Class Analysis...

This week we are presented with the question of class analysis. Why do we need one? Why is it important? How does using a class lens change our perspectives?

The articles for this week tie together nicely to show the importance of these questions. Morris shows us the importance of using a class lens, that is not mutually exclusive of a race lens. Through a loose timeline of the history of blacks in America, Morris guides us quietly through the connections between race and class. Two major lessons can be learned here. Firstly, consider the argument of Morris that black powerlessness only matters when it impacts white society and success, highlighted by the death of the entire french quarter and its impact on the white elite. While the impact on blacks was more immediate and visible, it was the impact on white owned business that was sensationalized as loss, while black loss was portrayed as a series of bad decisions, such as not leaving, that led to "their" situation. But since we all read the article I dont have to tell you why they didnt leave, do I? What does this say about the value of black business? and socio-political involvement?
In some ways, the piece in the Monthly Review offers us another view. By using Hurricane Katrina and its socio-political implications, including "white flight" and the history of political and economic power having a purely white history, we begin to see the invisibility of class as previously discussed in class. Consider the concept that the problems of Katrina "looked" like race. This is a fundamental distinction. It shows us that race is often the social scapegoat because of its visibility, though in reality class may be the better fit.
Ultimately, this is no surprise. In the context of these articles and our previous lecture and discussions, I can only hold one thing to be true. Class and Race are not mutually exclusive in the majority of cases. It is by recognizing this that we can develop a sense of the importance of a class analysis. Mainly, if we begin to view interpersonal dynamic in the realm of class, what does this mean for the social power structure? What does this mean for race dynamics. Consider the implications for social change if working/lower class whites and blacks of varying socio-economic status unified for common advancement. What then would become the visibility of class? The impact on social policy, race relations, and the labor movement could be drastic albeit slow. The political structure would have to shift from what Morris deemed a conversation of the corporate minded republican right and the humanist impact vocalized moreso by the democratic left. (Note- the political divide of bi-partisan systems is not supported by myself entirely though language is limiting)
This stuff is complex and muddied, and any attempt by a theorist, economist, academic, or activist etc. must not reduce these into singular concepts, for when we do, we fail to recognize the lives and identities of a hollistic person. We are not simply our class, our race, etc. and to assume that we shelve or closet these as we face different climates and even disasters, is crippling, but it is this exact attempt at compartmentalization that continues to envoke echos of "class warfare" "race relations" and the "battle of the sexes" with little sensitivity to the wisdom of experience.