Oaxaca: Racism in the North

While I agree very much that this situation, and so many others, points out certain unearned privileges, I do not agree with this, or another less well-considered, post that the concern exhibited on indymedia about this situation is attributable to racism. On the contrary, I have been following the Oaxaca story on indymedia and through narconews. Indy is one of the only sources I have found, up here in the north, reporting on this story. Brad will, the man whose sacrifice seems to be dismissed in this article, was down there reporting ON THIS STORY, and he was doing it FOR INDYMEDIA. Therefore, indymedia has given of its own blood for this story. Not the story of the death of Brad Will, for he did not know that would be a story when he went down there. It was the story of the Oaxaca uprising.

To the author of this piece: You were not down there reporting on this. Brad was. For indymedia. He gave his life to bring the story of the Oaxaca uprising to the North.

Yes, unearned privilege is always fair to examine. And yes, the people of Oaxaca, and the indigenous people of the world are in a life or death struggle for their lives. And yes, much of their peril comes as the price we expect, up here in the North, for our gluttonous way of life. Yes, yes, yes. Can you not say all this without smearing the man who gave his life to bring us this story? Without smearing the one resource in the North bringing stories like this one forward? Without just assuming the rest of us do not already see this point?

Again, I remind you. It was not you who was down in Oaxaca fighting to give voice to the APPO, to bring this story to the world. It was Brad. And it was indymedia.

We knew Brad. Leastwise a lot of folks on indymedia did. The names of all five persons have been published. I don't know any of the rest. I expect though that those who knew them feel the pain of their passing far more acutely. That isn't racism.

me,

Confronting one's racism is a difficult thing to to. Your sense of privilage in your comment hangs out all over the place.

Eric does not smear Brad Will. He rather provides an excellant analysis of the racist mindset prevalent in corporate media. OF COURSE this mindset has trickled to alternative media outlets!! This is, after all, amerika.

*PDX indy did not offer Oaxaca as Breaking News until the day that Brad was murdered.*

Why?? And why did PCASC only offer Brad's name as one to be memorialized in today's PDX actions? Why weren't any of the other names of human beings killed in Oaxaca mentioned?

The truth hurts, eh?

I don't think the reactions of indymedia and the anarchist movement in general are as fucked up as the author is supposing here. I think the mainstream media's response has been "white guy died, now it's important", which is fucked up. I think our media's response has been "one of our own died, it was important before, and it still is".

Brad wasn't some random white tourist. Brad was an indymedia videographer, earth firster, squatter, urban gardener, and anarchist. He was part of our movement, and friends with many members of it. I don't think it is wrong to react more strongly when one of your friends or comrades dies, than to the death of someone you didn't know at all.

"he was one of us"
in a global struggle against oppression, ALL involved in those battles are "one of us", whether they cover the story or are THE REASON for the story

"Indy is one of the only sources I have found, up here in the north" - that speaks volumes because there are millions of mexicans living in the north, many with relatives in Oaxaca. Where was the bridge building to the mexican populations here in the U.S. to help convey the struggle, to translate the ongoing struggle. How many went to any of thousands of organizations here, walked in the door and said, hey - I heard some stories about Oaxaca, I want to learn more, I don't know the language, can you help me?

Do you ever wonder why u.s.indymedia is predominantly white? once again, the great white saviors comes to the rescue...and even though a person may not consciously think that (and so disavow themselves of racial behavior) - it is a byproduct. I agree with the poster that it is hard to face one's own racism and stare at it directly. It is easy to point at outright racism by listening to someone rant with racial slurs but it is so very hard to see the hidden, that part of us that we don't even acknowledge.

To sum it up, the mexicans of Oaxaca accepted Brad as one of their own because he was helping to document the struggle. Yet, here in the U.S. we hear the words of why he was highlighted over others as "he was one of us". When will you understand we are all one of us?

Walking through mexico city today there were alot of leftest papers shoved in my face and most all had Brad story on the front. These damn Mexicans just are so racist, if they would only get over there white skin privledge.

Gabe--Why? Why do you think that a white face graced the covers of the Mexican rags? The answer is oh so clear. My Indigemous skin has answered questions like this my whole life!

Can you elaborate on your post? What do you imply with your statement?

Do you know the answer to my question? Please share?

Anyone? Thoughts on this?

Two guesses on possible reasons Mexicans headline Brad Will, (like the Palestinians highlighted Rachel Corrie).

1st possible reason: Internalized racism. Some Mexicans may genuinely and unconsciously believe that white and from the USA is better.

2nd possible reason: External racism. I'm starting from the premise that the US's world-famous (and also often subconscious) narcissism is known in Mexico as well as other nations. One way the Mexican press could choose to try to adapt to this is to get a short term burst of Western/Northern attention by publicizing Brad's death.

Racism forces people to make no-win decisions like that. Any "ism" forces people to make no-win decisions. I had a friend who had a terrible misfortune befall them. Many people came to their aid. I helped...but felt deeply conflicted, since I had also had a terrible misfortune befall me...in the "line of radical duty"... and I was basically written off as collateral damage. Why? Most people thought I was a valuable activist until I took on an "ism"...and "interfered" with their "effectiveness" and "productivity". Did I? Was I so much less valuable than my friend?

Funny how no one could tell me the "right" way to address an "ism" but everyone & their comrade could tell me how I was doing it wrong.

No win. No right time to talk about it. Never.

Hmmmm.....

I can't imagine how Brad's death has felt to those who knew him, and/or identify with him. He was clearly dearly beloved by many. I'm sorry he died. I would have liked to have met him. I hope that if I were there, I would have stood in front of the bullet.

There is no excuse for any death by repression. May these deaths bring us closer together.

I truly believe this: the closer we are, the stronger we are.

What would Brad do?

"bois piquant"- I think your analysis of "no win" is too bleak.

Some people have found a way to do activism and address racism in a way appreciated by people of color.

Part of "isms" is the hopelessness. Check out Holly Near & find out others. Get support, & check your despair at the door.

It is possible that both 'sides' of this dialogue are to some degree or another correct in assessing that:

1. Brad was a righteous human being engaged in the stuggle as effectively as he knew how at the time of his murder at the hands of the Mexican state, and

2. We live in a racist, colonized, white supremacist world that has always invisibilized the indigenous resistance from Oaxaca to Oregon.

It is possible that both truths stand side by side behind the barricades whether in Palestine or Chiapas or Big Mountain. There is not a reduced and perfect truth to the reality of Brad Will's murder, but there is the reality of state power and resistance and the consequences of that resistance and there are our personal intentions and consciousness mixed in with the currents of capitalism, and the particular historical spinnings of any place on earth.

None of us are immune from that ambiguous adventure that we are currently experiencing/influencing.

It is more a question of whether or not we, as Brad did during his short years here, want to grow, and learn, become more effective fighters and allies in the struggle for our mutual liberations. And that means checking our egos at the door, recognizing that our race/class/(fill in the blank) priviledges keep us behind certain lenses, metabolizing information in a certain way and in effect patterning our resistance, and tactics and strategy to our resistance in response to our priviledge unless we are confronting ourselves everyday, and even then we inevitably fall down, dust ourselves off, get up again with a new understanding of how we are not at the point that we desire to be in our resistances in large part because of our inability to deal with these truths of priviledge, paternalism, that we are in effect children of a colonized corn.

My hat is off to Brad, in moments of silence I give thanks to him and his brave soul for standing in harms way when he did not have to, but rather chose to. At the same time, having been an indymedia cameraista myself in different levels of danger from state repression, involved in different struggles of resistance I know that I have subconsciously banked on my race and class priviledge to be a buffer zone to me, often counting on the fact that I will face rubber rather than real bullets. And when we cross that line, out of our comfort zones and into areas of the world, or communities in the United States where live ammunition is used, then for that brief moment masks come off and we experience the power of raw human solidarity and it changes us and the people around us. But, as in Brad's case, we are not individuals, this is the great lie...we live, eat, fuck, breathe in a collective consciousness and our brief interludes when we are in the Oaxaca's of the mind and we get outside of the zoo of our constructed worlds we fool ourselves if we think that this is reality. If we are arrested, if we are detained, if we are killed we will be seen through a certain perspective, we will be processed in a certain way, metabolized by a consumerist world that understands white, understands educated, understands amerikan, and yes, they all mean something. They give a certain weight and value to a human's death whether we like it or not, whether or not we have done our work, found that human solidarity, gone to those undoing racism workshops, we are still of this world that is controlled and constructed by mass movements of our species.

Marcos is a great example of this ambiguity. Lighter skinned than most in Chiapas, more articulate, educated than the indigenous communities around him, the rest of the world fell in love with him, the romantic notion of the guerrilla in the mountains championing the underdog. No doubt that he is deeper than that, has undergone certain ego deaths to come to a place of greater effectiveness, moved beyond his own need to be important and as a result has become intensely relevant and a great symbol to those who are trying to replicate an effective resistance...but he is none the less not immune from the realities of a paternalistic world,

and we can never be satisfied with our understanding of ourselves, our realities, even death does not innoculate us from having to see and confront difficult truths. If we truely fight for liberation we are not simply fighting police, paramilitarites and the machinations of the state and its economic might, but also the outposts in our heads, in our tactics and strategies and in our movements.

The desire to be so reflective in no way takes away from the beauty and power of Brad's life and his sacrifice that so many other nameless, faceless people have made over human history...in fact it adds to it, gives us the inspiration to go deeper, to give his death a meaning that is not paralyzing and divisive, but rather a time to reflect, digest, grow and resist that much more potently.

Brad was a revolutionary, which means that he was dedicated to change and introspection and self-critique. He was constantly reinventing, developing, and transforming himself whether in the pacific northwest in the eco-anarchist scene to the squats of New York. He would not have been afraid to look at the analysis of the coverage of his own death, to take it all in, to see the contradictions and to fight against them. We should not attempt to be any smaller or more close minded. We should not let his death divide us or make us afraid to question, it would be the last thing he would have wanted.

You said, "Your sense of privilage in your comment hangs out all over the place."

I did not mention that I am a Mexican national. I guess you simply assumed that because I would care, I must be taking on a mantle of privilege.

The truth hurts, huh?

You also said, "*PDX indy did not offer Oaxaca as Breaking News until the day that Brad was murdered.* "

Bullshit. Portland indymedia featured the story of Oaxacan women taking over the media down there in vivid detail. I know, because this is the only place I found the story of Oaxaca, and I have followed it here ever since.

To those grousing about how "indymedia" didn't care "enough" before Brad Will was murdered, I will simply ask you, then, how it is that Brad Will -- an imcista -- came to be murdered down in Oaxaca??? He was killed because, as an imcista, he cared. He was killed trying, *trying* to bring you this story. Which is more than *any* of you have done.

Indymedia is all of us. We must all do our share to tell these stories. If we don't, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. We certainly can't blame the person who bravely went down there for the sole purpose of getting this story out. Geez, listen to yourselves. You ought to be ashamed. Unless you have been willing to put your own life on the line, as Brad did, then you have nothing to say about how "indymedia" didn't care. Geez, you just make me sick.

Again, your sense of privilage sticks out all over the place. Not gonna explain how this so obvious, that's your homework to recognize and then hopefully overcome.

When I mention "Breaking News," I'm talking about the red colored "Breaking News" font that appeared at the front page top and centered. I'm not talking about featured stories. Direct me to the "Breaking News" url of the Oaxacan women. If I'm mistaken, I'll eat my bullshit.

As an activist of color, I can say with no doubt, Indymedia is NOT all of us. Trust me on this one. It's getting better, but gonna be a long haul before Indy speaks for and to all of us. Please understand, I DO support Indymedia.

As far as your comment "more than any of you have done:" In my 15 years of activism I have been run off of desolate, rural roads by speeding vehicles, been spit in the face during a simple leaflet action, received death threats, had my car's windshield bashed in and have been victimized by racist violence. Haven't been killed yet.

A question; if I were to be murdered on the front lines, would you remember or, shit, even KNOW my name if some pretty, white girl activist were to be killed a day later? Who would get more indy press coverage? Who's name would you remember? Rachael Corrie's name? Ben Linder's name? Schwerner and Goodman? Brad Will's name...

Everyone wants to complain rather than spend their time doing something useful...

The reaction to the death of Brad Will had nothing to do with his being white. It has everything to do with the work he did. If it had been a woman of color who had spent her life as an activist, become an indymedia reporter, and gone to Oaxaca to report on events there, and been killed the reaction would have been _just_ _the_ _same_. There is a time for examining race, but this is not that time. And calling PCASC, indymedia, and mexicans racist really isn't productive.

Anyway, I hope all you complainers are on your way down to the consulate as I am.

My comment was only because I thought it was funny. Some may say that Brad was on the front page because mexicans in the strugle thought it might get them more support from the states (which it did). but the papers I saw dont really make it out of Mexico City or at least not out of the country. He was there because he was a commrad. People In the states felt his death more because it hit closer to home. Thats it. If a friend dies I cry if a stranger dies I turn the page

Maybe you didn't read the second comment from "me." S/he says s/he is a Mexican national. Yet you're still talking about "privilege" hanging over the words?

The fact remains, where were you when Brad Will was shot to death trying to get this story out? ...for Indymedia.

I'm not saying you haven't done good work as an activist; I don't know you. If you say so, then I believe you. But you certainly weren't working to bring this story to this community. Others were. Including Brad Will, who died for it. And including the people who have been featuring this breaking news ever since the government troops began the crackdown, ever since they began storming into the city.

I think your arguments sound like either a provocateur or someone who would rather tear other people down than do the work necessary to build something up.

If you just want to alienate those around you and complain about them not doing "enough," (even though one of them sacrificed his life for this story), then I will warn you that this sort of thing has little currency here. Here, you are respected for the work that you do. Not for sitting behind your keyboard whining. By alienating others rather than educating them, you isolate yourself.

Well he certainly wasn't on the front pages in the USA. Every single MSM news source described him only as "an independent (or 'activist') reporter (or 'journalist'). It's as if even mentioning the word 'Indymedia' or even his NAME was a crime. This included the NY Times and NPR. Viva Mexican News for putting him on the front page.He should have been on it here too. I'm so sick of this reverse racism so prevalent on the more lunatic fringes of the so-called 'left'. He wasn't shot because he was white you know. Get a freaking life.

You know, it's really revolting to me that you have taken an inspiring and meaningful struggle like this one, at the very moment when solidarity and the strength of community are most evident, and tried to turn it into a moment of divisiveness. How utterly disrespectful of everyone involved.

Guess what, provocateur. We're all coming together anyway. For days now, we've all been standing together with our comrades in Oaxaca, whether you get it or not. This is community. We are sharing it together. So you can sit there and hammer away in the dark, and blather out first year college student platitudes, but you are alone. Because we're out here on the streets, busily creating a better world. While you moan about what we're doing wrong.

But you're wrong. You're blind. Ask yourself why an imcista was killed in Oaxaca. Why, if no one cared about this story, was he there in the first place?

Yeh, you're right. Those damn white people, what were they thinking. White people shouldn't take part in the struggle for social justice, damn them. How selfish of Brad Will for going all the way to Oaxaca, and putting his body on the line for this story. What was he thinking. When people like "Eric" and "la llorena" were sitting right here ...doing nothing. And how dare he go and get killed for this. I mean, it's not his fight. How dare he. What a grand-stander. What a glory hog. And how dare anyone care about him. After all, he's just a white guy. How dare these darn imcistas stand by a comrade. Can't they see, he's WHITE? How uncool to support a fallen WHITE comrade. Much cooler to dismiss him and grouse about racism.

Oh, and how dare indymedia not do anything about this story. I mean, except cover it all summer, and sacrifice one of their own for it, and feature it like wildfire now that the crackdown has come. Except get the word out all over the nation about it. Yeh, I mean, except for all that.

And how dare Amy Goodman talk about him. I mean, except for the fact that she knew him, that he was her comrade too. Oh, and then there's the fact that Democracy Now has featured the story of Oaxaca on several occasions now, as well as the story of the struggles of the people of Venezuela fighting US intervention, and the people of Bolivia struggling against corporate piracy, and the people of East Timor fighting for independence, the story of immigrant rights in the US, the story of the people of Nigeria fighting the oiligarchy, etc etc etc. Yeh, but you know, this guy is, you know, WHITE. So just because DN (like indymedia) has been covering indigenous issues for years doesn't absolve them of the guilt they should feel for giving a damn about this white guy.

Yeh. I guess you're right. White people should just stay out of any struggle for justice. Forget solidarity. Let's go for insular alienation. Yeh. That's MUCH more effective. Yeh.

You know, as a matter of fact, almost no one in all of Mexico ever heard of Kendra James. Or Jahar Perez. Or Jim Chasse. Or Vernon Allen. But you know what? Lots of people in Mexico heard about Jose Mejia Poot.

So...does that mean that anyone in Mexico who cared that the police murdered Jose Mejia Poot is a racist for not caring about Kendra James and Jim Chasse and all the rest?

la llarona, if you were an indymedia activist known by hundreds of other media activists, and especially involved in a large imc like NYC, and you were killed, your name would be all over every indymedia site.

Also, take a look at the portland indy coverage of the past couple days. It is all about Oaxaca, and Brad Will is hardly mentioned. It is about Oaxaca because it is a situation in flux and the federal police are actively repressing the people there as we speak.