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End Racist Cop Attacks on Our Youth With Communist Revolution

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LOS ANGELES--The recent distribution of Red Flag and a leaflet about the police shooting of Jamar Nicholson led to many interesting conversations with students and teachers. Jamar was walking to school with a group of friends. Some cops in an unmarked car saw the teenagers rapping in an alley and a boy with a toy gun. A cop shot, missed the boy with the gun and hit Jamar instead. Jamar has recovered, but this incident has sparked anger and confusion. It is one more in a long list of similar incidents where an unarmed male black youth is shot by a cop.
The leaflet explained how the attack on Jamar reflects concrete problems with the society in which we live. Our communist message was loud and clear: we need a communist revolution to end police brutality. However, our ideas were not adequately explained. The leaflet did not effectively make the connection between racism, racial profiling and communism. We should have also explained how racism is a product of capitalism.
In a capitalist system, racism is used to divide and conquer workers. The stage on which the attack on Jamar took place is capitalist society. This is where racism plays a key role in the shooting. Jason Huerta, the only Latino boy in the group, said that a detective told him that the officers had misinterpreted the scene. They told him that they believed three African-Americans had cornered Jason. “Three black guys and a Hispanic—it looks wrong,” Jason recalled the detective saying to him. The capitalists fear the unity of black and Latino youth against their common oppressor. In fact, black and Latino young people in South L.A. have a whole lot in common and hang out together all the time.
The leaflet didn’t adequately explain what communism is. We should do this whenever we introduce our politics to anyone, especially a group of students and teachers who are not clear what communism is. In a communist society, we will work hard to destroy the concept of race. Communities will not be racially and economically divided. Also, in a communist society, nothing will be produced for profit because money will not exist. The core principle of how a communist society will be structured is from each according to commitment, to each according to need.
This is a monumental task, but it is the only way that we can get rid of the horrors of capitalism. This system must be changed in its entirety. It needs to be overthrown. While it may seem extreme to say that we need a communist revolution, this is exactly what we mean. The capitalists make their money from exploiting us, and keep us divided by racism so that they can continue doing so. Capitalism has never worked for the working class, and it can’t be improved by reforms, strikes, unions, or community control of the police. It’s an illusion to demand “justice” for Jamar, or any of the other unarmed black males who have been shot. We must organize an international workers’ party so large and so ideologically advanced that there is no stopping it from transforming the lives of workers around the world.
Even with its weaknesses, the leaflet produced a positive impact because it also introduced Red Flag to many students. One student said, “This is truly interesting.” She agreed to read the article about the high school students building solidarity with workers from other countries. We’ll talk to her again.  Another student said that he had studied communism in class, and that it is always seen as wrong. Yet, he acknowledged that Red Flag offered a different perspective. We’ll make sure these students get this issue.
We’re glad Jamar Nicholson is alive and well. There are many lessons to learn from his experience and one harsh reality: incidents like this will play out with more tragic consequences as long as this capitalist system exists. That’s why we must organize for a communist revolution. Taking our communist ideas to workers, soldiers and students is crucial to reaching this goal. Red Flag is one tool that we can use to reach out to everyone, and it has taken a positive presence at this high school.

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