Whatever the bosses do with their racist police… Rebellions show masses are open to Communist Revolution
LOUISVILLE (USA) – Masses protest the murder of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old medical worker shot dead in her bed on March 13 by plainclothes cops who broke into her home.
June 9, USA—As angry multi-racial masses took to the streets to protest the racist murder of George Floyd, the rulers responded with the stick of open terror. City after city witnessed police riots. Police teargassed, beat and shot rubber bullets at protesters. They ran cars into them. Arrested them for “violating curfew” after surrounding and trapping them and not letting them leave.
Yet, everywhere the demonstrations grew bigger and more determined!
Trump tweeted that repression showed the rulers’ strength. But capitalist-imperialist rulers everywhere are terrified. They should be. This contagious revolutionary potential has spread to every continent. It’s clearer every day that their system can only offer the masses racist terror, coronavirus, hunger, and unemployment.
The rulers build fascism out of weakness. They fear that the masses are awakening to the fact that we are the many; they are the few and can be defeated. They fear that we will rise in revolution and overthrow them and their murderous system. And we will.
Now that the “stick” has failed to quell protests, the rulers are bringing out the carrot of reform. They encourage the angry masses to try to end the racist police terror that capitalism has unleashed by defunding, dismantling, or reorganizing police departments.
Reforms: Victories of Mass Rebellion—Or Dangerous Illusions?
The Minneapolis City Council pledged to dismantle the Police Department. They promised to create a new, non-racist public safety system, without any specific plans.
Minneapolis and other cities are banning chokeholds. In Los Angeles, out of a police budget of $1.8 billion, $100 million will go instead to community services. The street in front of the White House was renamed “Black Lives Matter.” The Seattle mayor banned tear gas for 30 days – but cops used it again the second night.
Many now see that racist violence is everyday policing—not the exception. But they think the solution is spending less money on police and more on social workers, public education, drug prevention, etc. The NY Times said that cash-strapped cities can save money by having other agencies take over some police functions. If this happens, we’ll be told it’s a huge victory.
But the cops will remain just as vicious and murderous as ever—perhaps more so. That’s their job. Police forces originated to hunt escaped slaves and to break mass strikes. To defend the capitalists’ private property and to terrorize workers – especially black workers. The rulers have always relied on violent racist terror to keep their wage slaves under control. They always will- as long as capitalism exists.
Capitalism is sinking deeper into crisis. As the masses can no longer live in the old way, they look for a revolutionary solution. The police are the bosses’ front line for racist, fascist terror.
Real Victories of Mass Rebellion
Masses are seeing that we are more similar than different. That we must stand together against racism, terror and fascism. Many see that racism and capitalism are inseparable. They, especially youth, are thinking about revolution. They welcome our literature and are open to communism.
Communism won’t need police, jails, or courts. By building ICWP collectives everywhere, we will build a mass party that will defeat fascist terror with communist revolution. Communist collectives will deal humanely with any anti-social behavior that occurs because of the vestiges of capitalist ideas and practices. We’ll struggle to win over all those we can and isolate those we can’t.
The solution is in our hands. To end racist police terror: Mobilize the masses for communism now!
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