I went for an Extinction Rebellion protest in Bristol today, because I have realized the environment is an issue I deeply care about. The protest was as white and middle class as I had anticipated and I felt as out of place as I had expected. Yes, the left and the environmental movement have done a terrible job of building links with minority communities, possibly due to their unwillingness to look at social justice issues beyond class. But, what is a person of colour who is concerned about the environment to do in that case? Sit out of the protests until there are enough people of colour involved?
When people feel threatened or insecure, they take refuge in those privileges that they feel are inalienable, such as gender or race. And, the labour movement has unconsciously fallen prey to these tendencies as well. Their insistence on seeing the white working class as a sociological category distinct from the wider working class, is one such example.
There were also some aspects of the protest I was uncomfortable with, such as exhorting people lower down the social food chain to stop consuming in the shopping quarter. But every protest movement has problematic aspects
When people feel threatened or insecure, they take refuge in those privileges that they feel are inalienable, such as gender or race. And, the labour movement has unconsciously fallen prey to these tendencies as well. Their insistence on seeing the white working class as a sociological category distinct from the wider working class, is one such example.
There were also some aspects of the protest I was uncomfortable with, such as exhorting people lower down the social food chain to stop consuming in the shopping quarter. But every protest movement has problematic aspects
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