Statement on the killing of George Floyd by a racist cop
Black people in the United States suffer racist violence at an alarming rate at the hands of the police. The lynching of George Floyd by a white cop in the state of Minnesota is the latest example of what African-Americans endure on a daily basis in public spaces, at work and in schools. A videotape of his senseless death went viral, sparking outrage, anger and rage.
Minnesota is now on fire. In fact, protesters set a police precinct in fire during the first night of the anti-police uprising, and all throughout the Unites States protesters are targeting other symbols of power and repression. What we are witnessing now are some of the biggest riots since the 1990s when a group of sadistic and racist white cops brutalized Rodney King in the streets of Los Angeles. The anti-police brutality uprising in Minnesota also comes in the aftermath of massive protests in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore during the Obama administration.
The riots, led by a multiracial and rebellious youth, are spreading like wildfire all across the US, sending a strong message against the white supremacist system that sustains racial discrimination, racist police violence and poverty. The legacy of slavery and Jim Crow racism is still intact, and in recent years, the right wing presidency of President Donald Trump reinforced this divisive legacy by spreading racism and xenophobia.
The Minnesota uprising is taking place at a time when the most recalcitrant sector of the American ruling class is in power while the capitalist system is facing an acute crisis due to the worldwide pandemic. Trump is a neo-fascist whose words and deeds have emboldened the growing network of armed white supremacist fascist militias in the country. Meanwhile, the so-called opposition party, the Democratic Party, has also strengthened of state repression by funding police departments which both the Republican and Democratic parties, the two parties of capitalism, depend on to protect private property, maintain the status quo and safeguard the profits of their rich donors.
To uproot racism and the racist violence that permeate every aspect of American life, we must combat racism and white supremacy whenever it rears its ugly head. As socialists and revolutionaries, we believe that Black liberation in the United States is central to the fight for a different world free of capitalist exploitation and oppression of any kind.
We salute the protests in Minnesota and other states and express our solidarity with Black people in America and other oppressed communities here and abroad. If we want to defeat Trump and its ilk and everything that they represent; combat racist violence and win justice for all victims of police brutality and ultimately, transform the system of oppression and exploitation that we live under, we must organize our side. To that end, we call on student organizations, labor unions, LGBT, feminist and immigrant rights organizations, artists and writers and grassroots community groups to unite and give a political direction to the riots and the rising collective anger so we will be prepared for the fire next time.
Justice for George Floyd and all victims of police brutality! Black Lives Matter! Black, White and Brown workers unite! Down with White Supremacy, the police and Fascism!
Socialist Core, June 1, 2020