THE BRONX — Our Progressive Labor Party collective here is stepping up our anti-racist efforts in the name of the international working class and learning to give better communist leadership in our immigrant rights organization.
One constant topic of discussion is inter-imperialist rivalry and war. We read the CHALLENGE editorials about the fight among imperialists for control of oil and natural gas in the Middle East. We read about the rise of ISIS, and about the war in Syria and the heart-wrenching mass exodus of workers there, hundreds of thousands of whom have already died. Our Party’s goal of communist revolution, however long-range, is more urgent than ever.
The Bronx contains immigrants from throughout the world. In September, we joined with a local immigrant group to protest Donald Trump’s call for an apartheid wall on the border with Mexico and his gutter racism against Latin workers. A PL’er linked Trump’s racist attack to the dispossession of Syrian refugees and the escalating war in the Middle East. We called for welcoming refugees and smashing all borders. At a recent protest, many took up our chant: “Black, Latin, Asian, white, workers of the world unite!”
What we do counts. In her English class, a PL’er talked with her students about the terrorist attacks in France. “We are saddened by the attacks and we condemn them,” she said. “But we are also saddened and angry at the millions of workers’ deaths worldwide from starvation, war and forced migration and the tragic loss of lives in bombings in Syria and Yemen. Capitalism is to blame, and as long as it exists these horrors will continue.”
In a written statement for the immigrant rights group, the teacher expressed support for Muslim students, workers, and families: “We need working-class unity, not racist attacks or bullying of children in schools. We want to welcome Syrian refugees to the U.S.” The Department of Education at our site [UNCLEAR] signed onto the statement and we’ve begun to distribute it to mosques in the area. We’ve been met with gratitude.
Speaking within the organization, another PL’er said: “We condemn the terrorist attacks in France and mourn the deaths of victims who are members of the working class, like us. All victims of war need to unite against the wars in the Middle East, which are a product of imperialist rivalry for oil.”
The members agreed, and the PL’er succeeded in getting the organization to sponsor a community forum. The forum will reflect the organization’s support for the Democratic Party and its push to get out the vote in the 2016 presidential election. But PL’ers will also have an opportunity to win workers to our communist analysis. Within this reform work, we are bringing our communist politics of no borders and working-class fightback.
Self-critically, our PLP collective needs to sharpen our analysis of the link between racist police murders of young Black and Latin men to the world situation and anti-Muslim racism. And we will. Workers are open, if still cautious. We will distribute CHALLENGE and recruit people to our study groups and Party. Never underestimate the power of communist ideas!