NEW JERSEY, January 21—Members and friends of Progressive Labor Party recently won a victory against anti-Muslim racism. For years, we have been part of the Radical Caucus (RC) of the Modern Language Association (MLA), an organization of primarily language and literature professors, scholars, and graduate students. Through this caucus, members and friends of PLP worked together to pass an emergency resolution condemning anti-Muslim racism and supporting Muslim students and professors.
This action is a victory against the MLA misleadership. Although the MLA had issued a statement in late December defending the academic freedom of professors who teach about Islam, the statement failed to take an anti-racist position. To put forward the sharpest possible anti-racist, anti-imperialist resolution, we had a vigorous discussion within our PLP concentration. Then we struggled with others who directly affected by anti-Muslim racism to support the resolution. They responded with enthusiastic support and gathered dozens of signatures. Within 24 hours, the resolution was widely circulated in sessions at the MLA convention. By the time it came to the floor for debate the next day, many delegates were eager to speak in favor. But we didn’t stop there.
PL’ers reached out to local activist groups, like Jewish Voice for Peace, some of whose members joined us in leafleting and picketing the Delegate Assembly before its meeting. Although the resolution still needs to be ratified by the MLA membership, its passage through the Delegate Assembly by a two-to-one margin is a clear indicator that professors and graduate students want to fight anti-Muslim racism and the drumbeats of war.
While the resolution is a long way from a call for revolution, it enabled us to sharpen our political discussions with our friends. We stressed that anti-Muslim racism comes from U.S. imperialism and benefits the bosses by dividing workers worldwide. We also linked anti-Muslim racism to anti-Black racism. Both serve the same purpose: winning workers to wars that devastate workers while benefitting only the ruling class.
Rooted in System, Not Psyche
The resolution read: Be it resolved that the MLA support professors and students opposing the militaristic, xenophobic, and racist effects of Islamophobia.
Liberal language like “Islamophobia,” meaning the fear of Muslim people, is more than just inaccurate language. It muddles the class nature of racism! It is not an individual mental condition that causes people to be afraid of Muslim workers and children; it is the systematic oppression and scapegoating of the Muslim working class, fueled by imperialist propaganda. “Anti-Muslim racism” gets at the class nature of the oppression and reminds us that to destroy it, we must fight back. The ruling class generates racism. “Anti-Muslim racism” also suggests that fighting racism can be a uniting factor for Muslim, Black, Latin, Asian, white, and all workers worldwide.
Self-critically, PL members in the MLA should have fought against the liberal term “islamophobia.”
This resolution is just the start. As ideological battlegrounds, classrooms and campuses are places where the fight against anti-Muslim racism must intensify. It is essential that we win education workers to anti-racist ideas and practice, in the MLA and elsewhere, and then to a communist outlook.
This experience reminds us of the vital role played by communist leadership in the class struggle. PLP members moved the resolution to the left and built the necessary support to get it passed. Passing the resolution was a significant step, but more important gain were the many connections we made with local activists and other groups in the MLA.
This struggle will continue to expand our limits, encouraging campus activism and creating an opportunity for alliances with students and other organizations. The sharper the fight against U.S. imperialism abroad and racism at home, the more powerful our Party will grow.