Shirley Sherrod came along with the backing of the white farmer family, the Spooners, whom she had helped keep their farm. The Spooner family are to be congratulated in standing up to the racists and supporting Shirley Sherrod. They have made a major contribution to the struggle against racism. They have shown that it is not right what some people say that all white people are racist. The Spooner's took a principled stand against racism. They deserve the thanks of all working people. Thank you to the Spooner Family.
The so called respectable sections of capitalism cannot be openly racist. They recognized in the 1960's that if they continued with their vicious open racism and beating black, Latino, Asian and Native American people down in the streets that the country would explode and their influence world wide would dramatically decline. Black people and others would not take it anymore so concessions had to be made. They adjusted and made concessions and retreated somewhat from their openly racist strategy for the time being at least. But this does not mean they allow the idea of working class unity to get a hearing. They at all times and where possible sow and water the dirty weeds of division.
Look at what happened with the Shirley Sherrod issue with the main stream capitalist class as well as its liberal wing and media. And to a great extent with the left groups. Shirley Sherrod was head and shoulders above them all when she explained how it used to be that there were indentured servants of all races and how they used to marry and live together. But that as this developed the people with the money, the rich and powerful got worried at this unity. So they moved and passed laws making it illegal for people from different races to marry and made other laws to divide people along racist lines. They enforced these laws with violence. She explained that it was not a question of one race against another, it was a question of the rich against the poor. Those who had no access to wealth against those who had access to wealth. In other words a class question.
This was very powerful because it was true. It was so refreshing because you never hear it in the US media with its extreme censorship. The reason it was so powerful is because it corresponds to the reality we face every day. Division and racism and sexism all have their roots in the class nature of society and the fact that the tiny minority of the capitalist class who rule the country have to keep the majority divided if they are to continue to rule. After all, if the great majority were united they would not allow the tiny minority to rule them. So what we had with the Shirley Sherrod case was the main stream capitalist class gave a little smack to its extreme wing to keep it in its place. It had gone too far. They did this so this wing would not provoke a movement against racism which might get out of control. But they also moved very quickly to remove from the discussion on their media the ideas that Shirley Sherrod had introduced, that is the idea that it was a question not of race but of rich against poor. This was too dangerous, this was about class, about one class against another, about class struggle. To the shame of the union leaders this had to be raised by a woman working in the Department of Agriculture rather than a union leader. The union leaders should be leading a mass campaign on this.
Looking forward to what happened. While still showing some clips from Shirley Sherrod's video which talks about the rich and the poor, which is essential in order to expose how the extreme right distorted her speech to smear her, the mainstream and liberal capitalist media have moved away from the rich versus the poor talk. On a major discussion on CNN last night the panel discussion spoke of "giving back to your community." What was this about? This was about getting away from talking about the rich and the poor. the talking heads on every TV channel and TV station want to focus on anything but rich and poor and divide and rule. This is too dangerous for them. But this is what Shirley Sherrod talked about.
And back again to the union leaders. Shirley Sherrod has more courage than the lot of them put together. She challenged people to take on the right and put them in their place. Her courage has allowed her to explain how the rich passed the laws to create racism and divide and rule and it was a question not of racism but the rich versus the poor, the haves versus the have nots. We rarely hear Union leaders talk about this, and if we do, they advise us to vote for the Democrats as a solution. The union leaders are so wed to capitalism that they cannot even think about the rich versus the poor and the haves versus the have nots without their chins quivering and running to reassure the capitalist class that they support capitalism. The union leaders have a choice. They have to take up a struggle against the capitalist class and capitalism and fight for a Democratic Socialist Alternative or they have to accept that they have forfeited the right to be in leadership positions or that they no longer have the right or ability to lead.
And back again to the left groups. Shirley Sherrod is head and shoulder above them also when it comes to explaining the source and role of racism. So many of these groups leave out the unbreakable link between racism and class. As Malcolm X said, "You cannot have capitalism without racism." And Martin Luther King said there has to be some kind of "Democratic Socialism" in America. These were not just some sort of casual agitational remarks by these leaders. They both made them after many years of struggle and when they were moving to unite the working class. It is no accident the state murdered both of them when they began to express these ideas of class unity and socialism. Most of the left in the country have not caught up with Malcolm X or Martin Luther King. They have not caught up with Shirley Sherrod. They separate the struggle against racism from the struggle against capitalism and to unite the working class. This route leads to failure and defeat for the working class.
Against Racism and Sexism. For working class unity.
Against capitalism. For Democratic Socialism Internationally.
For Organizing the Working Class and Building a Mass Working Peoples Party.
Sean.
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