Sam Baskett: Jack London racist?

[Socialism Today, No 13, November 1996, p. 33]

Dear Socialism Today,

I am grateful to Sam Jackson for his letter, in issue No.11, calling attention to Jack London’s disturbing racism even as he acknowledges London’s significant contribution to socialism.

London was indeed so far from being a „perfect‘ socialist, however that may be defined, that his warmhearted sense of the brotherhood of man may be insufficiently appreciated. As Sam notes, George Orwell a half-century ago, found London essentially flawed by a ‚fascist strain‘ – a severe accusation indeed. Even his daughter, the socialist Joan London, in her 1939 biography of her father, sharply attacks his racism, as exhibited in the incident referred to in Sam Jackson’s letter.

Looking back, decades later, with a edge of London and his era, critics, both favourably and unfavourably inclined, still find him to have held essentially racist ideas. Yet most recent London scholars also point out the many instances of anti-racism in his life and work, concluding that in this area as in so many others, London’s views are ‚a bundle of contradictions‘. In this context, it is well to keep in mind that London shared a belief in ‚Anglo-Saxon supremacy‘ not only with the popular opinion of the day, but also with many, especially American, socialists. For anyone wishing to examine in greater depth this aspect of London, I strongly recommend the collection of essays, Rereading Jack London, just published by Stanford University Press.

I sent a copy of my article in Socialism Today No.10 to James Williams, Editor of The Jack London Journal (Chicago, Illinois). He responded, in part, that my appraisal „seemed right“ to him but, „given more room“, I might „have gone on at greater length about London’s participation in the intense socialist circles in the San Francisco Bay area, especially early in his career“.

Williams also added that my reference to London’s ‚rampant individualism‘ pointed to a debate he continued to have with himself, both with regard to London personally and with wider political implications. Me too. How to be committed to socialist ideals without committing each personal act to that end? More poetically, in Wallace Steven’s terms, ‚How does one stand/To behold the sublime…?‘

Despite his exasperating contradictions, I find much in London’s stance that is admirable, even sustaining.

Sam Baskett