Race, Class and Gender

Race, Class and Gender
by KeesjeMaduraatje

Which strategy can you choose, when you wake up some day and realize that you are in a shitty world and experiencing big trouble? You feel oppressed and exploited.

Analysing the situation you can make conclusions like: I am in this shit because I am black, female, worker, homosexual, katholik, protestant, jew or whatever. Most important is: you analysed the situation. You have labelled yourself, or others did it for you. Of course there are labels, like femal and black, that are not easy to deny or change. Other labels and characteristics seem to be easy to deny, change or shake off. We will discuss every distinguishing mark and see if it is a revolutionary potential.

Social mobility
Members of oppressed and marginal groups in society have two possibilities to raise their social status: as an individual or as a group. Making a social change as an individual often means that you leave the current group and make an individual move. Improving the status and economic position of a social group means normally that there should be something like a common identity and awareness. Workers not knowing they are oppreseed will not struggle for a better life. Black people not analysing the situation they are in, will not have a commeon identity and a willingness to fight. Groups with a strong identity and distinguishing characteristics have the greatest success factor.

Distinguishing elements

Famous revolutionary characteristics are : race, class, gender, religion and ethnicity
They can be both externals, like the skin colour and sex, or internal like thoughts (religion). Some groups have more charakteristics at the same time like black workers or lower class religions.
They have mixed loyalties. Some identities can not be changed like race and gender.

Race
The race category is the most dangerous and discriminating criterium for social struggle. In most situations the oppressed social group will be defined as different by the majority or powerfull social groups.

All though this is the case, there are still movements that are proud on this racial characteristic. For instance "Black is beautiful", "Black Panther" or "Nation of Islam". In some cases these racial oriented groups are discriminating themselves. An example is the anti-semitism among memebers of the Nation of Islam.

Class
The class identity is much more an ideological category as a pure income criteria as someone will have to associate himself with class values. The social identity based on class is most of the time worker oriented, with Marxism as most known ideology.

Gender

Sexual Proletarians

Micheal Jackson : leaving race catagoruies

Mixed or changed identities
Even in these categories are exceptions, for instance transgender persons, changing sex and identity. Black persons with one or more Kaukasian parents or grand parents will have a possibility to choose an identity.