Communism Will End Racism and Sexism—We’ll Treat Each Other With Respect, Dignity and Love
LOS ANGELES, USA—“When you print about stopping the insults, abuse and humiliation of operators then I will read your paper,” shouted an operator while exiting the MTA parking lot.
“If you write something, we would gladly print it…” began the Red Flag distributor.
“I’m telling you now so you can print it!” she interrupted, driving off.
“Yes,” added another operator. “We are constantly being insulted and humiliated both by MTA’s management and the passengers. MTA always takes the passengers’ side, claiming that ‘the customer is always right.’”
The first operator was African-American, the second Latina. It is not surprising that they are so outspoken about these vicious attacks. Because of racism and sexism, workers of color and women workers – especially women workers of color — experience these attacks more frequently and more brutally.
Capitalism’s Wage Slavery: Source of These Problems
Our class – the working class – was created when capitalism first came into existence about 500 years ago. We own nothing except our labor power We must sell ourselves to the capitalists for a wage, just to survive. Knowing this, the capitalists and their administrators-supervisors use the threat of firing to intimidate and terrorize us, intensify our exploitation and keep us from rebelling.
Wage slavery is also the source of racism, sexism and xenophobia. All poisonous ideologies used by our modern slave masters to pay non-white workers less, and work them harder with little or no benefits.
But most important, racism, sexism and xenophobia are used to divide us to prevent us from organizing a communist revolution that would end their reign of terror forever.
Workers Have Never Accepted Capitalist Despotism Passively
Ever since capitalism’s birth, the working class and the capitalists have been locked in a life-and-death struggle. Confronted with capitalism’s reign of terror, workers saw the need to speak and act as one unified force.
Some saw trade unions as the solution. Others concluded that to resolve our problems permanently our class has to violently overthrow the capitalists and become the collective ruler of society.
History has proven that trade unions can temporarily limit but never end capitalism’s despotism. History has also proven that overthrowing the capitalist class doesn’t guarantee a permanent resolution to our problems.
The Russian and Chinese working classes overthrew their capitalist masters in 1917 and 1949, respectively. Yet, the capitalists are back in power in those countries. Workers are just as exploited, abused and humiliated as everywhere else.
The problem was that those socialist revolutions did not eliminate wage slavery. They kept money. Workers worked for the state for wages to buy the things they needed. Therefore, workers remained wage slaves and the communists administering the state eventually became the new capitalist slave masters. The material basis of racism, sexism and all anti-working-class ideologies remained.
Only Communism Can Abolish Wage Slavery and Liberate Us Forever
In communism, our class will collectively manage all the means of production: machinery, buildings, land, mines and all natural resources. We will use them collectively to produce everything we need and share it according to need with our global family.
With no money, everything will be free. Nothing will be bought or sold in a world without nations or borders. By abolishing private property and wage slavery, we will end the material basis for racism, sexism and xenophobia.
Those poisonous ideologies, however, won’t die overnight. It will take an organized, massive, resolute and relentless struggle to eradicate them from everyone’s consciousness and collective social practice.
There will be no stress or fear of losing one’s livelihood. If someone doesn’t like or can’t perform a given task there will always be something else they can do. Everyone’s contribution, no matter how little or big, will be appreciated and welcomed.
With no privileges for anyone, no one will be a boss. We will work collectively learning from each other – locally, regionally and worldwide – while treating each other with respect, dignity and love.
We call on MTA workers and all workers to join ICWP to hasten the creation of this communist world. We would love to hear from all of you and are more than glad to print your letters, your suggestions, criticism, questions or concerns.
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