Nazi Murder in Charlottesville *

By Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

The new Constitution has put to rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution-----African slavery as it exists among us-----the proper status of the Negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and the present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as “The rock upon which the Old Union would split.”……The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically…. These ideas however, were fundamentally wrong.   They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error….

Our new government is founded on exactly the opposite ideas; it’s foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon, the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that Slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. (Applause.) This, our new Government, is the first in the history of the world, based upon this great physical philosophical and moral truth.

Alexander Stephens, VP of Confederacy. March1861 The Emancipation Proclamation, George Novack, America’s Revolutionary Heritage, p. 264.

*Note: The original title of this posting was incorrect so it have been changed.  Since posting this I have not found evidence that two other protesters were killed or that they were IWW and DSA members. One person died and there were some 19 injuries according to the later news.  There were two police that died in a helicopter crash. RM

Fascists, Nazi’s and white nationalists murdered three Americans today and from what this writer can gather, one was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the two others victims were member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). A fascist drove a car in to a group of protestors opposing the gathering of right wing forces that oppose the removal of symbols and statues of its confederate past.

Most workers will not know much about today’s IWW as they are a very small grouping but most of them are working people and many of them are also in AFL-CIO unions. They are genuine, dedicated people committed to the workers’ cause in the main.  The DSA has been around for a while and has mainly been active in the Democratic Party although the group has grown and broadened its base since the last election and the rise of Bernie Sanders. The DSA has grown from some 7000 to about 25,000 since the election according to most reports.

In response to the events, the US Predator in Chief, Donald Trump, issued the following statement:

"We are closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It has been going on for a long time in our country -- not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America."

The man who spent his entire campaign for US president fanning the flames of racism, misogyny and bigotry “condemns” these very same traits that were present at this rally but condemns both sides. He condemns those espousing racism and bigotry and those fighting racism and bigotry. It’s that old, “A curse on both your houses” approach.

Trump’s cover for the racist’s assault and murder of protestors was backed up by the White House that issued a statement saying, “The president was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides. There was violence between protesters and counter-protesters today.” They will use these Nazi’s against workers in strikes and protests in the future. They will be their shock troops and are present in many of the nations police forces.

Let’s remind ourselves, one group of protestors were Nazi’s the other weren’t.

What’s even more repugnant about Trump is that he points out that this type of bigotry has been going on for a long time in the US, that’s true. And he has not only participated in it and benefited form it but fought to continue it Trump, the serial sexual predator wants us to “love each other” now apparently. We can see from this image put out by a Sante Fe police chief how ingrained, how racist and anti-worker the state’s security force are.

I have said many times to friends of mine that the US is not as conservative as the mass media want us to believe. Yes there is confusion, prejudice and blatant racism that is the product of a few centuries of brainwashing. But in the aftermath of this incident, I see that both parties are condemning Trump for not “condemning” the fascists. Marco Rubio, himself no liberal ideologue, called for a “condemnation” of the racists and right wing groups that participated.

While there is a certain amount of self interest related to this in that Trump is a liability for the serious and most astute section of the US bourgeois and that there can be no doubt that they are in discussions trying to figure out how they can get rid of him, it is the mood in US society as a whole that forces them say anything critical at all.

We have seen many struggles here around housing, racism, working conditions, police brutality and the civil war in North Dakota as the Native American people and their allies fought a months long battle to protect their (and all of our) precious natural habitat and water rights. We’ve had the women’s marches, the spontaneous airport protests against anti-immigrant legislation, the science marches. There are too many to go in to but we are not silent here. The Working class in the main has not stepped in to the fray with the organized sector being held back by its pro-corporate leadership but this will not last. The main issue is that all the various movements in opposition to the capitalist offensive have not been brought together in to a national, direct action movement against capital.

Listening to the Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe McAuliffe was as bad as Trump. He told the fascists to “go home”. In the aftermath of the events he thanked the cops, the National Guard, the clergy and threw in a pitch for the military that are true “patriots” defending us from the evil people abroad who want to destroy our way of life.

But is it OK then for Nazi’s to just “go home”. And do they not do their Naziing in their own communities? Do they suddenly become ordinary folk? It’s OK for them to be Nazi’s in their neighborhood is that it. Can you imagine if this had been a march of black folks. Not necessarily radicals or black nationalists but just regular folk even church people. And heavens forbid they would be Muslims.

I was in a discussion on Facebook today (FB is still denying our blog boosting rights on its FB page) and one young guy was making the argument that we should not protest these anti-social elements but ignore them, protesting empowers them he said. He made the argument that flags aren’t really powerful symbols, flags didn’t give the third Reich power manipulation of people’s emotions did.  I responded:

Flags are part of the manipulation of people's emotions. Do you think the priest waves that incense-laden chalice around at a Benediction because it doesn't influence people's emotions? I am opposed to the capitalist state banning them. They will simply use that law to ban workers, strikes, protests, socialists. But workers of all backgrounds must turn up to confront these scum with a massive show of force. Make them fearful of showing their heads. Those that might be redeemable we can maybe help, the rest, especially their mouthpieces can fill the empty jail cells that are occupied by workers, disproportionately workers of color. Remember, these people want to use the first amendment to build a mass movement to deny the rest of us the right to the free speech. You may well have good intentions, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions as they say.

Workers must not ignore these fascists, it is the death of us if we do as fascists are anti-union and anti-worker. Some of those that organized the march today want to return to the old South. White workers were mostly poor under that regime. They had what we call white skin privilege that was significant in the sense that they were a notch about the black folks but they mostly lived a wretched life. They could kill black folks, rape black women with impunity as no people of color could testify against them in a court of law. This was the gift to them from the white plantation bourgeois for keeping their mouths shut.

But white wages and living standards in the South are lower than the North and this is due to racism and racial segregation.

No ,brother, sisters, comrades, we don’t ignore these forces we turn out in our tens of thousands to deny them a voice. They must fear us. The reason the governor tells them to “go home” and Trump blames all sides and the Democrats and Republicans sound like radicals attacking Trump because he hasn’t condemned these right wing forces strongly enough, is because they are afraid of the working class. They are afraid of social unrest and a mass movement against them. Otherwise they wouldn’t give a damn. They keep us apart because class unity is a very strong instinct among workers. They invented whiteness as a race in order to undermine class solidarity, these very same politicians and bourgeois calling for us to love each other spend every minute of their day figuring out ways they can divide us. The resistance of the additionally oppressed ethnic and other groups in society what they often call today, “marginalized” groups has put a halt to the more blatant racism and cruelty that this society was built on. And the changing  attitude of the white working class is part of that.

They are afraid of us sisters and brothers.

No, we need to be out there more not less. The cowardly heads of the 14 million strong trade union movement have so far said nothing. They are a disgrace as the power of the fascists, emboldened and given legitimacy by Trump, has brought them out in to the open. We can thank Trump for that, he has given them a false sense of security and they can be seen more clearly but they will not prevail.

And I have to end with this. That very slick and classy bourgeois politician Barack Obama had this to say: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

This is just liberal claptrap. He knows damn well that capitalism does not teach, does not have an ideological base that encourages love and human unity.  Obama was the first black head of the Harvard Law Review and then president of the United States. One does not get in to those positions without being completely trusted by the unelected people who run this country.

And while I think that he is a decent enough person it’s pretty sickening to watch Harvard professor Cornel West holding hands and praying with people singing, "This Little Light of Mine." This does not work comrades.

Thanks to all the anti-fascists, Wobblies, socialists, workers and others who were there today to stand up to the fascists. And shame on you Richard Trumka.