Antiracist friendship survives only when both parties accept struggle and risk

Evidence

This context is relevant because whilst one might accuse Artur of being racist, it is far more complicated than that. There was no malice in Artur’s tone, he was fondly recalling his times working on the doors. He retains close friendships with many of those doormen and is a very close friend of Chris (mentioned by Artur for also being a poor timekeeper). Chris was a successful Caribbean (though not Jamaican) fighter who came up alongside Artur during the late 90s/early 00s. For years the two of them trained twice daily alongside one another, helping each other get ready for fights, as well as cornering each other when they fought. There are multiple photos of the two of them engaged in these activities adorning the walls of the gym. Today Artur lets Chris take his personal training clients in the gym at no cost (usually personal trainers pay a “rent” fee). Thus, although Artur’s comments may – in some way – draw upon some form of racist logic, they do not contradict the prior assertions of carnal conviviality. Artur lives a convivial life and his comments reflect the messiness that goes hand-in-hand with that. — Amit Singh, “Carnal conviviality” and the end of…, 70 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Antiracism, by contrast, conjures a stance against an imposed condition, or set of conditions, an explicit refusal or a living of one’s life in such a way one refuses the imposition, whether one is a member of the subjugated population or the subjugating one. It is an insistence that one not be reduced, at least not completely, to or by the implications marked by the imposition and constraint, by the devaluation and attendant humiliation. At the limit, antiracism is the risk of death, the willingness to forego life, perhaps at once the measure of the severity of the imposition, dislocation, and curtailment, and of the seriousness of the commitment. There clearly is no evidence of antiracialism ever commanding that sort of risk. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 85 (#complicates, via linked claim)

And interrupting and outshouting them, the Governor, the voice of experience in the quartet of reform, refusing to let anyone agree or curry favor with him, hashing out ideas as an equal. And, always, sitting apart, knitting, saying nothing until the Governor turned to her and asked, “What do you think, Mrs. M?” the plump, matronly little woman—a woman whose qualities astonished the capital more each day. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 606 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Racially inflected banter can coexist with genuine interracial friendship — Amit Singh, “Carnal conviviality” and the end of…, 70; Governing-through-friendship requires an equal partner who will not flatter — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 606; Antiracism demands life-or-death commitment; antiracialism never does — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 85 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Racially inflected banter can coexist with genuine interracial friendship #complicates (0.80) — Amit Singh, “Carnal conviviality” and the end of…, 70
• Antiracism demands life-or-death commitment; antiracialism never does #complicates (0.78) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 85
• Governing-through-friendship requires an equal partner who will not flatter #expands (0.72) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 606