SEATTLE (USA), September 20— A speeding police car driven by Seattle cop Kevin Dave struck and killed Jaahnavi Kandula last January. She was a 23-year-old graduate student from India.
Body cam footage was just released. It showed cop Auderer, the Vice President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, laughing about it. The city “should just write a check,” he said. “Eleven thousand dollars. She had limited value.”
Masses are outraged. Three demonstrations happened in three days, at the corner where Kandula was killed, They demanded “Justice for Jaahnavi, jail killer cops.” Other signs said, “Jaahnavi had more value than SPD” (Seattle Police Department).
To the capitalists who unleash their racist killer cops, workers’ value is limited to the profits they can squeeze out of us. Those capitalists and their cops are valueless to us.
Workers produce everything of value. By taking power with communist revolution, we will organize ourselves to produce and share what we need.
Communist collective production will foster pro-social behavior and relationships. It will destroy the system that feeds on every anti-working-class ideology. Only thus can we create a world free from racism and sexism.
There is a long, deadly history of anti-Asian hate on the west coast of North America. Just days ago, a sledgehammer-wielding man vandalized Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum. He spewed anti-Chinese hate. The cops took 45 minutes to respond.
Seattle cop Burton Hill was recorded using racist and sexist language against a Chinese American neighbor. The recent escalation of anti-Asian racism within the Seattle Police Department isn’t because of “a few bad apples.” It reflects the buildup of anti-Asian hatred caused by US-China inter-imperialist rivalry.
Intensified racism is a crucial tool the capitalists use to divide the working class. As the push toward war escalates, the bosses get more desperate to win workers to fight each other, using racism, nationalism, xenophobia.
ICWP comrades joined South Asian and other protesters fighting in Kandula’s memory. We distributed about 30 Red Flags at a small demonstration. Many appreciated the front-page pictures and article from India.
A new friend from the anti-APEC events told us about these protests. That reminded us that we need to be consistent about developing the relationships we make when we bring communist politics to struggles.
Local South Asian organizers say they plan to escalate protests if the police department doesn’t “take action” against cops Auderer and Dave. But there’s a better way to honor Jaahnavi Kandula and the millions who are mocked and tortured and killed by racist, sexist capitalism worldwide. It’s not by just “saying their name” or demanding police reform. It is by joining the ICWP and making a revolution for communism.
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