Mary Mitchell Thinks Occupy Chicago is Too White

Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell put her perfumed handkerchief under her nose and wandered out amongst the unwashed masses at Occupy Chicago on Wednesday, and was concerned at what she saw.

It wasn't that she felt the protesters had the wrong message, or were being rude, or violent. But she feels "something is definitely wrong" with the Occupy Chicago movement -- it's too white:

On its face, it is difficult to see myself in the 99 percent these protesters claim to represent. They are mostly young, white college students, although a few middle-aged and senior citizens were in the mix... What really struck me was the small number of black and brown people among the marchers

Mitchell was able to "hunt" down Brian Johnson, a "40-year-old African-American male who was surrounded by a group of college-age white males wearing bandanas."

She quoted Johnson as saying that if minorities "would pay attention to this movement," they would "understand that it is not [only] about young white people."

Fortunately, Mitchell also "spotted" the only African-American woman in her purview, Zakiyyah Muhammad, who said, "I don't think enough of us has gotten involved... White people are marching for change like we used to do and black people are complaining."

But while Mitchell furrows her brow over whether Occupy Chicago is diverse enough, Rinku Sen at The Nation asks, "Diverse enough for what?" She adds, "Diversity alone will not ensure that [the Occupy movement] advances an economic change agenda that is racially equitable."

Sen argues that it's not about the makeup of the various faces in the protesting crowd, as long as at the end of the day reform benefits all members of society:

We must now move from questions of representation to ask, How can a racial analysis, and its consequent agenda, be woven into the fabric of the movement? We need to interrogate not just the symptoms of inequality—the disproportionate loss of jobs, housing, healthcare and more—but, more fundamentally, the systems of inequality, considering how and why corporations create and exploit hierarchies of race, gender and national status to enrich themselves and consolidate their power.

"If racial exclusion and inequity are at the root of the problem, then inclusion and equity must be built into the solution," Sen said.

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By Prescott Carlson in News on October 27, 2011 1:00 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

seattlesnow

where the white women at?

Navin_Johnson

Hey, there's an African American Paultard in the photo. That's gotta be somewhat untypical, especially considering that they're practically neo-confederates....

This is the gift to Chicagoist that just keeps on giving.

MiaPark.com

mary's correct. occupychi is extremely white & it's a shame there aren't more people from chicago's mighty neighborhoods that are attending. i think that i've never seen another asian person at occupychi besides myself because it's not acceptable in our general culture to speak out. it'd be great if the 99% were more authentically represented, for sure, but it's nice to know that at least someone out there is protesting for all of us.

Kevin_Robinson

Mia, bring some friends next time you drop by. I've been doing that, I think that helps spread the movement.

BlueFairlane

So what's the point of criticizing a voluntary assemblage of people for its demographic makeup? I don't think OWC is purposely excluding black or brown people. From what I've observed, the group seems pretty welcoming of everybody who wanders by. The question I would ask Ms. Mitchell to consider isn't so much why OWC doesn't have greater minority representation as why minorities have chosen not to participate.

JayP123

"The question I would ask Ms. Mitchell to consider isn't so much why OWC
doesn't have greater minority representation as why minorities have
chosen not to participate."

Obviously, the answer is institutional racism is built into the premise of OWC.

BlueFairlane

It's hard to tell if you're being sarcastic or stupid.

slickpoetry

I believe that is her general point--her questions seems to be why aren't blacks participating, not why is the movement preventing blacks from participating.

This is a good question to ask. Chicagoist is somewhat misrepresenting her article.

BlueFairlane

It takes a lot to get me to read a Mary Mitchell piece, but after looking at this one, I can kinda sorta see how you might think that's the question she was implying, maybe. The problem is, she doesn't really come out and ask that or any other question. She mostly just points out that all the white college kids aren't like her, (this is her scoop of the year) and that there aren't any black people. The quotes she gets kind of point in the direction of this question, but being Mary Mitchell, she doesn't delve into it at all herself.

ChicagoD

Right, but that's how race-baiting works from both sides. "I'm not saying . . . I'm just saying" works as well for Second City Cop as it does for Mary Mitchell. I think P. Carlson did a fine job.

Prescott Carlson

I did not misrepresent Mitchell's column -- I said that she views the movement as made up of mostly white people and is not diverse enough, which, in her words, is "definitely wrong." I don't think it's in dispute that she thinks that.

I never implied anything about her views on what she thinks is the reason for the cause of that lack of diversity (mainly because she didn't bother to share her thoughts on that, choosing instead to use up precious column space about a cranky old white woman and a rude Asian guy).

ScooterLibbby

I agree, that was her point, except she;s such a bad writer & the Sun-Times doesn't have any copy editors left, so this incompetently written shit got published.

Renita Marjan

Sad to say, the only people left working in print journalism in the area seem to be the die-hards who managed to hang on by their fingernails, the "names" and those willing to work nights for $13 an hour.

ChicagoD

Seems like if Mary Mitchell were actually asking that question she could have made any effort whatsoever to answer it.

I think what Mitchell is saying is that she believes these protesters are just dirty hippies. She's just not using those exact words. Given her love for Helen Schiller et al. I suspect she thinks Occupy is not revolutionary enough . . .

JoeChicago

What is interesting is you hear this same complaint when you attend Occupy Chi General Assembly meetings. There is a vocal group that feels there are not enough minorities involved in the protest.

Kevin_Robinson

And that same vocal group spends a lot of time complaining amongst itself about the sad state of diversity in the Occupy movement, while also claiming that they can't be more involved until it's more diverse.

As Sen said, "Diversity alone will not ensure that [the Occupy movement] advances an economic change agenda that is racially equitable." Class trumps identity, almost every time. At the end of the day, if the lot of workers is improved, the lot of those other groups comes with.

ChicagoD

"We need to interrogate not just the symptoms of inequality—the disproportionate loss of jobs, housing, healthcare and more—but, more fundamentally, the systems of inequality, considering how and why corporations create and exploit hierarchies of race, gender and national status to enrich themselves and consolidate their power."

I hereby humbly apologize for ever criticizing any writing on Chicagoist. Holy shit. What a hot mess of pseudo-intellectualism this is. "Interrogate" actually means something different than "analyze" or "evaluate" does.