#007: How The Plantation Class Invented Race To Divide Us, Why MLK Supported Multi-Racial Unionism, and Dr. Luke Wood's Black Minds Matter Project

In this episode we cover both "macro" and "micro" points of discussion about race and racism. Harriet starts off with explaining how capitalism has always required a set of social divisions to pit workers against each other to prevent them from uniting against common oppressors. Max shares the example of how the Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 - white and black servants uniting together to burn down the plantation - resulted in the plantation/ownership class inventing race and codifying it into centuries of law to slightly improve conditions for 'the white race' at the structural expense of 'the black race,' so the former would unite 'as a race' against the latter to maintain materially superior conditions. Harriet reminds us that MLK advocated for multi-racial labor solidarity through unions, and how the unprecedented uprisings of the last month as a reaction to George Floyd's murder by police may be a sign of growing multi-racial, working class solidarity. Max explains the "micro" pieces of racism with attention to stereotypes, prejudices, and microaggressions, then provides an overview of a powerpoint lecture called "Black Minds Matter" by Dr. Luke Wood. (Max failed to read the last slide which had proposed policy solutions like getting rid of school suspensions and integration of restorative justice programs, and more - see below).
Recommended reading and resources

Why Racism Is An Essential Tool For Maintaining The Capitalist Order, Richard Wolff
camft.org/blackmindsmatter (Dr. Wood's powerpoint here)
Fatal Invention, by Dorothy Roberts
Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum
Are We Born Racist? New Insights from Neuroscience and Positive Psychology edited, by Jason Marsh, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, Jeremy Adam Smith
blacksocialists.us/
cooperationjackson.org/
Cornell West and Chris Hedges Interview "The Betrayal by the Black Elite:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcJqjgB4tyQ
How McCarthyism and the Red Scare Hurt the Black Freedom Struggle, Paul Heideman

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