To put it as plainly as possible, if the proponents of the U.S. settler-colonialism theory are correct, then there is no basis whatsoever upon which to build a multinational working class communist party in this country. Indeed, such a view sees the “settler working class” as instruments of colonialism, hostile to the interests of the colonized people, rather than viewing all working and oppressed people as natural allies in the struggle against imperialism, our mutual oppressor.
A shame, a sad sad shame. For anyone that’s read settlers, or knows about the history of labor zionism, or prioritizes any kind of indigenous voice in their praxis, this is really bad. No peace for settlers! Settlers cannot lead the revolution! I hope we see an end to any respect given to this “settler colonialism is over” politic soon.
It definitely is more complicated, but it isn’t impossible to analyze. In Israel we see a microcosm of some of these dynamics with Arab Israelis that get treated very different from native Palestinians, many non-Jewish settlers of many different kinds as well. In America we definitely have many different races of settlers now but you we can still analyze how it works through an individual’s proximity to whiteness. Clarence Thomas may be the descendant of a slave but he is a settler, but most black people are in hyper exploited positions that make them not. Most Asian people in America are here by choice through capitalist relations beneficial to them (emphasis on most) and a rich Taiwanese person or a Japanese person has a proximity to whiteness many don’t. Many Iraqi people here are victims of US imperialism, but there are those that are predominately well off and fit better into white supremacy (Chaldeans) that are certainly settlers.
In all these cases there is the question of goodies gained through imperialist plundering and the relative access to them, as well as the ability to benefit from white supremacy and the exploitation on those not allowed within it. It’s complicated and as the contradictions sharpen and imperialism can buy off less and less people we’ll possibly see the definition of white constrict and more revolutionary circumstances arise so I can see the relative optimism. So far the effective method of continuing the project has been expanding who fits into “white”/settlerism, but if Trump is any indication our ruling class doesn’t want to see this at least at the moment.
Yeah, not impossible to analyze for sure. But also, the analysis like you pointed out is a lot more complex. But ultimately, people in the US are subjected to a lot of the harsher effects of capitalism than elsewhere in the Global North. There’s no right to healthcare, insane educational debt, waning home ownership and childbirth, little worker protections or benefits, mass shootings and executions by police just about every day, and we’re all seeing our money being stolen in order to sponsor a genocidal apartheid state. There are a lot of things encouraging Americans to become class conscious, which can ultimately lead them to an awareness of their own settlerism if they follow that consciousness with theory.
Whereas in Israel, the populace is pretty overwhelmingly racist and genocidal and that doesn’t look like it will change anytime soon. If ever.