do a good enough job convincing them. kcr Nov 2016 #52
Bernie Sanders didn't win the Primary portlander23 Nov 2016 #55
Righto. He didn't win. That would be my point. kcr Nov 2016 #60
And thus it became opposite day portlander23 Nov 2016 #61
Okay. kcr Nov 2016 #62
1 Kathy M Nov 2016 #93
That was exactly my sentiment after the primaries lapucelle Nov 2016 #14
Clinton lost because of who stayed home portlander23 Nov 2016 #16
Old numbers- the demographics we're not even in yet. Biased speculation at best... bettyellen Nov 2016 #19
Which exit polls are you waiting for? portlander23 Nov 2016 #21
The numbers today are not the same as that article says. bettyellen Nov 2016 #24
The vote counts will change portlander23 Nov 2016 #25
I live in a blue state and traveled on weekends to work in a swing state lapucelle Nov 2016 #30
Failure is the best teacher portlander23 Nov 2016 #33
Oh it will be. boston bean Nov 2016 #87
This is the heart of it from my perspective: TCJ70 Nov 2016 #5
It's not about white guys portlander23 Nov 2016 #7
We are agreed... TCJ70 Nov 2016 #8
Yes, it is. People are naive as heck about reaching these people. duffyduff Nov 2016 #75
You don't have to care about white trump voters portlander23 Nov 2016 #84
Bernie made the calculation that they could not... ask him why. bettyellen Nov 2016 #23
Bernie Sanders, and progressives, are not the person sitting in the chair portlander23 Nov 2016 #41
Deflection and memes. Not a single honest reply to my questions but instead a dumb RW meme. bettyellen Nov 2016 #43
I have replied portlander23 Nov 2016 #45
No one was ignored by Bernies platform... TCJ70 Nov 2016 #48
There was zero mention on his website (and speeches) on women's issues bettyellen Nov 2016 #50
Too well stated to get many dissenting replies I wager. People will just start a 10th thread to JCanete Nov 2016 #13
Well said realmirage Nov 2016 #17
Socialism? Here? yallerdawg Nov 2016 #29
Thank you portlander23 Nov 2016 #35
This is where we were when Bill Clinton showed up. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #36
Please more maps portlander23 Nov 2016 #40
Your argument seems to be we weren't out of touch enough. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #51
So here it is portlander23 Nov 2016 #53
Yes, here it is. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #56
People are going to be engaged portlander23 Nov 2016 #57
In other words, you agree. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #59
I would trade for where we were in 1988 from where we are today in a second (and I was there). Midwestern Democrat Nov 2016 #73
We did pretty good back in 2008. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #74
Yes, we did. I think we can get the pendulum swinging back but I do think we need to Midwestern Democrat Nov 2016 #77
I never heard of Bill Clinton or Obama until they announced. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #78
Your map proves nothing, OTHER than the fact that we are in bad shape. Ken Burch Nov 2016 #80
If we had only run the self-described socialist. yallerdawg Nov 2016 #81
It suggests we needed something better. They have nothing to do with Bernie. Ken Burch Nov 2016 #82
Truth! How many more times do we have to lose. onecaliberal Nov 2016 #31
Apparently at least until we lose the popular vote by at least 10 points and TheKentuckian Nov 2016 #96
Thank you. Kick and rec Arazi Nov 2016 #49
Sanders officially left the Democratic party the week after the convention. lapucelle Nov 2016 #58
You going to say that when he caucuses with Dems in the Senate? Goblinmonger Nov 2016 #67
Of course I will still say that. lapucelle Nov 2016 #70
Sure. Except when he rallied for Hillary in Colorado. progressoid Nov 2016 #83
I disagree. lapucelle Nov 2016 #88
Bernie best learn to say what he means, he's not always gonna have you around to explain it. emulatorloo Nov 2016 #63
what should be abandoned is the TERM "identity politics" -- it's a put-down of solidarity cloudythescribbler Nov 2016 #69
That is a good point. I don't think that term was coined by an anti-oppression activist. Ken Burch Nov 2016 #76
Before Bernie got in, nobody, to my recollection, was claiming there was a huge chasm Ken Burch Nov 2016 #79
So long as they can spin things that way, they will. nt VulgarPoet Nov 2016 #89
Thank You for your post ...... Kathy M Nov 2016 #94
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