I am not an Afropessimist
BGR Journal 4/6/26
One day, when arguing with a White Maoist, I was told I was espousing “Afro-pessimism” as a pejorative. I won’t deny my ignorance: at the time, I didn’t know what the fuck that even meant, did my research, and became even more confused.
But my confusion was not caused by a lack of understanding of afro-pessimism. It was caused because I, for the life of me, could not understand how what I said could reasonably, in good faith, be called Afro-pessimism.
I simply said I refuse to work with white leftists who don’t prioritize unpacking their white supremacy.
A statement that everyone in the BGR community server completely understood and agreed with. See, I don’t care how much Lenin you can quote, or how much you glaze Che Guevara, unless you address that klan robe lingering within your soul, we’re not comrades, and I don’t see you as useful.
Here’s a simple summary: You can’t let everyone in your tent, which is so often the case with big tents.
For me, my tent is closed off to anyone who doesn’t see anti-blackness as an equally important issue as capitalism and imperialism. It’s closed off to people who can see how interconnected these issues are and that you can’t simply pick and choose which to fight against. I am done apologizing for feeling this way.
I have two fairly blasphemous statements for someone who creates the content I do. Yet, I believe them wholeheartedly
1. White Leftists and White Liberals are concerningly similar
There’s a reason the word white comes first. It always comes first. Every single criticism I have for white liberals can so easily be aimed at white leftists with minimal changes. I could make a whole video about this, but here’s an example:
Using black people as foundations instead of building on their own
When that guy, Chairman Birdsong (whom I am not a fan of, but that’s beside the point), was showing off his version of the Black Panther Party, there were swathes of white people begging to join.
White Leftists feel this liberal level of entitlement to black spaces.
The real insidious aspect of this is that black revolutionaries have FAR more to lose than white ones do. Tell me a white American leftist who had to spend the rest of their life in political exile in Cuba, while being on the FBI’s most wanted list. Tell me a white leftist who was drugged and murdered by the police after they shot 99 shots in their apartment with their pregnant wife next to them.
White leftists have FAR less to lose than every black revolutionary of the past, yet they do the least. They won’t cut off bigoted family members. They won’t go to marginalized communities and touch base with the actual struggling masses, instead of reading online PDFs from their ivory tower. Why?
Plenty of reasons, but one I find extremely significant is that they expect black people to start and drive the car for them. This is the entitlement that is typically seen in white liberals, but leftists have this problem too.
2. I think racism (specifically white supremacy and anti-blackness) is actually more important to deal with right now than the class war.
Let me explain myself.
If you’re trying to head to a destination, and there’s one barrier in your way preventing you from reaching your destination, a barrier that blocks every single path to your destination, the only logical thing to do is remove the barrier. You can’t go where you need to go until you take care of it, right?
The destination is a country (and a world) where the masses hold the power, overthrowing the ruthless hierarchy of the ruling class. The barrier is racism. The BARRIER IS white supremacy and Anti-Blackness.
Racism has ALWAYS been the largest barrier preventing Americans from class consciousness.
Slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Mass Incarceration can not be simply reduced to “distractions “from multi-ethnic class consciousness. You think racism is a distraction from class consciousness because you aren’t ready to address racism as an equal evil on par with capitalism.
The reason I am not pessimistic regarding this is I believe that the American masses will be able to destroy this barrier and achieve a system that benefits us all. I belvie that the vehicle to our destination is still a multi-racial one.
So what are my demands? This piece is long enough, so I will give you one. Just one.
Stop excusing racism
Apologize for your racist phase if someone uncovers it and feels hurt. You may have been a kid, but so were your victims.
Stop making excuses for the Klan members in your clan. Unless you are financially reliant on a bigot, you are weak for maintaining a relationship with them.
You think you can be a part of a revolutionary vanguard when you can’t cut off a racist friend? When you can’t call it out when you see it? When you refuse to listen to the material suffering of Black Americans? Give me a fucking break.
Stop making excuses for racism when the one doing it is someone you agree with. I accuse liberals of having this cult mentality, but I am convinced that if a well-liked white leftist man with a sizable platform were caught calling someone a “nigger”, many of you would be writing think pieces in their defense.
Our greatest asset is accountability. The only way this can remain our greatest asset is if we ensure no one is above it. To me, this starts with holding intentional and implicit notions of white supremacy, anti-blackness, and truly any bigotry accountable.