To Stop Gun Violence, Shoot Down Capitalism

CHICAGO, October 22—When Reginald Sanson was shot dead on August 25 at age 25, he became one of 2,465 shooting victims in Chicago and one of 370 killed in this carnage this year as of September 28 (Chicago Tribune, 9/28/15). The capitalist bosses’ media constantly cries out against gun violence, whether it be a mass shooting by a single maniac or the daily trauma of an individual lost. But they rarely tell us much about the victims, especially Black or Latin victims. These are the same bosses who back their killer cops with military-grade hardware, and who are actively planning to kill millions of workers in the next imperialist war. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds!
Reggie was murdered on the 5000 block of South Dorchester Avenue, two blocks from Barack Obama’s home in Hyde Park and one block from Kenwood Academy, where Reggie earned top grades and excelled in baseball and basketball. He was a positive force and a pillar of strength, always willing to help others. His death was a shock for his community—a neighborhood that borders the wealthy University of Chicago and has borne many other tragedies.  
The capitalist ruling class has no solutions to offer us. As the liberal bosses urge stricter gun laws, the right-wing bosses call for more arrests and harsher jail sentences.  Both Democrats and Republicans want more cops, the leading source of racist violence against Black and Latin workers!  Any new policy will only hurt the working class even more.  Never do the bosses’ politicians address the real cause of worker-on-worker violence: capitalism.  
Capitalism and Despair
Substandard schools and the lack of decent jobs create a culture of hopelessness. When workers cannot provide for their families, they are vulnerable to individualism, desperation, drugs and violence.  Chicago has the highest official Black unemployment rate—25 percent—of the five largest U.S. cities (2013 U.S. Census). This compares to a Latin unemployment rate of 14 percent and a white jobless rate of 7 percent. Unsurprisingly, Chicago is also one of the most segregated cities; nearly 75 percent of Black Chicagoans live in a neighborhood that is at least 90 percent black.  
Over the past few decades, Chicago’s working class was dealt blow after blow as thousands of manufacturing jobs left the city.  Five thousand city workers have been laid off since 2009, 40 percent of them residents in predominantly Black ZIP codes. With 50 school closings last year alone, 1,691 school workers have been laid off over the same period. As the Center for Law and Social Policy has documented, people who live in areas with concentrated poverty are more likely to experience violence and to be victims of violence (http://mic.com/articles/126199).
All of these jobs were lost under two Democratic mayors, Richard M. Daley and Obama’s former chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel.  What will liberal Emmanuel do about gun violence?  He plans to hire more police administrative staff, to free up 300 more mad-dog cops to put on the streets. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy wants tougher penalties for gun possession.  Both of these “solutions” will lead to more police interactions, harassment, and violence against Black and Latin workers, and more incarcerated young men. Meanwhile, shootings are up and the CPD has made 25 percent more gun-related arrests this year over the same period last year.  
Capitalism Needs Racism
No Chicago politicians are talking about the racist crisis in the public schools or racist mass unemployment. Their capitalist system requires racism, both to divide workers and to super-exploit Black, Latin, Asian and immigrant workers on the job.  The high levels of poverty, unemployment and violence in the Black community neatly fit the rulers’ racist narrative. The ruling class says that these deaths prove that our lives don’t matter because “they’re killing each other.”  But we know this is a racist lie!
Workers know that each death matters.  They refuse to buy into the lie that the victims—including Reginald Sanson—are all gang-bangers. Reggie’s community knew differently. More than 200 people turned out for a vigil the day after his murder. Reggie could have contributed so much to society, but his life was cut short by the violence created by this racist, capitalist system.  
Reforms Versus Revolution
While improved education and more jobs would make many individuals’ lives better, all reforms have limits under capitalism. They can never include everyone, and they last only until the bosses’ next economic crisis.  To keep the working class in line, the capitalists need impoverished, unemployed workers as potential threats to the ones with jobs.  Any reform that keeps the capitalist ruling class in power will continue to oppress us. The only solution to gun violence will come when we turn the guns around—when we smash the bosses with communist revolution!  Join Progressive Labor Party and work toward a society where workers like Reggie can live long and productive lives.