ERIC Number: EJ989411
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1740-2743
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Available Date: N/A
"Abolish the White Race" or "Transfer Economic Power to the People"?: Some Educational Implications
Cole, Mike
Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, v10 n2 p202-232 Oct 2012
"Race Traitor", a movement founded by Noel Ignatiev and John Garvey, has been given a boost in recent months in three different arenas: the Occupy movement; an antiracist advertising campaign; and in an academic journal. With respect to the last, which is the main focus of this paper, Critical Race Theorists John Preston and Charlotte Chadderton, in "Race, Ethnicity and Education," argue that the "Race Traitor" movement is "a political form with resonance for contemporary Marxists" and Anarchists. Their intention, they state, is to try to counter the arguments of what they refer to "a left Marxist critique" that considers "Race Traitor" misguided and politically untenable. In this paper, I suggest that while "Race Traitor" has strengths in its depiction of the horrors of racism in the US in the 1990s and before, and in a few practical suggestions for combating racism at an individual level, as a campaigning movement, it is misguided and politically untenable. I identify three major problems with "Race Traitor": its vulnerability to being misunderstood; its almost exclusive focus on the "black/white" binary; and its tactics and the lack of clarity in its vision of a just society. I argue that twenty-first century "multicultural" socialism provides a more viable and credible alternative to neoliberal capitalism than does "Race Traitor". In so doing, I consider some implications for educational practice of "Race Traitor" and twenty-first century socialism respectively. I conclude with a Postscript, updating the politics of Noel Ignatiev. (Contains 17 notes.)
Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Social Systems, Educational Practices, Critical Theory, Race, Racial Attitudes, Racial Relations, Racial Bias, Change Strategies, Organizational Objectives, Activism, Beliefs, Misconceptions, Blacks, Whites, Political Attitudes, Political Influences, Social Theories
Institute for Education Policy Studies. University of Northampton, School of Education, Boughton Green Road, Northampton, NN2 7AL, UK. Tel: +44-1273-270943; e-mail: ieps@ieps.org.uk; Web site: http://www.jceps.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
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