Statement: Commitment to Ending Racism and Capitalism

Written March 12, 2017

1. We are committed to the struggle against racism as part of the project of unifying the diverse working class and winning the fight to end capitalism. The deep tradition of anti-racist socialist movements has taught us that racism and capitalism are profoundly intertwined. It is clear to us that the capitalist class profits by dividing, disempowering, and destroying the lives of working people, through tactics of racial scapegoating, disenfranchisement, disinvestment, and direct violence that specifically target people of color. We are working people unified in our commitment to end racism and capitalism in the service of building a socialist society.
2. We believe in developing the capability of our members to lead the fight for socialism, and we are committed to supporting, developing, and advancing the leadership of members from oppressed groups, whether they be defined by race, gender, national origin, physical ability, sexual identity, or other factors. We are committed to the internal accountability and education necessary to involve, learn from, and support these members at all levels of our organization. We believe in the importance of recruiting and developing organic leaders across a breadth of working-class communities, and thus seek to support and advance members whose particular existing relationships, lived experience, and social capacities will help build a deeper, broader, and more powerful multiracial socialist movement. We are committed to building an organization that is diverse and inclusive of all different kinds of people.
3. We are committed to fighting for concrete gains in the lives of all working people. We reject racist restrictions in all state and social institutions. We aim to include all segments of the working classes in our fight to win material reforms that improve the lives of working people, and empower those most excluded and targeted under the racist and patriarchal capitalism of our current society.
4. In keeping with these commitments, the Executive Committee of our chapter endorses the policy platform "A Vision for Black Lives," issued by the Movement for Black Lives. We especially applaud the commitment of the Movement for Black Lives to fight against the scourge of police terrorism, mass incarceration, and a racist culture of "Law and Order" that disproportionately impacts Black communities and in general harms and divides many working-class people. As the document is not entirely socialist or anti-capitalist, we raise concern with certain provisions. For example, under the Economic Justice segment, the call for state subsidies to unspecified private businesses for the hiring of Black workers. Given the fraught history of state subsidies to private industry, we feel this vaguely-worded provision carries a risk of being implemented in a manner that empowers and profits capitalists. However, beyond this and a few other concerns, we recognize and celebrate the platform's extensive calls to support worker-owned industry and advance democratic, redistributive politics. As a whole, we support this platform as an important step towards building a unified anti-capitalist movement of, by and for the whole working class.