Racialicious Crush Of The Week: Scot Nakagawa

Among progressives, especially white progressives, many locate our problems with inequity and oppression in class exploitation. They think of racism as something that divides us and diminishes our ability to address class, which they say is the fundamental issue. I disagree with that. I think that racism is an integral part of the class system in the U.S. I started my blog, at least in part, to promote that belief.The blog is also a response to the lack of discussion of anti-racism in general in the community, even among leaders of communities of color. Folks of color organizing for justice understand that racism is at the root of many of the problems communities are facing, but feel pinched for space, both intellectual and social, to discuss issues of race and racism. They’re just struggling to keep their organizations afloat and with life and death issues faced by communities who were already living in depression conditions long before the economic recession hit middle class America.

For that reason, a lot of the discussion of racism that happens is hosted by folks who are outside of the community organizations and groups dealing with those most directly affected by racism. That makes a lot of those discussions kind of academic. So I use metaphors and tell stories that bring the issues down to earth and hope that folks will use the blog as a place to start in discussion, even if those discussions end up with folks disagreeing with some of my ideas.

BTW, I read Racialicious because it hosts anti-racist discussion that open up space–you address things that are in our experience and our popular culture and not just in books. I think that’s really important.

Awwww, thanks for the R love, Scot! Let me switch the topic a bit: is it me, or do you think that there’s been an upswing of anti-Asian American racism lately?

It’s not just you. There is definitely an upswing of anti-Asian racism and of racism in general lately. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported recently that white nationalist Patriot groups have increased almost ten fold since 2008. I’ve always believed that vigilante white supremacist groups are a barometer of racism in the U.S.

Asians seem particularly targeted lately because of a combination of things. China-bashing is for sure one reason. You know how folks think we all look alike, right? The rise of China-bashing means that to lots of folks all east Asians in the U.S. are now Chinese.The combination of the model minority stereotype–the belief that we’re all rich and well-educated–combined with our terrible economy has caused bullying to increase on campuses and a general rise in resentment everywhere else.

But the rise in anti-Asian sentiment is just one part of a bigger problem of rising racism in general. White anxiety over the prospect of losing social and political advantages as people of color rise to majority status seems to be the driver.

Your post on anti-black racism being the fulcrum of white supremacy received a lot of attention, and rightly so. (Congrats on that!) What reactions have you received since its initial posting? Looking back on it, is there anything you’d revise about it (I call this “writer’s regret” when you think of that one point all after the post goes up that would’ve added nuance to what you said…)

Yeah, that one was really popular. It kind of took me by surprise. There are always things I wish I could add to all my posts, and that one is no exception. Lots of folks commented on the blog and to me personally about the centrality of oppression of Native Americans to the American experience and in building the U.S. economy. I don’t disagree with that assessment. But I still believe that anti-black racism, not just as a historical keystone in building our political and economic system, but as a cultural norm in the U.S., is the fulcrum of white supremacy, with white privilege as the lever, if you will.

But I get that my take is not the most nuanced or comprehensive. I’m committed to keeping my posts short, readable and repeatable. Again, I want to avoid taking an academic approach to the subject of racism where getting to the perfect analysis is the goal. My goal is to give people the language and the concepts to use to tell their own stories about racism. You know, you can give a person a fish and she’ll eat for a day, but teach a person to fish and…you get the picture. I’m trying to draw on my past experiences as a literacy teacher and popular educator to provide folks with the tools to tell their own stories or to tell me off, differ with my analysis, and muddy the waters. To me, the more voices and points of view promoting an understanding of racism as an organizing principle and force in our country the better.

Page 2 of 3 | Previous page | Next page