My reading of Kipp's anecdote wasn't that he went to a talk about policies that hurt the poor and was upset that there was too much race talk. Rather, he justifiably felt alienated by comments about "the greed of the white man" and that "white people are an oppressive people." This wasn't a productive discussion about white privilege. These are comments that assume that all white people, because they are white, are the sole cause of classism and they have no part in helping to remedy classist practices. I'm not saying that we shouldn't question well-meaning people. I'm just saying that promoting the racial divide with divisive rhetoric hinders movements for social justice. Power relations rest upon both race and class hierarchies and alliance across race and class would strengthen challenges against these hierarchies.

-- MichelleLuo - 09 Apr 2012