Firstly, I am white so I really want to do my best to not be a shithead when discussing this topic. I was in a conversation with a classmate who has Iranian family regarding the question of reform and revolution.
She pointed to general points about harm reduction and improving conditions now, while I attempted to make the case that revolution is the only way to bring true equality and protection and that the push for liberal reforms must be coincided by militant communist action (dual power ect). I was fairly cautious about my handling of my knowledge of race issues I believe, and I mostly reiterated what I understand as written by black and 3rd world communists: the US (and capitalism) is the direct cause of the issues facing the rest of the world and there are no practical circumstances in which one would be safe from the west without the dissolution of capitalism.
Also in discussions regarding white "communists" (mostly in reference to youtubers and people like that, she brought it up) I asserted that putting effort into the education, agitation, and organization of white people is a mostly lost cause in america, and that the majority of effort should go towards the organization of people of color. I cited this with reference to the BPP's work with rural americans and their firm belief that the black minority power structure must be built first and that the support of white people is secondary.
What would be the best way to go about this in the future. How can I make the case for revolution, as a white person, to a poc? How could I communicate the communist message more clearly?
Yeah I second this. I think it's incorrect to write white people off entirely - it's just a matter of priorities and meeting the people where they're at. The people most open to radicalization and revolutionary messaging are those most exploited and beat down by our current system. That clearly applies to many POC, but there's no shortage of white people who have experienced the shitty end of neo-liberalism too. Also, 76% of the US is white, so I don't see how we're going to pull off a revolutionary movement without at least some of them being at worst sympathetic to the cause. PMC and petty bourgeois types might be a lost cause, but that doesn't encompass the entire white population much less even a majority.
I think that when it comes to organizing that we need to be uncompromising when talking about class independent politics. We're not interested in compromising with capital, we're not interested in some greater share of the spoils of exploitation of others, we're here for the working class only. Of course, the working class is disproportionately people of color and women, so their issues ARE working class issues, but that doesn't mean writing off the millions of working class whites who we need solidarity and cooperation with. Organizing them will just look different and might come later, which is fine.