WV: I dont think it is good strategy to tell a black woman who has experienced racism and sexism all her life, that "race issues and gender issues are just 'identity politix distractions' -- the problem is really about class..."
I dont think that works. It ignores THEIR reality. It fails to LISTEN. Its an arrogant approach, imho. I could go on.
Hi WV, can you reference where this strategy has been proposed here?
If you can't reference that, I suggest it's a strawperson argument. Or, perhaps you can reference that and it's been proposed by someone else on this board? I have personally never said that and never would so I reject being lumped in with a broadbrush reference, which perhaps applies somewhere else. There is no easy consensus on this board: each person here (as far as I can tell) has their own argument and should be listened to. As you say, if we don't listen carefully, we show arrogance.
Just out of interest, WV, have you listened to the feminist arguments and discussions that have emerged from black women's groups in southern Africa over the last few years? Are you up to date with what black women (who've experienced racism and sexism all their lives in one of the worst places on the planet for that: South Africa) are actually saying about race, gender and class? The American situation and the South African situation are not the same but the latter is no less significant than the former. The discussions around class, gender, sexism, identity politics and intersectionality has been intense and voluminous over the past few years in South Africa. Lots of books, journal papers, media articles, group studies have poured out: South Africans have lots to say on the subject and don't shy away from these topics.