NYPD Murders Deborah Danner Don’t Vote— Organize vs. Racism

BRONX, NY, October 20—“Black cop, white cop, all the same; Racist terror is the name of the game” This chant echoed throughout Pugsley Ave. in the Bronx, as a woman comrade led a group of protestors to the 43rd precinct to protest the racist murder of 66-year-old Deborah Danner. As some reformist leaders of the protest called for “better politicians” and “better” laws, members of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) called for revolution to replace the “whole damn system” with a world without racism and sexism, and that’s communism!
Danner was murdered in her home on Tuesday, October 18 by a police sergeant who was responding to a call about a woman “acting in an irrational manner” (CNN, 10/21). Danner had suffered from schizophrenia. When the cops arrived, Danner was in her bedroom, holding a pair of scissors. She was convinced to put them down, and in turn, picked up a bat. This is when the sergeant took Danner’s life by shooting her twice in the torso. With such a high-ranking cop being responsible for Danner’s murder the commissioner can’t use the excuse that this is the mistake of a rookie cop; once again, it proves that the cops were just doing their job which is to terrorize and pacify the working class!
Residents Support Antiracism
PLP joined with a group of about 30 protestors on Thursday evening and marched from the apartment where Danner was murdered to the 43rd precinct. As we left the sidewalks and took over the streets, PLP comrades started leading loud, militant chants. “ No justice, no peace, no racist police.” We distributed over 50 Challenges. Residents responded with fists in the air. Some people supported us from their apartment windows. A few onlookers joined the march. Four young Black teenagers accompanied us on their bicycles when we encouraged them to join the march. At the precinct there were about 50 protestors present. Constance Malcolm, mother of Ramarley Graham, (an eighteen-year-old Black teen who was killed by the cops in his home in the Bronx in 2012) was present, along with Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson (a 23-year-old Black man shot by a plainclothes cop).
Politicians and Cops Part of Racist System  
At the protest leaders of the Justice League and Black Lives Matter called for some reforms. One leader suggested that since an election for district attorney (DA) is approaching, we could pressure the new DA to indict this sergeant and send him to jail. Constance Malcolm shouted that the next DA would be just as corrupt. Others shouted, “They are all corrupt!” A minister addressed the crowd, shouting, “I would not be a man if I said that all cops are bad! I could never say that I am anti-cop. I am anti-corruption. I have some good friends here.”
To combat the minister’s defense of the cops, two comrades spoke with a young woman, making it clear that when we say that the whole system is guilty as hell, we mean all cops serve this profit hungry capitalist system. They all carry out the ruler’s racist agenda: to terrorize the working class to maintain their power and profits. These ministers, politicians, and various other reformers have been attending these protest rallies for years. They demanded more Black cops; done. They wanted better “relations” with the cops; the working class got the Community Affairs cops. We’ve got Black district attorneys, less stop and frisk, and now body cameras. We even got a Black president. The list is endless, but the capitalist system grinds on. It cannot be reformed, or voted away. It has to go and that takes a lifetime commitment to building a revolutionary movement for communism. After our discussion, the woman took a CHALLENGE, and gave us her contact information.
The working Class Shall Rule the Earth!
The sidelining of women in the leadership was evident in this protest. . Constance Malcolm, certainly, should have been asked to speak. This was juxtaposed by PLP’s multiracial leadership of women, and men. The militant, antiracist and antisexist voices of working class women should not be silenced. It weakens our class. But it was encouraging to see that the working class is not falling for the idea that all we need are “better politicians.” The Ferguson anti-racist rebels were absolutely correct when they said the problem was the “whole damn system.” Join the Progressive Labor Party as we organize a revolutionary movement for communism, an egalitarian system without racism or sexism. Fight for Communism!