Los Angeles, November 9—Donald Trump won the presidential election and the working class took to the streets! A multiracial group of angry workers and youth could not believe how such a racist and sexist could represent them. The Progressive Labor Party contingent was small but spirited because we’ve been out in the streets before. Under President Obama we’ve seen the ongoing murders of Black and Latin men and women by the police, the deportation of immigrant workers, and the Syrian refugee crisis.We have fought for immigrants’ rights, against racist police violence and against sexist wage theft. We’ve been inspired by the many struggles of workers all over the world.
Adding Politics to Chants
Most of the chants were anti-Trump like “Not My President.” But some PLP chants caught the workers’ attention: “La Policia, La Migra, La Misma Porqueria” [The police and the border patrol are the same filth]. “The Workers United Will Never Be Defeated” was another great chant. Our group mostly chanted in Spanish and English. This was a great opportunity to get our members and friends out. Some had contacted us about our plans to protest. Members of our church, classmates and coworkers were out there but the march was so big, it was difficult to find them.
Trump Reflects Capitalism in Decay
This election shows capitalism in decay and rising fascism. No matter who is in office we must continue to fight back against the bosses. Democrat, Republican; they are all the same. Trump ran on the promise to deport more immigrants, build a wall along the Mexican border and round up the Muslim working class, but Obama has helped create the foundation that would allow these policies to be implemented.
This march and the marches that followed showed that there are workers out there willing to stand up and oppose Trump and not take a “wait and see” approach. But “It’s not just Trump, it’s capitalism.” The only way to defeat racism, sexism and fascism, once and for all, is with communist revolution. For that to happen all workers need to become organizers and join the fight back against the terror capitalism brings. Let’s fight together to build a better future, because an injury to one is an injury to all!
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NEW YORK CITY, November 12—A multiracial, multi-generational group of members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) marched with anti-Trump protesters in New York City. The marchers were enthusiastic, some were angry. They listened to our message that only communism can solve the problems of the international working class (see photo, page 7).
A very diverse crowd of over ten thousand marched the two miles from Union Square to Trump Towers. There was no real leadership of the march. With our bullhorn and communist politics we stepped up. We led chants; we gave speeches. Many people picked up our chants like “It’s not just Trump, it’s capitalism!” There was also plenty of reformism, such as “Love Trump’s Hate,” “Not my President,” and even some Clinton supporters. But many people were open to our revolutionary communist ideas. CHALLENGE newspapers and many anti-capitalist stickers were distributed. As is often the case, we ran out of literature too quickly.
We met lots of good people who marched with our group through the streets of Manhattan. They have joined in the protests against Trump because they believe that people need to stand up for each other against the racist, sexist, homophobic garbage that Trump promotes. In the future we need to get our unions, churches, and community groups to also organize for these protests. But it’s not just the racist, sexist filth that comes out of Trump’s mouth. It’s a capitalist system that exploits and murders through imperialist wars, racist unemployment, poverty, homelessness and on and on. The whole damn system has got to go!
While by Trump Towers, a young comrade gave a rousing speech explaining that Trump is part of the ruling class whose job it is to exploit workers and the only way to defeat Trump and the other racists is with multi racial unity, specifically, to build a revolutionary, communist movement to overthrow capitalism. He directly called out nationalism, feminism, identity politics, and Black Lives Matter (BLM) as bosses’ ideas that divide workers more than unify them. Our comrade got a great response from the crowd, but not such a great response from a BLM organizer. After a brief back and forth, it was clear that most people wanted multiracial unity.
The bosses media and academics would divide us into small groups by ethnicity, or gender, or sexual orientation, or so-called race. They would also like us to rely on the Internet for our organizing. The BLM organizer thought that the thousands of people marched in the streets because he had created a Facebook event. He didn’t realize that changing the world and getting people to take the streets for real change takes a lot more than what Facebook can do. We in the Progressive Labor Party are committed to the long, difficult, messy work of building a base in the working class. Only a united working class can organize a world without racism and sexism; a world where the wealth is shared by all. Join us to smash capitalism and the system’s racist, sexist garbage once and for all.