race traitor
To Advance the Class Struggle, Abolish the White Race
by Noel Ignatiev
Race is a biological fiction, but it is a social fact. The white race consists of those who enjoy the privileges of the white skin—freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, the inside track for jobs and careers, not having to fear for their lives every time they leave the home, expecting, if they are female, that the state will protect them from strangers. Its most downtrodden members enjoy a social status above any person defined as "non-white."
Letter: Ignatiev responds to the L&R Production Group
To the Editors:
In an article in the November/December 1994 issue of Love and Rage, I wrote that white people are those who enjoy the privileges of the white skin, among which are "expecting, if they are female, that the state will protect them from strangers." In a note appended to my article, the editorial board wrote that the women on it "strongly disagree" with my statement, which "runs contrary to the newspaper's commitment to recognizing the way in which state power is used to uphold patriarchy."
Letter: Race Treason, Gender Trouble
Dear Love and Rage,
Noel Ignatiev's attempt to defend his claim that white women can expect "that the state will protect them from strangers" demands a response. Noel replies to the evidence of the experience of "white" women on the Love and Rage Production Group to the contrary by asserting that by their apparent refusal "to be the property of any man" they have placed themselves beyond the shield of whiteness.
