NAR: The suffocation of the poor creates rebellions

The suffocation of the poor creates rebellions

TIME TO TAKE A BREATH OF JUSTICE AND FREEDOM

The assassination of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police and the uprising in the streets of many American cities shows once again that in the capitalist metropolis with the greatest accumulated wealth, the social majority "cannot breathe". The slogan "Black lives matter" deeply reflects the unequal and racist policy that degrades black Americans into second-class citizens.

The lives of blacks are indeed much “cheaper” and this has been tragically revealed in the pandemic. Although they make up 13% of the country's population, black Americans account for 25% of coronavirus deaths, and in certain states and cities the rates are more uneven. Even death is a deep class issue in the United States as access to health care is almost impossible for poor Americans. There is a huge difference in life expectancy between whites and blacks which in some cases between neighborhoods even in the same city reaches up to 20 years! The black community suffers from chronic diseases due to malnutrition, lives in worse living and working conditions and has fewer opportunities for self-protection. Working from home does not concern workers in poorly paid jobs, the vast majority of whom are black and Latinos.

Consolidated racism is also reflected in the state's treatment of blacks as inferior and potentially criminals. The killings of blacks by police (but also by far-right racists) usually go unpunished, constantly provoking outrage with uprisings. The Black Lives Matter movement that emerged in 2014 took on broader features within larger parts of the society. At its peak, it even demonstrated in front of large shopping malls on Βlack Friday and Christmas Eve, including labor demands.

In protests today, whites and members of other communities are also taking part, and it is still questionable whether the movement will regain the dimension and duration that will threaten the political and economic elite in the United States. But the class conflict in America is now more intense than ever and is manifesting itself on the streets. A few days ago, white far-right groups took to the streets to demand the "reopening of the economy," expressing the interests of employers and a large portion of the capital. Even more acute is the massive presence of the army in the role of internal repression, a phenomenon that will be generalized in the next period. Conflict is inevitable and cannot be relieved with communication tactics of the pre-election period or with the participation of blacks and members of other minorities in administrative positions. The just wrath of the African Americans must trigger a wider workers' and youth movement, which will touch the core of the social issue with deeper political features and independence from bourgeois politics so that it is not exploited by the Democratic Party.

The reality in the workplace will be different and will continue to suffocate. The working class all over the world stands with the insurgents in the big American cities. Police arbitrariness and brutality are not American peculiarities, but an inherent tendency of modern capitalism, which chooses authoritarianism to preserve its profitability and power. This is evident by the images in France of the brutality against the Υellow Vests, the revanchism against the insurgents in Chile, but also the image of Greek riots police (MAT) against the youth and the workers' mobilizations.

The working class is asking for a deep breath. For workers, supermarket employees, street cleaners, immigrants and refugees to breathe freely. For the lives of the poor to count, for social justice that will overthrow those who create suffocation on the planet.

New Left Current for the Communist Liberation