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A review by lukes_ramblingwritings66
The Panthers Can't Save Us Now: Debating Black Life, Policing and Left Struggle by Cedric Johnson
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This book is a collection of essays that begins with Cedric Johnson’s essay that bears the name of the title, a follow-up essay also written by Johnson, four essays that respond with both agreements and criticisms of Johnson’s critique of the Black Lives Matter movement and the identity politics within, and a final response essay by Johnson himself. Johnson’s main critique is that the current movement is based on racial disparity alone, and does not include class disparity in the equation when there are discussions surrounding mass incarcerations and police brutality against black bodies.
I found Johnson’s critique very well researched from a class and labor perspective and something that stood out to me was his perspective on how the Black Lives Matter movement felt very much like a marketing campaign at certain points with the founders getting into arguments with individuals wanting to use the hashtag. He writes how it showed more entrepreneurial product branding than something born out of a social struggle and that was interesting to note (pg43).
He also criticizes the idea of black exceptionalism and how trying to establish a collective unity amongst Black Americans is not possible because there are differing politics between what Johnson identifies as the Black Bourgeois and the Black working class, using examples of how Black Americans who buy into the neoliberalization of their communities and will eventually push/vote for more policing and will be harder on crime (pg46, 53)
As far as the responses go, the essays critiquing Johnson’s essay do bring up solid points, however, Johnson’s follow-up essay at the end acknowledges said critiques and even points out their arguments still rely on not only the neoliberal identity politics, but also the hopeful outlook that the Democratic party would unite the large demographic of black voters. Johnsons writes about the Democratic Party “What should be clear to anyone paying attention is that the New Democrats are much more willing to embrace versions of liberal anti-racism than they are willing to make substantial commitments to broadly redistributive public policy. (Pg171). After reading this, I can only think of the recent event when most of the propped up “good guys” in the Democratic Party (Bernie, AoC, etc) voted to send more of the United States’ money to Israel, rather than call for a permanent ceasefire and invest that money into affordable housing and healthcare for millions of Americans that cannot afford either.
I found Johnson’s critique very well researched from a class and labor perspective and something that stood out to me was his perspective on how the Black Lives Matter movement felt very much like a marketing campaign at certain points with the founders getting into arguments with individuals wanting to use the hashtag. He writes how it showed more entrepreneurial product branding than something born out of a social struggle and that was interesting to note (pg43).
He also criticizes the idea of black exceptionalism and how trying to establish a collective unity amongst Black Americans is not possible because there are differing politics between what Johnson identifies as the Black Bourgeois and the Black working class, using examples of how Black Americans who buy into the neoliberalization of their communities and will eventually push/vote for more policing and will be harder on crime (pg46, 53)
As far as the responses go, the essays critiquing Johnson’s essay do bring up solid points, however, Johnson’s follow-up essay at the end acknowledges said critiques and even points out their arguments still rely on not only the neoliberal identity politics, but also the hopeful outlook that the Democratic party would unite the large demographic of black voters. Johnsons writes about the Democratic Party “What should be clear to anyone paying attention is that the New Democrats are much more willing to embrace versions of liberal anti-racism than they are willing to make substantial commitments to broadly redistributive public policy. (Pg171). After reading this, I can only think of the recent event when most of the propped up “good guys” in the Democratic Party (Bernie, AoC, etc) voted to send more of the United States’ money to Israel, rather than call for a permanent ceasefire and invest that money into affordable housing and healthcare for millions of Americans that cannot afford either.