The wit and wisdom of Will Shetterly

[james_davis_nicoll]

The last antiracist to be persecuted by the American government was probably John Brown.

Comments

[redbird]

To be fair, when someone pointed out FBI persecution of civil rights activists, Will acknowledged that it was a good point. Not as strongly as I'd have liked--that they thought people like Dr. King were Communists because they were anti-racist is persecution of anti-racists--but he does acknowledge that the FBI went after civil rights activists who they knew weren't communists.

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

Dumb question, James. Why are you following the antics of this idiomatic demagogue? I'd say it would make sense if he was amusing or had any real impact on real people, but I can't say that's true or likely.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

definitely not amusing, but definitely does have real impact on real people. sadly.

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

Not least because I think it represents the opinion of some indeterminate but vocal number of white anti-classists. Which means we're burning Will in effigy, unfortunately. But if Will is actually on the mild extreme of the racism-is-just-classism argument--and I suspect that he is--then it's good to practice knocking them down in a public forum.

[martin-wisse.livejournal.com]

The problem with Will is that his heart is in the right place, but he's not very good at articulating hia convictions in ways that don't offend.

He's clearly right if he believes class is an important, but often ignored part of racism/sexism, but when he puts it as if it's the only thing of importance, well...

[carloshasanax.livejournal.com]

It's the fannish disease to make excuses for authors.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

But that's not what he believes. He's stated several times that he believes racism and sexism are mere *forms* of classism, and that to focus on racism and sexism as forms of oppression is a pro-capitalist enterprise because it distracts people from the struggle against classism. And his attempts to disrupt discussions of racism and its effects seem quite deliberate in light of this. His latest round of White Liberal Bingo started when he objected to a post by vom_marlowe in which she clearly specified that class and race were *both* oppressions, but that they were not the same thing, and that racial oppression affects people across class lines. He has continued, most notably in his own LJ and in littlebutfierce, to ignore or misrepresent any evidence (anecdotal or scientific) to the effect that race *isn't* a subset of class. He has also fairly consistently defamed and misrepresented his debating opponents (my favorite one is the one where he decided we all were incapable of putting together a coherent argument because we got our ideas of class from TV. Will doesn't watch TV, except for Veronica Mars, which has something to say about class. He does not appear to have noticed it also has things to say about race and gender and they're not always the same things. Or maybe it's the one where he announced he'd learned that many "capitalist antiracists" want nothing more servants and leisure time.)

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Why do you hate women and black people, Will? I can tell because all the examples of class privilege you bring up are female or black. You clearly don't care about the plight of anyone but the poor, and sexism, racism, homophobia, environmentalism, and the war in Iraq mean nothing to you.

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

Seriously, hon, why bother?

PS

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

White Liberal Bingo

Re: PS

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

And if you showed any signs of refraining from the same action you're apologizing for in the same comment as the apology, I might have even considered accepting it.

Do you actually doing anything for the class struggle besides attempting to disrupt discussions of race and racism online?

[t-guy.livejournal.com]

He's stated several times... that to focus on racism and sexism as forms of oppression is a pro-capitalist enterprise because it distracts people from the struggle against classism.

Well, I've got to make him right on that one. Obviously, I also would have to agree with anyone who pointed out that to focus on classism as a form of oppression is a pro-racist enterprise because it distracts people from the struggle against racism.

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm too used to people who can think.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i know! me, too.

[carloshasanax.livejournal.com]

For some reason I am reminded of this.

[montrealais.livejournal.com]

Who is this moron?

[miep.livejournal.com]

Hrm. I see several people talking at cross-purposes, which seems linked to a complete ideological disconnect. I didn't see Will denying that racism is alive and well in 21st century America in his responses, but I didn't read his blog page. He seemed very invested in trying to turn the conversation to class, which is a valid discussion, but has the effect, for me, of putting down the poster and commenters who want to talk about the effects of racism in their lives. Clearly, he was unable to see that.

Says it all, really

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

technorati informs me that Will has a post called "a post for James Nicholl". It's considerate of Will to show just how perceptive he is by spelling my name wrong in the subject line.

Re: Says it all, really

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I think of the spelling of my name as my own personal brown M&M.