We need to understand and deal with "intersectionality" on the left today. There has been some references to it but little discussion on the marxmail list in the past. So thanks for posting this.
> On May 12, 2026, at 04:46, Dennis Brasky via groups.io > <[email protected]> wrote: > > https://portside.org/2026-05-11/idea-reshaped-identity-politics-has-complicated-backstory '"The introductory essay, attributed to all of them, decried “first amendment fundamentalists” and argued that “ ‘freedom’ does not implicate a right to degrade and humiliate another human being.”' I lost an argument with a college student a dozen years ago when I said that the practice of shutting down speakers on campus doesn't defeat their ideas as well as debating them can. She said "People should not need to tolerate racists who malign them as inferior." I had no comeback to that truth. I think acting on that truth can go one of two ways: If you believe that we can eliminate racism under capitalism, then the goal is to reform the system through politics and the courts, etc. If you believe that we can only eliminate racism by first abolishing capitalist exploitation, then the goal is expropriating the capitalist class. An overthrow of capitalism may not be a sufficient condition, and the struggle to eliminate white supremacy in the US may continue, but I think that capitalist exploitation is one of the ways racism is reproduced. When it comes to fighting exploitation, revolutionary socialists may differ from reformist socialist on freedom of speech. To revolutionary socialists, free speech and open operation are essential to successful struggle, the raising of class consciousness, and the organizing of working people. Reformists expect that stopping hate speech by outlawing it might gradually help to eliminate racism. The problem with enabling the capitalist government to outlaw speech is how governments have used hate speech laws against the very people who are fighting racist persecution. I think we need other means than giving the capitalist government the legal tools to eliminate rights, not to stop racism but to smother a liberation movement. Mark -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41707): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41707 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/119272887/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
