BOSTON, August 19—The City braced for a post-Charlottesville, Neo-Nazi Free Speech rally at the Boston Commons. The Progressive Labor Party contingent joined the 40,000 antiracist demonstrators, which included their co-workers, friends, and union. We held a large banner that read “No Free Speech For Fascists, Smash Racism With Multi-Racial Unity.” We distributed 1,500 leaflets.
Various unions, Black Lives Matter groups, and others planned two anti-racist protests. One demonstration was held in front of the Massachusetts State House, a quarter mile away from the speakers. The other began two miles away from the Boston Common.
The racist speakers were located in a bandstand in the center of the Common, protected with jersey barriers, fences, Boston police and tactical police, with state police support. Helicopters flew overhead, and sound cannons setup for crowd control.
Reject Republicrats
While public schools face cutbacks and school closures and working people increasingly can no longer afford to live in the city of Boston, Mayor Walsh has chosen to spend over a million dollars to protect fascists and white supremacists. By granting a permit, without even a court fight, Walsh and his capitalist puppet masters have given a victory to these racists. Students of history might remember that the Nazi party rise in 1920s Germany was accelerated after Hitler successfully rallied in left-leaning Berlin. The current crop of fascists, view this rally as a similar opportunity.
Liberal politicians like Walsh and right-wing politicians like president Donald Trump are two sides of the same capitalist coin. While Trump openly promotes the fascists, the liberals protect their ability to organize. Both types of politicians serve various factions of the U.S. capitalist class. These capitalist see their empire slowly crumbling. They are willing to use any means necessary to preserve their investments, including going to war abroad and promoting fascism at home. They fear a united working class opposing their plans. They do whatever they can to divide us along racial, gender, national and other lines. This is why we must unite Black, Latin, Asian and white working people to fight these fascist vermin and their capitalist backers. Ultimately, we must abolish capitalism, a system where  eight capitalists have more wealth than half the world’s population.
Fight Back like a Worker
The fascist rally used only 45 minutes of their state-sanctioned two hours. The police escorted them out. The police were in formation and marching out to confront anti-racist demonstrators. We leafleted, spoke to friends and anti-fascist demonstrators, and learned a few things: As police were leading out the fascists, workers on the streets boldly attempted to fight them; there were 33 arrests. There were unaffiliated anti-fascists at the bandstand shouting to the 30 or so fascists. One of the racists came off the bandstand and into the crowd raising his hand in a Nazi salute. He was then punched by an anti-racist.
Unlike Charlottesville, this march had a large number of anti-racist protesters, and few to no vigilante fascists roaming about. This shows that there are many people willing to stand up against fascism.
However, we should not let down our guard. Fascist and racist groups are being reorganized under a less overt racist guise emphasizing a “clean cut” look without the skinhead image or KKK robes. More average white workers, who are victims of capitalism too, are being enticed to see racism as the answer to the problems of capitalism.
Working Class Has A Record for Smashing Nazis
We influenced many demonstrators with our leaflet, the only literature with a class analysis of racism. It made the important point that fascist and racist speech comes at a cost; which is the lives of countless numbers of workers in the U.S. and worldwide. It cost the lives of 6 million Jewish people and 60 million lives to defeat the Nazis in WWII. Racism has made life a living hell for millions of Black and immigrant people in this country. The ending of slavery came at the price of 600,000 deaths during the Civil War.
The few strides made by Black workers in this country owe as much to urban rebellions and militant confrontation against racists groups such as the KKK as to non-violent civil rights marches. PLP and other anti-racist forces have being fighting fascist and racist groups since the 1960s. Past PLP Actions have made attacking the KKK/Nazis popular! One veteran demonstrator said, “Back in the 1970s, PLP and INCAR (Committee Against Racism) terrorized the KKK in Boston. That was great.” In 1979, we led hundreds to attack the KKK Grand Wizard at Boston City Hall. This has inspired the working class to fight and stop fascist and racist groups.
Let us not cheapen these past fights by allowing the rebuilding of racist and fascist movements. Reject the liberal fascist warmongers when fighting fascists; we must build a mass movement that fights racism, sexism and imperialist war and unites workers of all races and nationalities to build a world where all work and fruits of the labor are shared. That society without wages or racism is called communism.