Thread by @omaromalleykhan, Experience class disadvantage and class discrimination is bad and unjust. But it's [...]

Omar Khan

omaromalleykhan

Experience class disadvantage and class discrimination is bad and unjust. But it& #39;s not the same as or racial discrimination

Not all bad or unjust things are the same

But it is possible to tackle as well as distinguish different form of injustice at the same time

When you& #39;re deflecting onto class inequalities when the conversation is racism, the suspicion is not just that you& #39;re not very good at understanding social injustice, or evidence, but that you& #39;re no more committed to tackling class inequalities than race inequalities

Such divisiveness may serve other purposes, but it obviously makes it harder actually to address class and race inequalities

When white middle class people ventriloquise the voices of working class ppl, their intent is often to deny that structural forms of class & race inequaities exist, & instead to turn the debate into claims of racial solidarity-& that *no* white person benefits from discrimination

The extent of the personal outrage is an indication *not* that the white middle class person is genuinely concerned abt white working class ppl, but rather that *they* are personally affronted by claims that structural forms of inequality benefit them (and others of us), *not*

that other forms of structural inequalities - notably class inequalities - are being ignored

If they were, they& #39;d focus on solutions to poverty, class inequality, which ofc they almost never offer

Oh, and choosing to wage a culture war obviously isn& #39;t a policy, and rather than offering anything to improve the lives of working class ppl instead treats them with patronising disrespect

See also mocking intersectionality

Which is of course a perspective that seeks to understand and tackle all forms of social injustice

You can see why someone who seeks division and affirms society is ok today wd seek to deny forms of injustice can be jointly tackled

You obviously would prefer a & #39;debate& #39; or a & #39;culture war& #39; when your policy programme is empty, when your plan is instead to affirm and continue the status quo, and ensure divisiveness amg those experiencing different (and often multiple) forms of injustice

If you& #39;re thinking & #39;how can we design an anti-poverty policy that by definition only benefits white people and never helps black ppl& #39; , well, your intent and motivations are hardly obscure

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