It is horrific that 10 Black people in Buffalo, New York were savagely gunned down by a teenage white supremacist. Mass killings of people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are a staple in the United States.
In 2021, 375 transgender people — most of them Black or Latinx — were slain. Two years ago, in Atlanta, a young white man killed eight people, most of them Asian women. In Charleston, South Carolina, the fascist who murdered nine parishioners in a Black church wanted to start a race war.
For too long the fact that these targeted murders were political acts has been minimized. The preferred explanation is that of a mentally or socially unstable loner. The perpetrators are treated as criminals who have no agenda other than violence. The mainstream media always had an excuse for mischaracterizing their actions (see “The high price of ignoring teenage fascists”).
But finally, due to the botched Jan. 6 attempted coup, analysts and reporters have been forced to call these fanatics what they are — fascists, white nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis. These murderous bigots are ready and willing to topple a government and to commit mass murder in order to protect the dominant white, patriarchal status quo.
Fascists always come out of the woodwork when the capitalist system is in crisis. And it is in crisis now. Like all bullies, we need to show them that they are not the majority. There are many more of us — race liberationists, LGBTQ+ activists, defenders of immigrants, feminists, Jews, leftists, unionists and more.
We must stand shoulder to shoulder. The only defense against the right is a united front of working people, a multi-racial, democratic movement led by the most oppressed that names the system behind these horrors — capitalism. And the only permanent solution to racism and bigotry of all kinds is to kick capitalism to the curb.
When we fight, we win. Join the Freedom Socialist Party in this needed battled for a better, fascist-free tomorrow.
