Angry White Kid

Remembering John Ross - a true rebel journalist

As many of you may know, John Ross passed away on Monday, January 17 at the age of 73, from liver cancer. I won’t try to replicate the many kind obituaries which have appeared in the U.S. and Mexican media in recent days.  In fact, I didn’t know John well, but our encounters over the years, by chance or intentional, as well as his constant production of books, poetry and articles, leave me wanting to say something.

I first met John about eleven years ago, when he was doing a national tour and I organized his visit to Vassar College.  He hopped in my car at the train station in Poughkeepsie and some of his first words were, “Mind if I smoke?”  Assuming he meant a cigarette I said sure, and he promptly sparked a tiny joint.  After settling in at my place, he gave a talk to a packed audience, interspersing political discussion about the Zapatistas and neoliberalism with beat poetry read with the aid of his much-commented-upon monocle.  Later, he stayed up late with us 18 and 19-year-old kids, regaling us with stories of how Jack Kerouac chased him around a bar in Greenwich Village with a broken bottle (he had hooked up with Kerouac’s girlfriend) or his thoughts on the Saint Patrick’s Battalion (they weren’t political, it was all about Catholicism).

That encounter, along with running into him at various events over the years, such as a memorial for Rachel Corrie or a protest against the war on Iraq, as well as his books and columns from Mexico Bárbaro to Blindman’s Buff, made a lasting impression on me and nourished a deep respect for this singular individual.  John was a person who knew his values, knew what mattered and was willing to face the consequences of what may come in his fight to uphold them - be they spending time in jail as the first conscientious objector to the Vietnam War; being deported by Saddam Hussein while trying to serve as a human shield against the second U.S. invasion; losing a eye to a San Francisco police beating; or a permanently injured back as a result of a beating from Israeli settlers.  Lest we leave Mexico out, he was also beaten by the federal police after berating Octavio Paz in the Mexico City airport.

But it was not only physical coercion at the hands of state oppressors that John was willing to face.  While he was quick with a smile, a great conversationalist, and truly generous and genuine with his time and attention, he called things as he saw them and if that resulted in a shot across your bow, so be it.  Perhaps the most notable manifestation of this in recent years was his criticism of the Zapatistas, the Other Campaign, and Subcomandante Marcos.  John was one of the first, if not the first, journalists to bring the Zapatista struggle to the attention of English-speakers in the U.S. and elsewhere.  Solidarity was John’s mantra, and he saw it as his task to help bring the U.S. left’s attention to social movements south of the border.  He traversed thousands of miles and spilled hundreds of pages of ink doing just that with the Zapatistas.  But when he saw the Other Campaign go astray, in his eyes, of its intent and the values of the Zapatistas, he did not hesitate to voice his concerns.  He did what is still considered heretical on the left: criticize the EZLN.  This certainly cost him in terms of friendships, distribution and readership, but John had always struck out on his own course, why would he stop in 2006 at the age of 69?

The last time I saw John was in April of last year, where I put together another event in the Lower East Side, to discuss the situation in Oaxaca, the case of assassinated journalist Brad Will, and the Mérida Initiative.  John was technically on a U.S. tour to promote his latest, and ultimately last, book, El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City, but that evening he didn’t even discuss it, in fact only bringing two copies to sell.  At that point his liver cancer was in remission and he seemed as feisty and energetic as he was when I first met him, maybe even more so, as he noted he was pleasantly surprised to still be alive. 

As we all know, his cancer returned and ultimately took his life.  In one of his last emails to me, he apologized for not writing his annual article about the murder of Brad Will, stating, “i’m gravely ill with liver cancer and just putting together a coherent article is not such an easy job these days - but i'll work on one for publication next week perhaps on the day of the dead (if i’m still among the living).”  In fact, he did write that article and lived to fight a couple of months more, his dedication and fire never failing.

Though he would likely scoff at the tributes, the truth is there are few people like John, and those people should be celebrated and remembered.  Thank you for all that you have given us, shown us and inspired in us, John.  We will pick up the torch that you have passed to us.

Dozens of migrants attacked and kidnapped in Mexico

On December 16, a freight train left Arraiga, Chiapas, with 300 migrants from Central America riding on top of it. While passing through Oaxaca the train was stopped twice. First, around 100 people were detained at an immigration checkpoint. Twenty minutes later, those remaining on the train were attacked by a gang of armed men, presumably Zetas or Maras, two groups known for preying on migrants and robbing or kidnapping them. Kidnapped migrants are usually held for ransom or forced to become gunmen or drug mules. The Zetas are likely responsible for the massacre of 72 Central American migrants in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas on August 24 of this year.

During the attack, at least 40 migrants were kidnapped and have not been heard from since. Of the 300 people to depart from Chiapas, only 20 made it to Ixtepec, Oaxaca, a common layover stop where a Catholic-run migrant shelter is located. Below is a short video with testimonies from some of those who survived the events. I translated it and added the subtitles, so any errors in those departments are mine.

Along with insinuations that immigration was aware of the attack awaiting the migrants, the Mexican government has been extremely crass in its handling of the situation, at first outright denying what occurred and later acting only after concerted pressure from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.  An entire week passed before Mexico agreed to investigate the “supposed kidnappings.” Previously, Mexico’s Interior Ministry had informed El Salvador's Deputy Foreign Minister that El Salvador's “stance was unfounded, that [it] had no basis to claim that there was a kidnapping.”

While the Mexican government was sitting on its hands regarding the December 16 kidnapping - despite the fact that family members of those kidnapped reported receiving calls demanding ransoms of 10,000 dollars, as well as indications that the victims were being held near the site of the kidnapping - four more Central American migrants were kidnapped on December 21, and a fifth, from El Salvador, was killed during the attack.

According to Honduras’ Deputy Foreign Minister, Alden Rivera, 20,000 Central Americans have been kidnapped in Mexico on their way to the United States in the past twelve months.  Of those, half were from Honduras.  A staggering 30 out of every 100 Honduran migrants in Mexico are kidnapped.

As well, Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, the Catholic priest who runs the migrant shelter in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, has come under increasing threats and harassment as a result of his work assisting migrants and denouncing the disgraceful and dangerous treatment which undocumented Central American migrants face in Mexico.

These kidnappings, and the failure of the Mexican government to act - or even worse, the complicity of some government functionaries in these acts - are emblematic of the impunity that reigns in Mexico.  However, though not a focus of this summary, it is important to note that when examining the causes of Central American migration, as well as the rise and power of organizations such as the Zetas and the Maras, one’s gaze must firmly rest on the political and economic policies of the United States.  While it is certainly desirable and should be demanded that the Mexican government protect migrants crossing through its territory, upon making that journey these migrants then must again risk their lives to cross into the U.S., only to face massive discrimination and human and labor rights violations upon arrival.  The root causes are the neoliberal policies emanating out of Washington and foisted upon Central America and Mexico alike.

The “low-intensity war” against autonomy (Part One)

From Algeria to the hills of western Oaxaca.

Part Two

The “low-intensity war” against autonomy (Part One)
By Daniel Arellano Chávez, Neri Martinez Hernandez and Ricardo Trujillo Gonzalez
November 29, 2010
[Spanish original]
Translated by Scott Campbell

Long ago the government and transnational corporations declared war on the peoples of Mexico, and yet from 1810 to 1910 to 2010 the peoples’ struggle has not been defeated and has shown itself to be a long-lasting breath of unwavering, permanent resistance.

Now this war has been officially titled the “war against organized crime,” a declaration which becomes more shameless with each passing day; advanced by a federal executive who came to power through electoral fraud, deploying the army and security forces to every corner of Mexico to prey day in and day out not just on social movements, unions, popular struggles, human rights defenders, peoples and communities, but also on a population that has committed no other crime than crossing the streets, going to a meeting hall, attending school, or driving on the highway.

Today human rights violations, intimidation, harassment, censorship, torture, secret detention centers, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, executions, and massacres are common occurrences in a Mexico where 77 people are murdered daily. [1]

Two high school students riddled with bullets by soldiers in San Luis Potosí, two children murdered by soldiers in Tamaulipas at a checkpoint while on vacation [2], families gunned down by soldiers in Sinaloa [3] and Nuevo León [4], the massacres of teenagers in Ciudad Juárez and Durango - which the government justifies by saying they were gunmen and drug dealers.

A shooting attack by Federal Police on a march demanding an end to military and police abuses in Ciudad Juárez resulted in a seriously wounded student.  Out of control violence that has reached those who “should not be affected,” including the murder of students from the Monterrey Technological Institute (one of the most expensive private schools in the country), which has led to protests by those who previously complained about the protests of the “poor and inferior.”

Industrial murder, official cover-ups and repression in Pasta de Conchos, Coahuila in order to protect Grupo Mexico; a daycare center in Hermosillo, Sonora, set on fire with 49 babies and children inside, a crime of negligence pardoned by the government; the explosion of a toxic fertilizer factory in Izucar de Matamoros, Puebla, releasing its carcinogenic contents on the population, as happened ten years ago in Córdoba, Veracruz; in both places covered-up by the Dragón corporation.

This setting repeats itself daily, from Baja California to Campeche.  In such a manner, one day the government decides to suspend the catch of white sea bass in an area declared as a nature reserve on the land of the Cucapá people of Baja California, indigenous territory that for millennia was sustained by this resources; however, as the indigenous note, “the reserve’s director, José Campoy Favela, is the owner of twenty fishing boats and gives preference to Sonoran fishers, who have nearly 1,000 boats and extract up to 30,000 tons of fish, as opposed to the 500 tons on average that the Cucapá catch each season.” [5]

With this same logic of extermination and exclusion, then-Governor of Campeche, Jorge Carlos Hurtado Valdez, with the help of paramilitary and state police, cleared out the San Antonio Ebulá land parcel, inhabited by Mayan peasants and adherents to the Other Campaign, denying entire families the right to housing, just to protect the interests of businessman Eduardo Escalante, father-in-law of the former Interior Minister, Juan Camillo Mouriño, and who has various contracts to build highways throughout the state. [6]

Around the country the Federal Preventive Police (called the Federal Police under this administration), have no time to rest: one day they remove teachers from the National Education Workers Coordinating Committee in Mexico City, during one of dozens of protests in front of the Interior Ministry; two days later they kick out electrical workers in Cuernavaca, Morelos; the repressive work offers no rest, a few days later in Lázaro Cárdenas they attack protesting miners.

Uphold Human Rights, Halt Drug War Aid to Mexican Security Forces

En español aquí.

Below is a sign-on letter to oppose additional U.S. funds to the Merida Initiative for the disastrous drug war. We have already received an incredible response from all over the Hemisphere. We believe this is a critical juncture, as homicides and human rights violations increase in Mexico and citizens in both countries reject militarization as a strategy to weaken organized crime. This week is the fourth anniversary of the murder of journalist Brad Will, a classic case of impunity in Mexico. We urge you to join us and the hundreds of organizations and individuals listed below in signing this statement. The movement against the drug war enforcement/interdiction approach is getting stronger in light of the history of failure and enormous cost in lives and resources that it entails. It is unconscionable that the US government continues to support it. This is the time to make our voices heard.

Organization sign-ons: mail to [email protected]

Individual sign-ons at this link: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/703/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5074

Human Rights, Labor, and Religious Groups Call on Obama Administration and Congress to Uphold Human Rights, Halt Drug War Aid to Mexican Security Forces

Despite nearly 30,000 drug-related homicides, a huge increase in human rights violations by the armed forces and growing citizen opposition to the bloody “war on drugs”, the U.S. Congress is once again considering the allocation of U.S. public funds to Mexico to support the failed counter-narcotics policy. President Barack Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2011 budget contains $410 million for the Merida Initiative, a security aid package for Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic.  Of that total, $310 million are allocated for Mexico. We question the Administration’s decision to extend indefinitely and unconditionally Bush’s three-year Merida Initiative in light of the violence and ineffectiveness of the strategy, and mounting calls for a new approach from citizens’ groups on both sides of the border.

Existing U.S. aid to Mexico under the Merida Initiative, amounting to more than $1.3 billion, does not include necessary safeguards to ensure that it does not contribute to systematic human rights violations. Only fifteen percent of the funding may be withheld pending a State Department report on Mexico’s progress toward meeting the human rights conditions of the bill.  Furthermore, the Merida Initiative (also called “Plan Mexico”) includes no benchmarks for effective evaluation.

The Merida Initiative supports a reckless strategy that has led to massive bloodshed in Mexico and failed to achieve goals to reduce illicit drug flows, assure public safety or significantly weaken cartels. With 45,000 troops in the streets as the core feature of this militarization strategy, the Mexican armed forces have been implicated in murders, rapes and violations of human rights—the vast majority of which have never been prosecuted.

One Year of Unjust Detention: Free the Hikers NOW!

July 30 will mark one year since my friends Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal were detained by Iran.  One year of being held virtually incommunicado.  One year without access to a lawyer and without being charged.  For Sarah, one year of solitary confinement. 

The Nation magazine recently reported that the three were kidnapped in Iraqi territory by Iranian police, making this whole affair even more outrageous and unjust.  Shane, Sarah and Josh must be freed immediately and returned to their families, friends and comrades.

Events around the world will be held on and around July 30 to mark this miserable anniversary and to demand Iran release the hikers immediately.  Please see www.freethehikers.org to learn about the several ways to get involved and help out.

Copala Autonomous Leader and His Wife Assassinated

From Kristin Bricker's "My Word is My Weapon":

Timoteo Alejandro Ramirez and his wife Cleriberta Castro were found dead in their home today, according to San Juan Copala's blog.  Contralinea reports that the perpetrators are "hitmen from MULT," the Movement for Triqui Unification and Struggle.  Neighbors saw an armed commando that they say works for MULT in the area around the time of the killing.

Ramirez was a "natural leader" of the Yosoyuxi neighborhood, which forms part of the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala.  According to indigenous customs, "natural leaders" are those who don't propose themselves as leaders; the community chooses them because of their long record of community service.

Here's a joint statement in Spanish regarding the assassination.  The continued siege, murders, kidnappings and threats are intolerable, outrageous and unacceptable.  Mexican president Calderón and Oaxaca governor Ulises Ruiz are the ones ultimately responsible for these acts.  Blame also falls squarely at the feet of the Obama administration, who rewards Calderón's regime of impunity with state dinners and millions in lethal aid.

UPDATE: A compa has just translated the Copala statement linked to above:

http://autonomiaencopala.wordpress.com/

San Juan Copala denounces murder of leader Timoteo Alejandro Ramirez and his wife Cleriberta Castro

To the state, national and international news media
To the other campaign
To the national and international human rights organizations
To the people of Mexico

The Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala emphatically  denounces  the MURDER of our top leader, Timoteo Alejandro Ramírez (44 years old) and his wife Cleriberta Castro (35 years old). The deplorable deed took place in the Yosoyuxi community, which is part of the Autonomous Municipality. According to witnesses’ statements, an unmarked three-ton truck that was apparently delivering merchandise stopped outside the store where the slain comrades live. An armed commando got out of the truck and executed the victims. This commando was made up of four NON-Triqui individuals. The Autonomous Municipality holds the Movement for Triqui Unification and Struggle (MULT) responsible for the crime.

Our comrade Alejandro was the guiding moral force of the Triqui community, a tireless leader for building stronger indigenous autonomy in the region, and the top leader of the Independent Movement for Triqui Unification and Struggle (MULTI).

This makes one more act of impunity that has occurred during the Ulises Ruiz Ortiz government.

The Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala, in conjunction with the undersigned organizations, demands JUSTICE in the face of this new attack and an END to the extreme violence now going on in the region.

No paramilitary group can control the rights of the Triqui people!

Justice and peace can only be built from below! 

Community democracy!

MUNICIPIO AUTÓNOMO SAN JUAN COPALA
MOVIMIENTO AGRARIO INDÍGENA ZAPATISTA (MAIZ)
CENTRO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS MIGUEL AGUSTÍN PRO
FUNDACIÓN NACIONAL DE MUJERES POR LA SALUD COMUNITARIA A.C.
MOCRI-CNPA-MN
COLECTIVO CONTRA LA TORTURA Y LA IMPUNIDAD (CCTI)
TALLER INTEGRAL ARQUITECT@Z
CASA DE ONDAS
UNIDAD Y JUSTICIA POR LA LIBERTAD DE LOS PRESOS DE ATENCO
CIARENA -AC
JOVENES EN RESISTENCIA ALTERNATIVA (JRA)
ALIANZA DE MUJERES INDÍGENAS DE CENTROAMÉRICA Y MEXICO
FORO PERMANENTE POR LA COMISIÓN DE LA VERDAD
REPRESENTACIÓN SINDICAL DEL SME
GRUPO MARXISTA REVOLUCIONARIO, SME
GRUPO DE ACCIÓN POR LIBERTAD PARA COPALA
ALIANZA MEXICANA POR LA AUTODETERMINACIÓN DE LOS PUEBLOS (AMAP)
FOODFIRST INTERNACIONAL ACTION NETWORD FIAN, SECCIÓN MEXICO
COMUNIDADES CAMPESINAS Y URBANAS SOLIDARIAS (COMCAUSA -AC)
VOCES OAXAQUEÑAS CONSTRUYENDO AUTONOMIA Y LIBERTAD

Why You Should Care about the Three Americans Held in Iran

An article of mine published on Monthly Review Zine, Counter Currents and Free the Hikers Blog. Please check it out and take action to free the hikers.

Why You Should Care about the Three Americans Held in Iran
by Scott Campbell

Watching the news in August 2009, you may have heard about three U.S. citizens being detained in Iran.  Arrested for allegedly crossing the Iran-Iraq border on July 31, 2009, they remain in detention nine months later in Iran's Evin prison.  Dubbed "the hikers" due to the fact that they were on a hiking trip in the Kurdish region of Iraq when they were detained, in their nine months of imprisonment Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal have had only three visits from Swiss consular officials, have been permitted only one brief phone call to their families, and have been denied access to their Iranian lawyer.  Their mothers applied for Iranian visas more than four months ago and have received no response.  Though Iranian officials occasionally sputter about "espionage," the only charge they face is "illegal border crossing," punishment for which is a fine, not indefinite detention.

All of this is outrageous enough, but the picture is even bleaker.  Thursday, April 22, was the most recent visit to the hikers by the Swiss -- the first since October.  Sarah -- who is in solitary confinement -- told them she is suffering from depression and a severe gynecological condition.  Shane, originally also held in solitary but now sharing a cell with Josh, told them he is enduring a stomach ailment.  The three of them are considering beginning a hunger strike, despite their poor health and isolation.

The three have lamentably become political pawns in the U.S.-Iranian staring contest.  The fact is, despite the West's belligerence towards Iran, these three individuals demand our support and solidarity.  Though they were simply on a hike, they are much more than hikers -- they are individuals dedicated to working for a better, more just, and more sustainable world.  They are comrades, fellow travelers, activists, organizers, whatever you may want to call them.

It is pertinent to mention that Sarah and Shane are good friends whom I've known for several years.  I first met Sarah in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005 when we organized locally to support immigrant rights and participate in the historic May Day marches of 2006 and sent groups down to the border with Mexico to confront nativist vigilantes like the Minutemen.  She and Shane lived in a house in Oakland that served as the base for the Midnight Special Law Collective, which provides legal support and much more to activists around the country.  In 2007 and 2008, we all worked with Direct Action to Stop the War to organize a series of civil disobedience and direct action efforts to mark the fifth anniversary of the war on Iraq.

Before moving to Syria together, Sarah spent time doing solidarity work with the Zapatistas in Chiapas and Shane went to Iraq to document the U.S. occupation, as well as making two trips to Darfur where he covered the rebels fighting the Sudanese army and militias.  In Syria, they lived in a Palestinian refugee camp and did Palestine solidarity work, as well as visiting their friend Tristan Anderson in an Israeli hospital where he has been ever since being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier with a high-velocity tear gas canister while protesting against the separation wall in the West Bank.  Before heading to Kurdistan, Sarah worked with Iraqi refugees, while Shane reported on the U.S.'s creation of death squads in Iraq for The Nation.

Having never met Josh, I unfortunately know less about him.  He spent time at the Aprovecho Research Center working on issues such as sustainable agriculture, food justice, and permaculture.  He is deeply committed to issues of ecology and truly democratic politics.

Sarah, Shane, and Josh are not three random Americans.  They are allies in the struggle for a better world.  And right now they are in a dire situation.  In that spirit, I ask for your help.  If you're anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-occupation, help free the hikers.  If you oppose sexism, racism, and homophobia, help free the hikers.  If you believe in environmental justice and ecological sustainability, help free the hikers.  We need them out of there so they can be fighting with us here.  Please visit www.freethehikers.org to sign the petition, send letters to the U.S. and Iranian governments, and get in touch to help organize actions to protest their detention and demand their release.

Scott Campbell is a graduate student at NYU.  He writes and posts translations at his blog Angry White Kid: angrywhitekid.blogs.com.

Friday in NYC: Mexico and the U.S.: Social movements, neoliberalism and state violence

I'm organizing the below event Friday night in the Lower East Side. It will be an interesting evening, so if you're around, come by and check it out.

Mexico and the U.S.: Social movements, neoliberalism and state violence

Friday, April 23
6:30 PM
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street, between Aves. B and C, NYC
Free – donations gratefully accepted

Join Friends of Brad Will for a public talk, discussion, video screening and photo exhibit with:

John Ross, Mexico City-based author, poet and rebel journalist. John will discuss the manipulation of the case of Brad Will in U.S.- Mexico relations, the broader attacks against journalists in Mexico, and the lethal U.S. ‘drug war’ aid package to Mexico known as Plan Mexico.

Mark Read, from Friends of Brad Will. Mark will discuss his March trip to Oaxaca, where he met with Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno, the Oaxacan activist falsely charged for the murder of Brad Will, and will screen footage of his interview with him.

Hinrich Schultze, Hamburg, Germany-based photographer with the Ya Basta Zapatista Solidarity Network and Cafe Libertad. Hinrich was with Brad in Oaxaca in 2006 and will be displaying photos of the 2006 protests and street art. The photo exhibit will be opening Tuesday, April 20 at 8pm and run through Friday evening of April 23.

Brad Will was an Indymedia journalist killed by government paramilitaries in the Mexican state of Oaxaca in 2006, while documenting a teachers’ strike and popular uprising against corruption and impunity and for democratic change.

For more information contact Scott Campbell.

March 4th: Game on.

Students and workers. March 4. Strike, Walkout, Occupy.

It's gonna be big. It's already been big. Join in. And also be ready to defend anyone that police and administrators try to make an example of.

Here's a map of actions occurring around the country tomorrow, courtesy of Angus at studentactivism.net.

View March 4 Day of Action in a larger map

Also check out: Occupy CA (California actions), Take the City (NYC actions), and Defend Education (national actions).

Race or Class or Both? A response to MC Serch

Early this year I started working with author JLove Calderon on a multimedia project she started called Till the White Day is Done. Part of that effort was her interview with MC Serch (of 3rd Bass and executive producer of Nas' Illmatic) and my response to it. Below are both the interview and my brief response. Hopefully we'll be producing more of this in the future.

In the interview, MC Serch comments on the role of both race and class in analyzing the causes of injustice and inequality.  He comes clearly down on the side of class trumping race, stating:

“We have to look at economics and see where it plays, and not race. Because now more than ever the guy with the most money wins.”

“I find it idiotic when people say, ‘It’s a black and white issue.’ It’s not.  It’s a poor or rich issue.”

Without a doubt, Serch is right that class is tremendously important.  It goes without saying that with enough money, a person can have access to almost anything.  But an important aspect of looking at the differences and inequalities between the working and middle classes and the upper and ruling classes, is the racial makeup of those classes.

Numerous studies have shown both that the wealthiest Americans are almost exclusively white and that on average, whites are wealthier than people of color.  For example, a 1997 paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, of all places, points out that the richest 1 percent of U.S. households own 33 percent of the wealth in the U.S.  And of that richest 1%, 92.1% are white.

Thomas Shapiro, director of the Institute on Assets and Social Policy, writes that in 2007, white households had a net worth that was $142,600 greater than black households, up from $100,700 in 1997. Shapiro states that “the racial wealth gap [is] a fundamental axis of racial inequality,” and that these numbers show “a firmly embedded racial stratification.”

Following Serch’s suggestion, by looking at these numbers to see who the guys with the most money are, the answer is definitive: the white guys.

Most white people reading this are probably wondering, “Well, if white people are the rich ones, then where’s my share?”  That’s a fair question, because obviously most white people are not rich.  But the fact still remains, even if we’re not rich, on average we still have more resources and wealth than people of color do, simply because we’re white.

At first glance, that last sentence doesn’t make very much sense.  A more in-depth explanation will have to wait for another blog post but the brief explanation is this: The reason white people across the board have more money is because for hundreds of years, the U.S. economy was built along racial lines designed to favor whites at the expense of all others.  Through the mechanisms of genocide, slavery, exclusion acts, Jim Crow laws, and redlining and other racist financial practices, whites amassed wealth, reinvested it and passed it on to their children; while entire segments of the population, especially blacks, were barred from owning anything and the wealth they did produce was taken from them.  

Stretch that out over 400 years and it’s easy to see why whites as a whole are in such a better financial condition.  That legacy of unequal wealth distribution and white supremacy is why in 2009, it’s still the case that the wealthiest people in the U.S. are almost all white, and that whites across the board are wealthier than any other racial group.