Racist Boeing Culture here ♦ Slavery and US constitution here ♦
Seattle (USA): protest against residential segregation
Racism Baked into Boeing Culture from Day One
SEATTLE (US)— The Boeing Company founder, Bill Boeing, was a disgusting racist. Boeing Aerospace bought land that Bill Boeing turned into a neighborhood restricted to whites only. From day one, white supremacist ideology was baked into the company culture.
Boeing is not alone. Every capitalist company must use racism—as well as sexism and xenophobia—to divide the working class and secure profits from racist super-exploitation.
Communism, on the other hand, relies on cooperation to produce for our collective needs. Profits don’t enter the picture. Ideologies like racism, sexism and xenophobia weaken the might of the working class. They are the deadly enemies of our future communist society.
Party Members Learn from Longtime Boeing Worker
Just recently, an old friend invited comrades to a social gathering. There were many family members and former co-workers in attendance, including five retired Boeing workers.
Not surprisingly, a spontaneous political discussion broke out, revealing different hopes and fears about the future. One Boeing worker thought Biden would change things “a little bit.” A comrade thought change would instead come from young people.
Another friend, who worked at Boeing for many years, agreed with the comrade. He cited the massive demonstrations last summer that included people of all races in a concerted fight against racism. Others also commented on the distinctive nature of those demonstrations.
This friend made a point of talking to the comrades as the party was ending. He thanked them for coming and encouraged them to attend more of these extended family and friends’ social activities.
He then recounted some of his experiences fighting racism at Boeing. He tried to get Boeing to be more humanitarian but couldn’t. He wanted the comrades to know he wasn’t part of the company “team.”
Then he dropped a bombshell. He had researched the life of the company founder, Bill Boeing (1881 –1956). Bill Boeing made most of his fortune as a racist real estate developer. His biggest development was the restricted residential community of Innis Arden, just north of Seattle.
The Boeing company bought timber land on the shores of Puget Sound for Bill Boeing’s housing development. It would eventually include 500 homes and his own mansion. He infamously entertained the arch-racist, pro-fascist Charles Lindbergh at this mansion. The neighborhood remains an enclave for the super-rich.
Restrictions that Bill Boeing wrote into the neighborhood’s bylaws prohibited selling, conveying, renting, or leasing in whole or in part to any person or persons not of the White or Caucasian race. No person other than one of White or Caucasian race [is] permitted to occupy any property [in the development]. There was one exception: Black or Asian domestic servants could live in rooms of their employer’s property.
Not surprisingly, the friend who told us all this was interested in Red Flag articles on Boeing racism. We agreed to continue talking and advancing the struggle.
He took initiative. He’s not the only one. Our next article will focus on what our party collective must do to turn initiative into communist organizing.
Slavery and the U.S Constitution
Slavery was legal the United States from its beginning as a nation, having been practiced in North America from early colonial days.
Twelve U.S. presidents enslaved people. Eight while in office (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, James Polk, and Zachary Taylor). George Washington kept 300 bondsmen and -women at his Mount Vernon plantation. Approximately 130 enslaved people lived on Thomas Jefferson’s plantation at any given time. James Madison enslaved hundreds of people on his Virginia plantation. Four presidents owned slaves at some time in their lives, but not while in office (Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant).
The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia in 1787. Of the 55 convention delegates, 25 were enslavers; six of the original thirteen colonies were slave-owning colonies. There was no diversity of color, class, or gender. Only white men who owned property were eligible to vote in elections and to be convention delegates.
Slavery was never mentioned in the 1787 constitution, but 11 clauses alluded to it. Ten of those 11 clauses protected slavery and the power of slaveholders.
The 3/5 compromise clause enabled Southern states to count slaves among their population totals. It gave the South extra votes in the House of Representatives and Electoral College. Thomas Jefferson would have lost the 1800 election if not for the 3/5 clause.
On May 29, 1790, the Constitution became law when it was ratified by Rhode Island, the last of the 13 original colonies.
History shows that the hallowed U.S. Constitution originated as a slave document.
Bay Area (CA) Comrade
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