Black Struggle and the Socialist Revolution

Black Lives Matter has revived and electrified the struggle against racism, inequality, and police brutality. The United States is the richest and most powerful country on the planet, with more than enough wealth to provide a high quality of life for everyone living here. And yet, shocking inequality and the poison of racism are everywhere, and are in fact integral to the continued domination of American capitalism.

Despite the mass struggles of the past and the reforms of the civil rights era, Black people, together with the other racial and ethnic minorities, remain the most exploited and oppressed layer of US society. Black youth are faced with daily harassment and intimidation by the police, and suffer disproportionately high unemployment rates. Black people make up just 13% of the population, and yet are imprisoned and executed by the state at a far higher rate. Black people continue to suffer from lynchings and violence at the hands of the state, racist organizations and individuals, as well as being forced to live under conditions of mass poverty, exploitation, and oppression.

Working class unity is the only way forward and it is only in struggle that such unity can be forged. The labor movement must take the lead and fight for equal employment prospects, wages, and conditions for all workers. The oppression of the Black population must be linked to the oppression and exploitation of all workers. The bosses’ strategy of keeping a pool of cheap labor helps to divide and weaken the working class as a whole. This situation cannot be opposed with mere words, but must be challenged by a program of action, and ultimately, a class-independent struggle for revolutionary socialism.