Communism Can End Racism here ♦ Anti-racist Movements here ♦
Palestine, March 9— A general strike shut down much of Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Masses protested the murder of three Palestinians by the Israeli military the previous day. For the first time in decades, Palestinians living in Israel joined the strike, disrupting the hospitality, construction, and transport industries. Israeli Special Forces in a civilian vehicle had stormed into a Nablus neighborhood and opened fire at a car driven by a Palestinian. Fascist attacks like these are common, but political strikes like this one are not. The answer is not “international protection” as some demand. It’s the emergence of a revolutionary communist movement to destroy capitalism, the root of the racist and genocidal Israeli occupation.
Communism Can End Racism, Stress and Greed
LOS ANGELES (US)—”A pastor asked me why I had not been to church,” reported a young worker at a recent ICWP forum. “Because I’m a communist,” I responded. “You cannot be a communist, you are a Black man,” retorted the pastor, who added, “Jesus was the only true communist.”
The young Black worker told us that he understood that communism meant “to each according to need.” He felt that many Black people are asking themselves, “Communism—what’s in it for me?” He declared that millions of Black people around the world are influenced by Pan-Africanism. If they were swayed to communism, they would be a powerful force to reckon with. “I’m a communist and I want to help in this effort,” he concluded.
Another comrade gave a brief history of the South African masses’ fight against racism. From Sharpeville and the fight against the racist pass system during Apartheid, to the Soweto student uprising protesting racist education, to the striking Marikana miners demanding a living wage, and against the poor living and working conditions.
All along, arrests, torture and the murder of workers and youth failed to quell the fighting spirit of the masses. The masses have shown that they are an unstoppable force against racist oppression.
Now our International Communist Workers’ Party grows in South Africa. Our brothers and sisters in South Africa have learned through our international party that you cannot defeat racism without defeating capitalism. They have begun to mobilize the masses for communism.
Our South African comrades are carrying out this fight by organizing collectives around Red Flag, reading it, writing for it, and distributing it. They struggle within the collective to join the fight against racism and bring a communist analysis. They have come to understand, as we all should, that with communist revolution we can get rid of racism.
At the forum, a relatively new transit worker comrade from MTA introduced the discussion of the international crisis in Ukraine. He described it as an inter-imperialist fight. Two other MTA comrades participated in the discussion.
Then he said, “I am asked at work, why and how is being a Communist important? The answer can be deep and complex. The stigma that many money-hungry nations have implied over the years can be a scary thing.
“The true definition is how I choose to describe this world of Communism. First, I have to be able to embrace the culture of using and having the things I need. To live a healthy and stress-free life while still doing my part in our community to better the lives of everyone.
“Next is the abolition of a monetary system. That will eliminate the necessity of greed, that commonly is a result of the desire of profits.
“The only solution is the belief of true Communism. I feel that true Communism has not yet existed. Only Socialist societies with some implementations of communist philosophy have been tried.”
At the end of this lively communist forum, a comrade called for preparing our coworkers, friends, and family to participate with ICWP in May Day activities, bringing our communist ideas to the masses.
Anti-Racist Movements Need Revolutionary Communist Ideas
I relate to anti-racist movements and organizations as part of my work. As a white person I hear the term “white ally.” The message is that white people are not targeted by racism and that the role for white people is to support the struggles of people of color.
This message does not understand the material conditions for racism and that its two primary purposes are for the capitalist class to extract super-profits and to divide the working class.
Because we understand the material conditions of racism and the history of racism and racist ideology, the message that communists send is that racism also hurts white people and it is in the class interests of white people to fight racism and its cause, capitalism.
A popular book, highlighted by the capitalist-controlled media, is Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. She says that caste and racism are states of mind. This leads to the conclusion that the work is to transform our understanding and to focus on how we treat each other, rather than to change the material conditions that perpetuate racism and caste by overthrowing capitalism.
Anti-racist movements need revolutionary communist ideas. And white working-class people must not fall into the ignorant and racist ideology of color-blindness as the core of working-class solidarity. Color-blindness denies the systemic nature of racism, and thereby contributes to it. Our movement must actively fight racism.
I struggle with my students, friends, and colleagues about bringing communism into their lives. Many are immersed in anti-communism, consciously or not. They agree that capitalism is a harmful and oppressive system, but they still equate communism with authoritarianism and understand it to be anti-democratic.
We talk about the anti-communism of the McCarthy era, the racialized politics of division, and the white nationalist movement’s massive media campaign of anti-communism and racism. We talk about the Paris Commune and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. We share stories of multiracial collectivism. This provides a sense of what communism is all about.
We need a shared vision of what multi-racial international communism can become.
—Friend in Oregon (US)