Pamphlet Review: Inside of class relationships

Marx, Marxists & Racism, Class Plus Caste, The TransAtlantic Slave Trade & the Development of Tropical Africa, The Dawning of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, The Horse That Bolted by Reg Young (PO Box 6944. London El 9GR. 1995. £2.50 each.)

 

These self-published pamphlets are based on much worthwhile information and some clear thinking from a Marxian perspective. Unlike so many writers on the politics of racism, ethnicity and identity. Young seeks to discredit the idea that “blackness’’and “whiteness” are concepts which can be grasped outside of concrete class relationships. Racism, he contends, is not principally a matter of simple misunderstanding or human nature, but arises out of the historical circumstances of capitalist class oppression.

 

Reg Young will be a guest speaker at our Camden branch (see “What’s On” for details) and will be discussing the perspectives contained in these pamphlets which are best read in conjunction with our own very informative and well-argued pamphlet on Racism.

 

Steve Coleman