Members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) joined with many other protesters in Charlottesville on August 12th to oppose the growing fascist movement of Nazis, Alt-Right nationalists and various other white supremacists. Although protesters successfully disrupted the rally and engaged in struggle against the racists, ultimately the fight against racism and fascism (a form of capitalism with severe repression/terror against workers ) can only be won through a united struggle against our capitalist oppressors.f
Make no mistake. The fascists in Charlottesville were organized and disciplined. Though armed, they did not shoot. The police also allowed the fascists to attack the anti-racists, and the police only intervened when they saw that the racists could not clear the streets by themselves.
After their rally was disrupted, racists roamed the streets of Charlottesville in small groups carrying their weapons and symbols of racist hatred looking to instigate violence. They wanted to fight. The horrific terrorist act of driving into a crowd of anti-racist protesters was a chilling example of their willingness to kill. And the police? They guarded the Wells Fargo bank and the racists. Their pepper spray and organized intimidation tactics were directed at anti-racists.
This approach by the many police and National Guard was no accident. In 1978, the police let the KKK kill anti-Klan protesters in Greensboro. The police did nothing to protect the protesters. Similarly, last month in Charlottesville, police arrested protesters who had successfully opposed that smaller KKK rally, after having gone to homes of activists to intimidate them, prior to the event. This shows that WE must have a disciplined and organized force ourselves. We have to provide our own security, and not expect support from this racist-capitalist system.
Liberalism won’t win the day for the working class. At one point in Charlottesville, a group of racists jumped behind the police guarding the Wells Fargo bank after an altercation with an anti-racist, When the police pepper sprayed the anti-racist protesters someone bewilderedly questioned, ‘Why did they use pepper spray on us? Nobody was being threatened.” One PLPer’s answer was, “Because they can.”
The ACLU is a strong defender of free speech. This is a quote from their website on 8/12/17, “[t]he First Amendment is a critical part of our democracy, and it protects vile, hateful, and ignorant speech. For this reason, the ACLU of Virginia defended the white supremacists’ right to march. But we will not be silent in the face of white supremacy. We cannot expect nonviolent opposition to racism and fascism and support for liberal politicians and kinder capitalism to get the working class an egalitarian world.
History tells us this. Street fighting by Nazis helped to develop shock troops for Hitler but only after they defeated the communists in Germany, were they really able to rule. The combined understanding of history and practical experiences most recently remind us that liberal resistance isn’t enough.
Capitalism needs racism for their system to survive, and capitalism strives to divide workers. They don’t want us to be able to fight back in a powerful and united way against our real enemy, this system.
Multiracial unity was evident among the brave protesters in Charlottesville, from many groups. Now this has to become a well-organized force with a common goal. Join the PLP in mobilizing for struggle on the streets, in factories, in the service industry, in each city’s transit system, in schools, in healthcare settings, within the military, and everywhere. The only way to really put racism out of the picture is to fight for communism (a system run by workers without profit, racism or sexism ),a struggle all workers can embrace. The capitalists from Wall Street and the White House need to be replaced with a communist workers’ state based on anti-racism: a new society based on peoples real needs.
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