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/

cynical as hell, but obvious

I was just rereading his 1995 essay "What Are The Drums Saying, Booker?", which...I mean he's not wrong and he definitely can write some engaging prose, but he low-key comes off as a hater. Like he can shit on every famous Black academic for not being Marxist enough, but he can't take a moment to highlight intellectuals like Angela Davis and others who thought Marxists texts to the most disenfranchised groups of people?

But I don't think his recent embrace of brocialism is in bad faith or cynical; in fact, he really does think anti-racism is some kind of CIA or right-wing plot to divide socialists. I think he's enjoying his emeriti status and is leaning into being a bitter crank.

Here is a link to "What The Drums" for anyone interested:

https://libcom.org/files/ReedWhatAreTheDrumsSayingBooker.pdf

“Especially when they’re the same hue as you.” -Jay-Z “Family Feud”

I have nothing to add really but the piece reminded me of that quote. If Reed were one to quote rap lyrics like Dyson does, he could quote that Jay-Z line as a possible example of the position he’s attacking.

and chapo (and by extension, cumtown)

all of that shit is breathing down the neck of racism I can't even get close enough to hear any of it out. I just look at the landscape like, this is ya'lls kings?


stupidpol really fucked me up when I first ran through it, and I consider myself battle hardened after years of daily scans of Trump, Q-anon, alt-right subs. It got me because it felt like The Donald circa 2016 but with a weird ass twist. It's not that they feel the bigger issue is inequality between the classes, it's that they go many many many steps ahead and have a mean, cynical take on race.

Chapo I just can't fuck with because they are right on the bleeding edge. I only kind of get what they are trying to do but I know how crazy fans can twist the message and while they are on a train thats on the other track they are still a few stops down from fuck-shit-ass-racism and the thing is...I sound like a crazy person when I say this because they are supposed to be the good guys and people stan so fucking hard for their brand of dirtbag leftism.

When Chapo did a critical analysis of 'White Fragility' I knew things were moving into an area I didn't want to even know about. My fear when they performed a critical analysis is that it was going to pull on a thread that will unravel accepted progressive wisdom. It's one thing to skip over or not include a relevant book, it's another thing to mock it to say "hahah, this dumb bitch wrote this dumb book. how insane."

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https://soundcloud.com/swageyph/yph-die-with-me