[Xmca-l] Re: NYT Op-Ed: Class Prejudice Resurgent

[Greg Thompson]

Annalisa,

My favorite line was:

"In a friendship, people don’t sit around talking about their friendship.
They do things together. Through common endeavor people overcome difference
to become friends."

But how to build friendships across the grand canyon known as (or, perhaps,
not known as) social class in the U.S.?

-greg

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 9:34 PM, Dr. Paul C. Mocombe <pmocombe@mocombeian.com
> wrote:

> Annalisa,
>
> Andy is right.  There was a conscious effort by the US government,
> beginning with the Kennedy administration, to turn the civil rights
> movement into more opportunities for the black bourgeoisie and emerging
> middle class.  There is a debate between malcolm-x and MLK over this
> precise issue as it pertains to the decolonization efforts in africa.
> Malcolm argued that america will grant civil rights and opportunities to
> the American negro, not bcuz it is the moral thing to do.  But to avert the
> communist turn in africa.  He concluded that there will be a backlash to
> these efforts, however, if the negro does not develop a pan african
> communist orientation.  MLK, as Tavis smiley highlights in his new book,
> became public number 1 when he took a class orientation to the civil rights
> movement. He was attacked by the leaders of the black bourgeoisie.
>
>
> Dr. Paul C. Mocombe
> President
> The Mocombeian Foundation, Inc.
> www.mocombeian.com
> www.readingroomcurriculum.com
> www.paulcmocombe.info
>
> <div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Annalisa Aguilar <
> annalisa@unm.edu> </div><div>Date:12/08/2014  11:19 PM  (GMT-05:00)
> </div><div>To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> </div><div>Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: NYT Op-Ed: Class Prejudice Resurgent
> </div><div>
> </div>Andy,
>
> Interesting.
>
> I'm having a hard time connecting this to the ground. It is a story, which
> perhaps has meaning, but I don't see how it connects to American
> experience. This is not to say that it does or doesn't (in reality), I mean
> I don't see it. It feels too conspiratorial and planned, and I don't think
> any single minority group has that much power over others. Who knows? Maybe
> I'm wrong.
>
> I do believe that there was a disconnect in the continuity in historical
> experience due to the WW II and this is for many reasons, not a single
> reason. So that's one reason I find it hard to accept a "settlement" as The
> Explanation for this.
>
> My way of thinking about it is that it was a horrific war beyond anything
> anyone could imagine. There was no way to process this, and the thing most
> people wanted to do was be happy and get on with life and living. It is
> understandable.
>
> For me it has more to do with our humanity and incapacity to deal with
> horror and the abject than it has to do with suppressing the reality of
> class distinctions. It still doesn't explain to me why class is harder to
> discuss than race.
>
> So I offer that to the soup.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Annalisa
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson