What does Huey P. Newton mean by "bourgeois"?

ChatGPT said:

Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, used the term "bourgeois" to refer to the wealthy or middle class who uphold capitalist, oppressive systems that exploit marginalized communities. The word comes from Marxist theory, where the bourgeoisie is the class that owns the means of production (like factories, businesses, and property) and benefits from the labor of the working class (the proletariat).

In Newton's context, the bourgeois class represented those in power who benefited from systemic oppression, racism, and economic inequality. He saw the U.S. capitalist system as one that allowed the bourgeoisie (both white and Black) to maintain their wealth and status by exploiting the poor, particularly Black people.

Newton often criticized "bourgeois values"—such as individualism, materialism, and allegiance to the capitalist system—as a barrier to liberation. He believed that true liberation required rejecting these values and dismantling capitalist structures that perpetuate inequality.

You said:

In this conception of bourgeois, are all wage labourer still not bourgeois and anyone that profits off wage labour is bourgeois? Is ownership of the means of production a central factor?

ChatGPT said:

Yes, in Huey P. Newton's conception — heavily influenced by Marxist theory — the ownership of the means of production is indeed a central factor in defining the bourgeois class. According to Marxist and Black Panther thought, a person is bourgeois if they profit from the exploitation of others' labor by owning or controlling the means of production (factories, businesses, land, etc.) and employing wage labor to extract surplus value (profit) from workers.

Are all wage laborers not bourgeois?

No, wage laborers are not bourgeois. In Marxist theory, wage laborers are part of the proletariat (working class), regardless of how much they earn or their social status. Even well-paid workers, like doctors or engineers, are still considered proletariat if they rely on selling their labor to survive, because they don’t own the means of production and don’t profit off the labor of others. In Newton’s view, Black people in America — especially the poor and working class — were overwhelmingly proletarian because they were exploited by a capitalist system that kept them oppressed and excluded from wealth and ownership.

However, wage laborers can become bourgeois in consciousness if they adopt bourgeois values, such as prioritizing personal wealth and status over collective liberation. This is what Newton referred to as the “petit bourgeois mentality” — when members of the oppressed class start to think and act like their oppressors, aspiring to climb the capitalist ladder rather than dismantle the system. Is anyone who profits off wage labor bourgeois?

Yes. In Marxist theory (and Newton's view), anyone who profits off the labor of others is bourgeois, regardless of their personal background. This includes not just the ultra-wealthy capitalist elite, but also small business owners, landlords, and middle-class professionals who employ people and extract surplus value from their labor.

For example:

A CEO of a corporation is bourgeois because they profit off the labor of their workers.

A small business owner who employs workers for a wage is also bourgeois (albeit petit bourgeois or “small bourgeoisie”) because they still profit from the work of others.

In contrast, a sole proprietor who works entirely by themselves and doesn’t exploit anyone else’s labor is not bourgeois. They are still part of the proletariat, despite being self-employed, because they rely solely on their own labor. Summary of Key Points:

Ownership of the means of production is central to the definition of bourgeois.

Wage laborers are not bourgeois; they are proletarian because they don’t own the means of production.

Anyone who profits off the labor of others is bourgeois, even if they are a small business owner or landlord (petit bourgeois).

Bourgeois is both a class position and a state of mind. Wage laborers can adopt bourgeois values even if they aren’t bourgeois by class.

For Newton, the Black liberation struggle required rejecting bourgeois capitalist values and building a new, socialist society based on collective ownership and the elimination of exploitation.