I started taking notice when he published "The Myth of Class Reductionism" in 2016, which bafflingly claims that there is no serious "class only" Leftist scholars or activists. It may not be something they would admit in mixed company, but there are plenty of people online and in DSA meetings that believe this: including some Bernie Bros, subreddits like r/stupidpol, podcasters like Amber Frost from chapotraphouse, etc.

https://newrepublic.com/article/154996/myth-class-reductionism

Now, I don't disagree with his overarching point that anti-racism is not going to be as effective at balancing economic inequalities: like a more robust social welfare net, free higher education, or a universal basic income. But that doesn't mean anti-racist policies like reparations from DOS have no place in addressing social inequalities.

But the most recent article he co-wrote with Walter Benn Michaels, "The Trouble With Disparity" is even more baffling. They claim that racial discrimination is real, but the race is not. I get that they are arguing against a "scientific" basis to race -- which has been used throughout modern history as the justification for racial supremacy and genocide. But just because there is no clean, one-to-one correspondence between material, biological, and social categories of race with some neatly delineated group of people doesn't mean race is a completely empty or inconsequential lens for understanding history or govt policy. It just seems SO needlessly either/or when there are plenty of sociological metrics that can analyze trends between both race and social class.

https://nonsite.org/the-trouble-with-disparity/