What we witnessed yesterday was the full hypocrisy of the American justice system on display.
We stood mortified witnessing the alignment between factions of law enforcement and white supremacists, the length of time it took for a defensive response, and the release of the mob without fear of arrest or consequence. Only a few months ago, military helicopters and tanks, stinger grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets were used on protesters holding signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for George Floyd” in the same city.
What we witnessed was a less violent version of the same tactics deployed time and time again on the international working class. With bipartisan Congressional backing, the US has supported violent coups attempts in Bolivia, Venezuela, China, Ukraine, Libya, Nicaragua, Brazil, Syria, and other countries where U.S. oil and weapons contractors salivate for profits and regime change. In 2007, we joined hundreds of Iraq veterans protesting the war who were mass arrested and hauled off in the march to the Capitol. Yesterday was allowed to happen.
In the weeks to come, we remind all unionists of conscience that the enemy is at home. We must detach our interests from those of the billionaire class who have grown their wealth by $1 trillion just during the span of COVID alone. Profiteers will use this moment as pretense for more defense and police spending and inflame the racist imagined "China threat" hysteria all while U.S. workers continue to lose our unemployment, healthcare and homes.
Today, fascists are emboldened and the pandemic rages on. The poorest communities are the most vulnerable and have the least amount of resources. Real safety for working people starts with adequately funding public services, and now is the time for an immediate budget shift toward real pandemic relief. Nothing must undercut our solidarity or deter our focus from fixing the for-profit society that leaves our most vulnerable workers behind. Our people are dying.
