Racism flows from the top

IN RESPONSE to Adam Turl's "The myth of the reactionary working class," which debunked the press coverage of the election blaming workers for racism, Jeff Melton wrote a letter ("Racist working-class whites") objecting, and asking, "If the notion that there are very large numbers of white working-class voters who are racist is a myth...how do you account for the poll numbers in West Virginia and Kentucky?"

I think Jeff is missing Adam's main point and also misunderstanding the polls. First, Adam did not deny that the U.S. is still racially divided, with institutional racism still dominant. This racist structure, of course, affects the ideas of everyone in society--including workers, both white and people of color.

However, the blame for this racism comes from the structure of capitalism itself and from the ruling class that perpetuates it. This is clear from the election campaign, and from the way the media has covered the election.

Racism doesn't flow from "backward" white workers, but from the top down. Adam shows this well in his article, comparing the more racist opinions of middle- and upper-class people with the less racist attitudes of workers. The reality is the opposite of the way the media portrays it.

One of the key purposes of the article is to undercut the pessimism that comes from the false idea that workers are more racist or more reactionary than other classes. In fact, working-class attitudes are far less racist than in the past.

So why the vote in West Virginia? There are probably many causes. As SW has pointed out, Hillary Clinton's vote shows the weakening grip of sexist ideas. Are votes for Obama necessarily from sexists? No! Then why are votes for Clinton necessarily racist?

The same night that Clinton won the West Virginia primary over Obama by 41 points, a straw poll showed Obama and McCain running nearly neck-and-neck in West Virginia. So most of those Democrats who voted for Clinton must have been ready to vote for Obama in the general election. If so, the idea that they are solid racists must be a myth.

The media take certain partial demographic facts and spin them into a myth of dominant working-class racism. We shouldn't fall for a myth that will discourage us from trying to organize a multiracial working-class movement for social change. The bosses want us to blame white workers rather than the real source of our problems--the ruling class and the system it perpetuates.
Steve Leigh, Seattle